A/HRC/39/CRP.2
They threw bottles full of liquid onto the houses, and then they would throw a match.
They also used large canisters containing between 10 to 20 litres of liquid. The
military were using launchers, and they were directing the Rakhine to target the
smaller houses and those that had been left unburned after the launcher had been
used.2177
963. Although significant burning took place at and around the sites where ARSA carried
out their attacks, the overall area affected was far greater, encompassing villages located
significant distances away from these attacks. 2178
964. A number of villages close to the location of ARSA attacks experienced “clearance
operations” and burning in the immediate aftermath, within hours of the attacks on 25 August
2017. Three examples are given below. Verified accounts confirm that in each area the
burning of villages commenced on 25 August and then continued for some days afterwards.
Satellite imagery analysis taken from 16 September 2017, when the absence of cloud cover
allowed for detailed imagery, shows the extent of the destruction in each location.
965. Mee Chaung Zay village tract in Buthidaung Township was near the location of three
ARSA attacks.2179 Interviewees from Ywar Thit, Mar Zi and Hpaw Tay Ahr Li villages
reported hearing the sound of nearby gunfire in the early morning of 25 August and seeing
soldiers entering their villages soon afterwards. The soldiers shot at people and burned homes
with the use of “launchers”. Burnings took place over a series of days while people sought
shelter in the nearby forested hills.2180 The mosque was also burned.2181
Image of Mee Chaung Zay from 11 October 2017. Burnings first detected
on 16 September 2017
966. Villagers from Myo Thu Gyi village tract, Maungdaw Township, described soldiers,
accompanied by ethnic Rakhine, burning houses on the morning of 25 August 2017 and the
2177
2178
2179
2180
2181
WI-016.
Satellite image analysis prepared for the mission by UNITAR-UNOSAT.
In the early hours of 25 August 2017, ARSA conducted an attack at the BGP outpost in Hpaung Taw
Pyin, at the military base occupied by the Light Infantry Battalion 552, and another shortly afterwards
at the BGP outpost in Nga Yant Chaung.
CI-112, CI-135, QI -024, XI-005.
CI-195, YI-030; K-164
225