A/HRC/39/CRP.2 arrival in Rathedaung town around this time. 2813 The 33rd LID carried out mass killings in Chut Pyin, and credible reports indicate that they played a role in the clearance operations in Inn Din, and the series of clearance operations in Koe Tan Kauk village tract. Other information indicates that they may have also played a key role in a number of other “clearance operations” in southern Maungdaw Township.2814 Photos published on the Commander-in-Chief’s Facebook page showed the 33rd LID leaving Zay Di Pyin, Rathedaung Township, in January 2018.2815 (b) Border Guard Police, Myanmar Police Force and Lon Htein 1255. The BGP played a role in the continuing oppression of Rohingya in the lead-up to August 2017, throughout the period after October 2016. The BGP gathered and arrested men, some of whom they tortured, including inside the BGP base in Zay Di Pyin, where sexualized torture was also perpetrated. BGP officers also engaged in extortion of Rohingya civilians on a considerable scale. During “clearance operations”, the Tatmadaw were often accompanied by the BGP and committed crimes alongside them. 1256. Similarly, the Myanmar Police Force, which reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs, played an active role in the “clearance operations”. In Inn Din, police were responsible for, at a minimum, the extrajudicial killing of 10 men. Police officers were identified as having participated in “clearance operations” in other villages, but further investigation is needed to determine their precise involvement. Riot security police, known in Myanmar language as Lon Htein, which is part of the Myanmar Police Force, were also identified as participants in certain locations. Mass gang rapes of women were perpetrated inside police compounds. The police were perpetrators in some of these instances. 1257. Many Rohingya victims were able to identify particular police uniforms, and distinguish between the different police units, but not always. Identification was particularly challenging in the chaos of the “clearance operations”. As such, further investigation is needed to better understand the specific roles of these various groups. At the same time, the Mission confirms the participation of all three institutions in the 2017 “clearance operations”. Moreover, the coordinated manner of their involvement in these wider operations indicates that they were acting under the Tatmadaw’s effective control. (c) Civilian perpetrators 1258. While the range and gravity of acts of non-security forces varied from village to village, the participation of ethnic Rakhine and members of other minority groups in the “clearance operations” was widespread. These civilians participated in identifiable and consistent ways, carrying out specific functions. They acted alongside, complementary to, and usually in tandem with, the Tatmadaw and other security forces. Civilian participants systematically arrived at Rohingya villages as part of the military operation, with the necessary tools, equipment or weaponry to carry out the specific designated tasks: matches and inflammable liquids for burning; sacks or vehicles for looting; and swords or guns for violent acts, including killings. Civilian perpetrators were particularly involved in the systematic burning of Rohingya structures and appear to have been responsible for the continued burning of properties after the completion of the “clearance operations”, and as recently as March 2018. Sometimes ethnic Rakhine were also perpetrators of rape and other forms of sexual violence. 1259. In some specific locations, the Tatmadaw actively distributed the weaponry to ethnic Rakhine in the course of the “clearance operations”. This pattern of behaviour, across different villages and locations, demonstrate that the participation of these groups was organized and not ad hoc or opportunistic in nature. The manner in which ethnic Rakhine and other minorities participated in the “clearance operations” demonstrates that their 2813 2814 2815 310 Facebook posts and photos, on file with the Mission, V-067. LI-112, ZI-001, RI-012, LM-006. See also S. Lewis, Z. Siddiqui, C. Baldwin, A. Marshall, “The Shock Troops who expelled the Rohingya from Myanmar” (Reuters, 22 June 2018). Facebook photos, on file with the Mission.