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Rohingya artist Enayet Khan has used painting and drawing to record violence he witnessed after fleeing Myanmar in 2017, and to help other refugees tell their stories. Legal Action Worldwide executive director Antonia Mulvey said artwork was collected as evidence in a case at the International Court of Justice, where drawings helped convey testimony from Rohingya people facing barriers to written statements. The report does not establish that art alone proves crimes or determines legal outcomes.
Rohingya artist Enayet Khan and legal advocates are using refugee-created artwork to record experiences of violence and help communicate survivor testimony. In a report by Hyperallergic, Legal Action Worldwide executive director Antonia Mulvey said she collected artwork as part of evidence in a case at the International Court of Justice alleging genocide against Rohingya communities, illustrating how visual accounts may contribute to accountability efforts.
Khan fled Myanmar with his family in 2017, as violence and fires forced them from one village to another. He told Hyperallergic that soldiers shot people in front of him and that his family eventually crossed into Bangladesh. Three of the 10 family members who fled together were injured, according to the report. Khan said he lost his home, documentation, property and sense of security.
After settling in Cox’s Bazar, where the report says nearly one million Rohingya refugees live, Khan began painting and drawing scenes connected to what he had witnessed: burning homes, fleeing families and executions. He later established the Rohingya Art Club and trained other refugees in visual storytelling. The report describes this work both as a means of expression and as a record of experiences that could be relevant to legal investigations.
Mulvey, a former United Nations investigator, said artwork was collected for a case before the International Court of Justice concerning allegations of genocide by Myanmar’s military. She said drawings could help convey testimony where high illiteracy, particularly among women and children, made written statements difficult to obtain. The report presents art as a possible way to communicate and corroborate accounts, not as automatic proof of a crime or a substitute for legal investigation.
How Drawings Can Aid Testimony
Refugee-created art can provide a form of communication when survivors face obstacles to producing written accounts. In the circumstances Mulvey described, drawings helped convey experiences that might otherwise be harder to capture through conventional statements. For people who have lost homes, documents and access to familiar institutions, visual storytelling can also preserve accounts of events and make them visible to others.
That role matters as legal systems examine allegations of mass atrocities and seek evidence from people displaced by conflict. The supplied report cites 117.8 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, while noting the figure had risen for 12 consecutive years. It also reports a 44% increase in new investigations and prosecutions of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes within the European Union between 2016 and 2021. Those figures describe broader pressures on accountability work; they do not establish that refugee art caused the increase or that any particular artwork changed a legal outcome.
Art may help preserve or communicate testimony, but its value depends on how investigators and courts assess it alongside other material. Treating images as records of experience can widen how survivors participate in accountability efforts while avoiding the claim that a painting, by itself, settles contested facts.
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From Myanmar to Cox’s Bazar
The report places Khan’s work within the Rohingya’s long experience of discrimination and repression in Myanmar. It says a 1982 law stripped Rohingya people of citizenship, leaving them among the world’s largest stateless populations. Most of the refugees discussed in the report fled in 2017, amid crimes against humanity and genocide allegations against Myanmar’s military.
Khan’s paintings depict scenes he says he witnessed during that flight and the violence around it. In Bangladesh, he developed his own practice into community work through the Rohingya Art Club. The legal dimension described by Hyperallergic is specific: Mulvey collected artwork for a case before the International Court of Justice. That is distinct from saying the court accepted or relied on every image, or that the case has reached a final judgment.
“Drawings became a vital way to convey their testimonies.”
— Antonia Mulvey, executive director of Legal Action Worldwide
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What Courts Make of the Artwork
The report does not specify which artworks were submitted, how they were authenticated, or how the International Court of Justice assessed them. It does not say whether the court admitted or relied on the artwork, nor does it describe the current status or outcome of the case. The allegations concerning Myanmar’s military must remain identified as allegations unless established through the relevant legal process.
It is also unclear how the Rohingya Art Club’s work is stored, whether artists control how their images are shared, or what safeguards protect people who depict violence they experienced. The account supports a narrower conclusion: advocates collected artwork, and Mulvey said drawings helped convey testimony. It does not show that art independently proves events or guarantees justice.
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The Legal and Community Record
The next steps described in the report depend on the legal proceedings and the work of investigators and advocates. They may assess artwork alongside survivor accounts and other evidence, but the supplied material gives no timetable for court decisions or further hearings. Any legal finding would need to come from the relevant proceedings, not from the existence of the artwork alone.
For Khan and the Rohingya Art Club, the reported work also continues as community storytelling. Further reporting could clarify how the club supports artists, how participants decide whether their work is shared with legal teams, and what protections are in place. The available account does not say whether new artwork has been collected for the case or what outcomes artists and refugees expect from the legal process.
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Key Questions
How can refugee artwork contribute to justice efforts?
As described by Antonia Mulvey, drawings can help communicate testimony when written statements are difficult to obtain. Legal advocates may collect them alongside other evidence; the report does not say that artwork alone proves a crime.
Who is Enayet Khan?
Khan is a Rohingya artist who fled Myanmar in 2017. In Bangladesh, he used painting and drawing to record experiences of violence and established the Rohingya Art Club to train other refugees in visual storytelling.
Was Khan’s artwork used in the International Court of Justice case?
The report says Mulvey collected artwork as part of evidence in a case before the court. It does not identify the specific works or say whether the court admitted or relied on Khan’s paintings.
Does the report say the court has found Myanmar guilty of genocide?
No. It describes a case concerning allegations of genocide against Rohingya communities and does not report a final judgment. Allegations and legal findings are not the same.
Source: rss
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