A/HRC/39/CRP.2 work on two key incidents, which are considered to be among the most grave. This focus should in no way detract from the scale or significance of the 2016 violence, which warrants further investigation and documentation. Pwint Hpyu Chaung 1073. Pwint Hpyu Chaung village tract yai khutis in northern Maungdaw Township, approximately 12 kilometres north of Maungdaw town. It is made up of three Rohingya hamlets. The Tatmadaw led “area clearance operations” in Pwint Hpyu Chaung on 11 and 12 November 2016.2414 1074. Following the 9 October 2016 ARSA attacks, soldiers had increased visits, held regular meetings with the village elders and came to the village twice a week to look for “bad people”.2415 1075. The situation deteriorated early on 11 November 2016, when soldiers detained a large number of men attending prayers at the local mosques. Between 60 and 80 men were detained and held for two or more hours before being released. Some were subjected to beatings and other ill-treatment.2416 One man described being taken from a mosque to the school building and tied together with ropes. As well as being kicked and beaten with rifle butts, the soldiers burned his beard and chin with matches. The detainees were called “Bengali” and “Kalar”.2417 1076. After their release, the men who had originally been detained were told by the Tatmadaw commander to return at 12pm to the village meeting place. Word spread that other men from the village should attend also. Approximately 60 men came to the meeting place as instructed at around 12pm on 11 November. They were taken away to Buthidaung prison in two military trucks and detained for at least one year. At least one individual, an elderly man, died on the way to prison.2418 One man who later visited relatives in the group believed from their appearance that they were ill-treated.2419 1077. From 3am the following morning, 12 November 2016, a large number of Tatmadaw soldiers and police arrived in the village tract in military vehicles and commenced an “area clearance operation”, moving through the three hamlets. Weapons were fired, followed by the burning of houses, starting from the southern end of the village. Villagers fled, many running for nearby forested areas or neighbouring villages. Petrol was used to burn houses, as were weapons described as “launchers”. The burning continued all day, with dozens of houses set alight.2420 1078. Although the number of people killed or wounded is unknown, up to nine died from bullet wounds.2421 One interviewee saw four of his male relatives, between the ages of 13 and 77, having their hands tied and being put inside a house that he later saw on fire. He has not seen any of them since, and believes that they were killed. 2422 A group of village elders who were able to return a few days later discovered the bodies of four or five people burned in a house.2423 1079. There are strong indications that a number of women and girls were subjected to sexual and gender-based violence during the operation.2424 One witness reported how he hid and watched his niece being gang raped and then shot and killed by soldiers. 2425 2414 2415 2416 2417 2418 2419 2420 2421 2422 2423 2424 2425 256 LI-133. CI-142, LI-133, QI-104. CI-142, CI-143, LI-127, LI-133, QI-104. LI-127. CI-142, CI-143, LI-096, LI-127, QI-104. QI-104. CI-142, CI-143, CI-150, LI-127, LI-133, QI-104. CI-142, CI-143, CI-150, LI-127, LI-133, QI-104, QI-100, XI-009. LI-133. CI-143, LI-127, LI-133, QI-104. CI-150, LI-127, QI-100. LI-127.