A/HRC/39/CRP.2 317. On the night of 19 November 2016, elements of the Northern Alliance attacked Monekoe town.682 The Northern Alliance captured most of Monekoe with the exception of a hilltop military base held by the Tatmadaw. 318. Following this, the Tatmadaw conducted the mass arrest and detention of civilians. On 20 November 2016, Tatmadaw soldiers from the 99 th Light Infantry Division went from house to house in Man Jat village, Monekoe and arrested more than 100 people, who were then forced to walk to a military camp on the hilltop. 683 One interviewee was asked by the soldier who arrested him, “It is impossible that you didn’t know about the attacks, why didn’t you inform us?”684 Several individuals were accused of being spies, and a few were specifically accused of being affiliated with the MNDAA, tied up and beaten. 685 About 12 hours later the Tatmadaw released the women and children, as well as some Chinese citizens, leaving approximately 70 to 80 men detained. Several hundred soldiers as well as militia members were stationed at the military camp. 686 319. The detainees were forced to lie on the ground, day and night, between two wire fences, placing them between the Tatmadaw base and Northern Alliance troops. 687 They were told not to make any noise or they would be killed. 688 Intense fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Northern Alliance outside the military camp took place during the 13 days the group were held. Tatmadaw troops threw grenades over the heads of the detainees, several of which fell on them after getting caught in the trees, killing at least two individuals and injuring others.689 The injured were not released to seek medical attention.690 One detainee saw a mortar shell land among the detainees, although it did not explode.691 A 90 year-old detainee was witnessed being killed when he tried to escape during an exchange of fire. 692 Detainees were exposed to the elements with no shelter, sleeping on the ground. They had no access to washing facilities and no sanitary facilities, initially urinating in the area they were detained and later in a pit dug behind the second fence. Detainees were also initially not provided food for several days.693 When members of the Northern Alliance gained access to part of the military base on 4 December 2016, the civilians were able to escape. 694 The placing of this group of civilian detainees in the line of fire is a clear example of the Tatmadaw not taking all feasible precautions to protect the civilian population under their control against the effects of attacks, one of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law. 695 In this instance, it may also amount to the prohibited use of human shields.696 320. The Mission received credible accounts of civilians being intentionally killed by the Tatmadaw in the Monekoe area during this period.697 For example, one man who was detained in the military base, stated that after they escaped he witnessed another man being shot at and then killed by a knife by one of the Tatmadaw soldiers. 698 Two cases of enforced disappearance were also corroborated, in both cases following arrest by the Tatmadaw. 699 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 DI-058, DI-060, K-133.1, K-133.2, K-133.3, K-133.24, V-056. DI-058. DI-060. DI-058. DI-058, DI-060, K-133.6, K-133.23. DI-058, DI-060, K-133.23, V-170. DI-060. DI-058, DI-060, K-133.23. DI-060. DI-060, K-133.23. DI-060. DI-058, DI-060. DI-058, DI-060, K-133.23. ICRC/Customary IHL, rule 22. ICRC/Customary IHL, rule 97. The use of human shields is defined as using the presence (or movements) of civilians or other protected persons to render certain points or areas (or military forces) immune from military operations. DI-058, K-133.1, K-133.16. See also this chapter, section A.2: Unlawful killings. DI-058. See this chapter, section A.5: Arbitrary deprivation of liberty and enforced disappearance. 81