Preparations for Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity Against Rohingya Muslims in

162 Pages·2017·13.42 MB·English

Cover:
“THEY Myanmar soldiers shot Mohammed,
7, in the chest as he fled attacks in
his village. Physicians at Cox’s Bazar
GAVE
General Hospital in Bangladesh
MLONG operated on him to remove the bullet
and fragments. He now lives in a
refugee camp in Cox's Bazar District.
E
Patrick Brown © Panos/UNICEF 2018
H
SWORDS“
T
Preparations for Genocide
and Crimes Against Humanity
Against Rohingya Muslims in
Rakhine State, Myanmar
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY 1 0
METHODOLOGY 2 9
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS: AUGUST 2016 - JULY 2018 3 1
BACKGROUND 3 5
I PREPARATIONS FOR ATROCITY CRIMES BETWEEN OCTOBER 2016 AND
AUGUST 2017 4 1
Confiscating Sharp and Blunt Objects from Rohingya Civilians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Training and Arming Non-Rohingya Citizens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Avoidable Deprivations in Food and other Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Build-Up of State Security Forces in Northern Rakhine State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Other Human Rights Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
II ROHINGYA MILITANT ATTACKS ON AUGUST 25, 2017 53
III CRIMINAL ACTS AGAINST ROHINGYA BY CIVILIAN PERPETRATORS SINCE
AUGUST 25, 2017 5 5
Murder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Looting and Destruction of Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
IV CRIMINAL ACTS AGAINST ROHINGYA BY STATE SECURITY FORCES SINCE
AUGUST 25, 2017 5 9
Murder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Throats Slit and Fatal Knife Wounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Burned to Death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Indiscriminate and Targeted Shootings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Killings of Children and Infants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Burials and Burnings of Bodies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Rape and Sexual Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Landmines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Forced Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Destruction of Homes, Civilian Structures, and Means of Subsistence . . . . . . . . . . 70
Destruction of Food Sources and Avoidable Deprivations in Aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
V HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY ROHINGYA MILITANTS 73
Murder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
Criminal Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Threats and Intimidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Restrictions on Freedom of Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
VI INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK: GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST
HUMANITY 81
Genocide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
Prohibited Acts of Genocide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Protected Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Intent to Destroy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Crimes Against Humanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
Prohibited Acts of Crimes Against Humanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
The Contextual Element of Crimes Against Humanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
VII ASSESSING CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST
HUMANITY 117
Command Responsibility for Commanders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
A Military or Military-Like Commander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Effective Command and Control or Effective Authority and Control Over Forces . . 118
Failure to Exercise Control Over Forces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Knowledge of the Crimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Modes of Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Direct or Indirect Perpetration or Co-Perpetration of Crime(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Ordering, Soliciting or Inducing the Commission of Crime(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Aiding, Abetting or Otherwise Assisting in the Commission of Crime(s) . . . . . . . . 129
Substantially Contributing to the Commission of Crime(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Inciting Others to Commit Genocide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
The Chain of Command: Individuals Who Should be Subject to Investigation and
Possibly Prosecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
VIII ROHINGYA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS 1 35
IX RECOMMENDATIONS 139
To the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
To the United Nations Security Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140
To the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations General
Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
To the United Nations Country Teams in Myanmar and Bangladesh . . . . . . . . . . . 140
To Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) . . . . . . 141
To the Government of Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
To the International Community, Including Canada, the United States of America, the
European Union, Australia, Japan, Korea, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation,
and others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
To the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
ANNEX A: MYANMAR ARMY-LED “CLEARANCE OPERATIONS” FROM OCTOBER
TO DECEMBER 2016 IN MAUNGDAW TOWNSHIP, RAKHINE STATE 143
Criminal Acts Against Rohingya, October to December 2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Murder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Throats Slit and Fatal Knife Wounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Burned to Death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Indiscriminate and Targeted Gunfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Killings of Children and Infants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Burials and Burnings of Bodies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Rape and Sexual Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Testimony of Medical Doctors, Physicians, and Aid Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Body Searches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Arbitrary Mass Arrests and Enforced Disappearances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Forced Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Destruction of Homes and Civilian Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Destruction of Religious Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Destruction and Confiscation of Means of Subsistence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Multiple Internal Displacement and Refugee Flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 60
“They Gave Them Long Swords”
Noor Haba, 11, carries her family's
belongings to Shamlapur Beach
in Bangladesh after the boat she
traveled on from Maungdaw Township,
Myanmar arrived safely at 8:43 a.m.
Patrick Brown © Panos/UNICEF 2018
Summary 10
SUMMARY
▶
The United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention has found that genocide and Mohammad F., 15, receives
crimes against humanity are “processes that take time to plan, coordinate and treatment at Cox's Bazar
implement.” These crimes do not occur spontaneously or as isolated events; General Hospital. The Myanmar
Army opened fire on him as he
they require resources and decisions by people in positions of power.
fled his village in September
The dominant narrative accepted internationally about what occurred in 2017, shooting his arm clean
off. His uncle covered the wound
Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State in 2017 suggests that Rohingya militants
with medicinal leaves while they
attacked dozens of police outposts, instigating a spontaneous Myanmar Army-
hid in the jungle for five weeks
led crackdown against Rohingya civilians, forcibly displacing hundreds of before arriving in Bangladesh.
thousands to Bangladesh. He is with his brother, 10,
and sister, 7; their parents'
This report documents and reveals a sinister subplot: Myanmar authorities whereabouts are unknown.
made extensive and systematic preparations for the commission of mass Patrick Brown © Panos/
UNICEF 2018
atrocity crimes against indigenous Rohingya civilians during the weeks and
months before Rohingya-militant attacks on August 25, 2017.