A/HRC/39/CRP.2 important to note the systematic inclusion of the word “Bengali”. In relation to other insurgencies or armed conflicts in the country, the military never adds an ethnic affiliation when referring to its opponent or an alleged perpetrator. For example, in relation to the Kachin Independence Army, it refers to “KIA insurgents” or “KIA terrorists” but not to “Kachin insurgents” or “extremist Kachin terrorists”. Similarly, for the Arakan Army, it does not refer to “extremist Rakhine terrorists” but to “AA insurgents” or “AA terrorists”. Also notable is that, in the first few days following 25 August 2017, the official Facebook pages of the State Counsellor’s Office (Information Committee) and the Office of the Commanderin-Chief used “extremist Bengali terrorists”, but in the later days added the prefix ARSA, “ARSA extremist Bengali terrorists”.2952 This narrative is further fuelled by the authorities’ use of emotive and divisive language, such as “blood-thirsty Bengali terrorists”2953, and posting the pictures of arrested “terrorists”. 2954 1335. This tendency towards generalising statements in referring to the Rohingya and a manifest lack of interest in making appropriate distinctions between ARSA elements and civilians is also illustrated by the publication in the Global New Light of Myanmar, a government newspaper, of the names and photographs of approximately 1,300 so-called “ARSA terrorists”, including children. 2955 This list was published without any form of due process and without offering any supporting evidence or information about any verification measures taken, putting the lives of both the individuals listedand their families at risk. The list was also posted by the Office of then President Htin Kyaw.2956 1336. The Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing has made repeated references to the so-called “Alelthankyaw crisis” of 1942 in discussing what he calls “the Bengali problem”. On 1 September 2017, at the height of the “clearance operations” in Rakhine State, in a post entitled “Entire government institutions and people must defend the country with strong patriotism”2957, he started his statement as follows: “Rakhine ethnics lost their land in the Alelthankyaw crisis that broke out in Rakhine State in 1942 in which Bengali attacked, murdered and coerced them into leaving their homes. We will never let such terrible occurrence happen again. The Tatmadaw will fully safeguard the sovereignty of Myanmar, without allowing any damage to it.” The post continues by detailing the alleged atrocities from 1942, before stating: “The Bengali problem was a long-standing one which has become an unfinished job despite the efforts of the previous governments to solve it. The government in office is taking great care in solving the problem.” Reference to the same events was regularly included in later posts as well, including on 10 and 20 September 2017.2958 Regardless of the one-sided representation of the 1942 events2959, the Commander-in-Chief’s explicit link between the 2017 “clearance operations” in Rakhine State and an “unfinished” “Bengali problem” dating back to 1942 reveals that the 2017 military operation was not (only) to respond to the ARSA attacks and to quell the threat posed by this group, as has been claimed. It rather speaks to a broader objective on the part of the Tatmadaw with historical 2952 2953 2954 2955 2956 2957 2958 2959 336 Posts on file with the Mission. https://scontent-mxp1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/33333112_1702663973187794_20652123 38264342528_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=442ac7b0455213ea2ded951f1d9d35d8&oe=5B9F1BA8, photo accompanying a post by the Office of Commander-in-Chief Facebook page (on file with the Mission). Photo accompanying a post by the Information Committee Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/InfomationCommittee/posts/855052794667828 (accessed July 2018). The Global New Light of Myanmar, issues of 18, 19, and 20 January 2018. http://www.president-office.gov.mm/en/?q=issues/rakhine-state-affairs/id-8356 (accessed July 2018). Post on file with the Mission. Posts on file with the Mission. See for a study on the 1942 events: J. Leider, “Conflict and Mass violence in Arakan (Rakhine State) – The 1942 Events and Political Identity Formation”, in Citizenship in Myanmar, A. South, M. Lall (eds.), (Chiang Mai University Press, 2018), pp. 193-221, noting that “the waves of communal clashes of 1942 have been poorly documented, sparsely investigated and rarely studied” (p. 194) and that “the absence of a factual master narrative, which both Buddhists and Muslims could have agreed upon, barred the emergence of consensual interpretations of the events” (p. 211). The events occurred during World War II when the Rohingya supported the British and the Rakhine supported the Japanese. The Tatmadaw was founded during this period with the support of the Japanese Army.