A/HRC/39/CRP.2
1004. The Mission notes the considerable efforts of some Rohingya victims to return to their
villages, normally after nightfall, and perform funerals, a significant cultural and religious
practice. These funerals were often done hurriedly, with a number of bodies placed in one
makeshift grave.2261
Death toll of the 2017 “clearance operations”
1005. Quantifying the number of people killed or injured during the “clearance operations”
is challenging. This is due in part to the nature of the “clearance operations”. Large numbers
of people were killed without witnesses, and their bodies were subsequently systematically
disposed of, including through burnings, terrain clearance and bulldozing vast areas of
northern Rakhine. These difficulties are compounded by the lack of accurate available
demographic data on the Rohingya population of Rakhine State. While the Myanmar
authorities have maintained detailed lists of Rohingya villagers in northern Rakhine State,
obtained through the annual compilation of “household lists”, this information is not
available. Further, Rohingya people were not included in the Myanmar national census in
2014 and so there is no public record of their numbers at that time. No comprehensive
casualty recording process has been undertaken by any actor to date. On 14 November 2017
the Tatmadaw’s Investigation Team presented results of its investigation into the “terrorist
attacks” and subsequent “military operation” in which it only makes reference to 520 people
killed, almost none of whom were Rohingya civilians. This is patently at odds with the facts
as established and assessed by the Mission.2262
1006. Rohingya community volunteers in the refugee camps in southern Bangladesh have
been developing detailed casualty lists, compiling information directly from family members.
These listed the names, ages and villages of people killed, or presumed killed. The assessment
lists 9,208 Rohingya as killed and an additional 1,358 whose whereabouts are unknown,
presumed disappeared or killed, 2,157 people in detention and up to 1,834 victims of rape. 2263
These figures do not include non-violent deaths, such as those who drowned en route, or
otherwise perished. This list was incomplete and at the time of reporting remains a work in
progress. The Mission is unable to verify this list. It notes that the numbers are in the range
of other statistical studies.
1007. For example, a series of six health surveys have provided quantitative data on
casualties, providing estimates that between 9,425 and 13,759 Rohingya lost their lives in
Myanmar between 25 August and 24 September 2017, of whom between 6,759 and 9,867
died from violence. At least 730 of these were Rohingya children under the age of five. 2264
While informative, these figures only record the deaths of family members witnessed by
respondents to the survey, and should be considered conservative estimates.2265 In addition,
it should be noted that these estimates only relate to the first month of the “clearance
operations”. Other statistically based estimates have indicated significantly higher
numbers.2266
2261
2262
2263
2264
2265
2266
CI-006, CI-023, CI-030, CI-039, CI-114, CI-115, CI-122, CI-127, CI-128, CI-131, CI-194, EI-014,
LI-029, LI-041, LI-077, LI-114, LI-119, LI-131, QI-004, QI-005, QI-011, QI-026, WI-016, WI-032,
ZI-001.
The reported findings of the Investigation Team refer to 376 “ARSA Bengali Terrorists” killed, 131
“ethnic/Hindu/Bengali people” and 13 “members of security force”. Global New Light of Myanmar,
“Information released by the Tatmadaw True News Information Team on the findings of the
Investigation Team in connection with the performances of the security troops during the terrorist
attacks in Maungtaw region, Rakhine State��� (14 November 2017).
K-153.1.
Médecins Sans Frontiers, Rohingya crisis - a summary of findings from six pooled surveys
(9 December 2017).
Ibid.
For example, the report of International-State Crime Initiative (ISCI) have provided an estimate of a
final death toll of 22,000 to 25,000, see ISCI, Genocide Achieved, Genocide Continues: Myanmar’s
Annihilation of the Rohingya (Queen Mary University, 19 May 2018), p.14. See also: ASEAN
Parliamentarians for Human Rights, “The Rohingya Crisis: Past, Present and Future” (Summary of
findings, 21-24 January 2018), which noted that out of approximately 688,000 new arrivals since 25
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