8/8/22, 9:18 PM New evidence shows how Myanmar's military planned the Rohingya purge The reporting for this article is based on material from thousands of pages of o icial records obtained by the Commission for International Justice and Accountability. To verify details in the documents, Reuters reporters spoke to more than a dozen people with knowledge of the military’s operations in Rakhine, including former o icials from Rakhine state, a member of parliament, locals in Rakhine and former members of the security forces. The reporters also cross-checked details in the documents against contemporaneous reports by state and local media and other material authored by authorities, including articles in an o icial magazine and books. They scoured social media pages to confirm details in the documents that appeared on the accounts of administrators and o icials. One of the documents in the CIJA cache had been previously obtained by Reuters. Not all details in the documents could be verified, including specific discussions that took place in private meetings between a tight circle of people ahead of the military crackdown in 2017. Two former o icials, however, confirmed that the kinds of meetings involving senior military commanders that are described in the documents took place. They confirmed key events and policies described in the documents, such as the formation of militias and cooperation between military o icials and ultranationalist monks. Former o icials and members of the security forces interviewed by Reuters also confirmed the names and ranks of o icials and military commanders who appear in the documents. For example, a defector from the Myanmar military confirmed the presence in the field during the 2017 military crackdown of a captain and a commander named in the documents; their names were not in the public domain. A former politician in Rakhine also confirmed that a meeting to discuss the Rohingya detailed in the documents between military o icials and ultranationalist monks took place. Reuters verified audiovisual material contained in the CIJA cache by matching unique elements that can be seen in the material with contemporaneous media accounts. Former military and civilian o icials confirmed the use by government and military o icers of the Viber messaging app, which is mentioned in the documents. Viber didn’t respond to a request for comment. The reporters also corroborated the timeline for the implementation of key policies and events described in the documents. For example, an interview with a militia leader helped to confirm dates and other details about the formation of antiRohingya militias. The reporters also corroborated the deployment of mobile medical teams to Rohingya villages with a Rohingya village administrator and photos published in a military-authored book. According to the CIJA documents, these teams were meant to spy on the Muslim population while treating them. Reporters cross-checked a log of military activities with information published by military-run media and satellite images showing when Rohingya villages were torched in Rakhine state. The number of burned buildings recorded in each village in the log aligned roughly with estimates put together by researchers who analyzed satellite imagery of the arson. A military defector confirmed that battalions mentioned in the log were present in https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-rohingya-warcrimes-investigation/ 33/34