The west African state of Gambia, acting on behalf of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, will ask the International Court of Justice to take emergency measures to halt Myanmar's "ongoing genocidal actions".
Legal experts said Suu Kyi would be one of the first national leaders to personally address the tribunal since it was set up in 1946 after World War II to rule in disputes between countries.
Her plan to appear before the court's judges for the three-day hearing starting Tuesday was described as "unprecedented” as states do not send politicians to lead legal teams at the ICJ.
Myanmar has repeatedly justified the crackdown on the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine and insists its own committees are adequate to investigate allegations of abuse.
Around 740,000 Rohingya were forced to flee into camps in Bangladesh after Myanmar's military launched a violent crackdown on the group in 2017, which UN investigators concluded amounted to genocide.
Muslim-majority Gambia's case alleges that Myanmar has breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. It is seeking the special measures pending a future decision by the court on whether to take on the wider case.
Any final judgment could take years, according to France 24 news television network.
MNA/PR
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