• Burmese
Saturday, June 14, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
27 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Highlights From the Summary of Myanmar Report on Human Rights Violations in Rakhine

Kyaw Phyo Tha by Kyaw Phyo Tha
January 24, 2020
in Burma
Reading Time: 7 mins read
0 0
A A
Visitors at Yangon Zoo / The Irrawaddy

Visitors at Yangon Zoo / The Irrawaddy

5.7k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

YANGON—Since its submission to President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, the government-backed Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE)’s report on human rights violations in Rakhine State has yet to see the light of the day.

The report covers human rights violations and related issues against Rohingya Muslims and others following terrorist attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Rakhine State in August 2017.

However, a Burmese-language summary of the ICOE report released by the Myanmar President’s Office offers a hint of the complexity of one of the most controversial issues Myanmar faces today. The government said the commission was formed with a view to seeking accountability and formulating recommendations on steps to be taken to ensure peace and stability in Rakhine.

RelatedPosts

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

June 13, 2025
368
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

June 11, 2025
927
Myanmar Junta Accused of Using Cluster Bombs in Deadly Attack on Karen Village School

Myanmar Junta Accused of Using Cluster Bombs in Deadly Attack on Karen Village School

June 11, 2025
621
ICOE chairperson Rosario Manalo hands the commission’s final report to Myanmar President U Win Myint on Jan. 20, 2020 in Naypyitaw. / The Irrawaddy

The ICOE said it “attached great importance” to accessing information on the ground and collecting statements from the affected communities and witnesses of violence, as well as from various authorities. The ICOE’s Evidence Collection and Verification Teams (ECVTs) were dispatched to Rakhine State, Yangon and Naypyitaw to gather evidence. The ICOE interviewed about 1,500 witnesses from various communities in northern Rakhine State, including Muslims, Rakhine, Mro and Daingnet, as well as military and police personnel.

Contradicting international accusations, the report denies that the government security forces’ clearance operations against ARSA in northern Rakhine had “genocidal intent.” However, it concludes that serious human rights violations including war crimes took place during the operations between Aug. 25 and Sept. 5, 2017. The ICOE found that these were committed by security forces and their thugs, as well as by ARSA members and Rohingya themselves.

ICOE chairperson Rosario Manalo hands the commission’s final report to Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Jan. 20, 2020 in Naypyitaw. / The Irrawaddy

The report also includes 22 recommendations; the most prominent may be the ICOE’s call for both the Myanmar government and military to conduct further investigations and prosecute those involved in the crimes mentioned above.

In the wake of the release of the report summary, here are some interesting highlights—most of them never before published—that you shouldn’t miss.

ARSA: Overwhelming Force

On the morning of Aug. 25, ARSA launched attacks on 30 police outposts and an army battalion in northern Rakhine State.

-Estimated number of ARSA members involved in the attack on the day: 

more than 9,000.

-Damage caused: 

Eight bridges on major local trade routes were destroyed; another 26 police outposts were attacked in the following days.

-Estimated number of people involved (ARSA and local Rohingya) in attacks after Aug. 25: 

more than 14,000—the number far exceeds the total headcount of government security forces in northern Rakhine State.

-Number of security forces on the front line: 

between 3,000 and 3,500.

-Number of supporting forces: 

between 1,000 and 1,500.

Security forces patrol in southern Maungdaw Township in September 2017. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

The ICOE report notes that the security forces were overwhelmed by such a large number on the ARSA side, and that the army never expected such an attack. “Security forces had no idea how to cope with the throng of ARSA fighters and their armed civilian supporters,” it says.

-Casualties: 

Based on government data, the ICOE report says 376 ARSA fighters were killed while two soldiers, 11 policemen, two government employees and 133 civilians were killed during the clearance operations.

-Homes damaged: 

more than 40,000. 

-People displaced: 

More than 410,000 (mostly Rohingya) fled to Bangladesh.

The ICOE notes that casualty and damage figures vary drastically depending on the source. 

 

Nearly 1,000 People Killed

Ten Rohingya men with their hands bound kneel as members of the Myanmar security forces stand guard in Inn Din village of Rakhine State, Myanmar, on Sept. 2, 2017. / REUTERS

The ICOE found that security forces committed massacres in four villages in three townships in northern Rakhine during the clearance operations, based on witnesses’ accounts.

-Massacre sites: 

Min Gyi Village in Maungdaw Township, Chut Pyin Village in Rathaedaung, and Maung Nu and Gutar Pyi villages in Buthidaung.

-Death Tolls

  1. Between 500-600 civilians inMin Gyi Village, probably the largest number killed.
  2. Nearly 100 (ARSA fighters and civilians)at Chut Pyin Village.
  3. Between 100-200 (mostly civilians) atMaung Nu Village.
  4. 19 atGutar Pyin Village.

The report notes that despite locals’ claims of killings during armed clashes between security forces and ARSA in other areas, the number of civilian deaths and mass killings in those locations could not be confirmed.

 

No Gang Rape

For all the international media reports and UN statements on the gang rape of Rohingya women by security forces, the ICOE could find no reliable witness accounts supporting the claim.

“While there were accounts of gang rape, they were not from eyewitnesses; rather, they relied on hearsay,” the commission said.

However, regarding claims by some Rohingya women that they had to undergo body searches by security forces, the report states: “It may fit [a charge of] sexual harassment.”

 

Property Destruction

Deserted Muslim residences in Gaw Du Thara village in southern Maungdaw were torched in September 2017. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy)

The ICOE says house-burning cases were reported in all 13 areas it studied for the report. The most serious episode was in Min Gyi Village, which was entirely reduced to ashes.

-Other affected areas:

  1. Chut Pyin,where most Rohingya houses were burnt down.
  2. Nearly 300 houseswere torched in Gutar Pyin Village.
  3. Half of the total number of houses in both Mawtula and Inn Dinvillages were set on fire.

 

-Who did it?

Deserted Muslim residences in Gaw Du Thara village in southern Maungdaw were torched in September 2017. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

According to witnesses, the arson was mostly committed by:

  1. Security forces and their local thugs
  2. ARSA members

The commission found that security forces failed to deter the destruction of Rohingya people’s properties.

 

Looting

According to many witnesses, looting was mostly carried out by non-Rohingya residents and some security force personnel.

A non-Rohingya man who looted a deserted Rohingya homes covers his face in southern Maungdaw in September 2017. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

 

Torture

Witnesses recalled seeing soldiers beating Rohingya to force them to follow their orders.

 

Forced Displacement

Rohingya people wade through water as they try to reach the Bangladesh side of the border from No Man’s Land after hearing a gunshot from the Myanmar side, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on Aug. 28, 2017. / Reuters

The ICOE found little solid evidence to suggest that security forces pressured Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.

-Why did they leave?

  1. Fear of internal conflictsfollowing the armed clashes between security forces and ARSA, as well as ARSA’s initial attacks.
  2. Violence, including mass killings and property destruction, resulted in homelessness and livelihood hardships, causing them to decide to flee to Bangladesh.
  3. ARSA members set Rohingya villagers’ houses on fireto stimulate an exodus, and pushed them to torch their properties before fleeing to Bangladesh to ensure international aid and settlement in a third country.
  4. ARSA also burned the houses of other minority nativesincluding ethnic Mro and Daingnet, forcing them to leave their villages.
  5. Witnesses said ARSA committed mass killings of Hinduswhile taking Hindu women to Bangladesh for forced marriage with ARSA membersafter forcing them to convert to Islam.
A Hindu villager reacts while identifying the bodies of relatives found by government forces, in a mass grave in northern Rakhine on September 27, 2017. / REUTERS

No Genocidal Intent

The report says:

–“The ICOE has not found any evidence suggesting that these killings or acts of displacement were committed pursuant to an intent or plan to destroy the Muslim or any other community in northern Rakhine State.

“There is insufficient evidence to argue, much less conclude, that the crimes committed were undertaken with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, or with any other requisite mental state for the international crime of genocide.

“The ECVT findings reveal no indication of a pattern of conduct from which one could reasonably conclude that the acts were committed with ‘genocidal intent’.”

— “On the basis of the information available and of the investigations carried out in northern Rakhine State and elsewhere…war crimes, serious human rights violations, and violations of domestic law took place during the security operations between 25 August and 5 September 2017.

 “Although these serious crimes and violations were committed by multiple actors, there are reasonable grounds to believe that members of Myanmar’s security forces were involved.

“ARSA’s initial attacks—drawing on a very large number of mobilized villagers—provoked the response by Myanmar’s security forces. The killings of innocent villagers and destruction of their homes were committed by some members of Myanmar’s security forces through disproportionate use of force during the internal armed conflict.”

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar State Counselor Says Int’l Condemnation of Country Over Rohingya Crisis Is Unfounded

What You Need to Know: The Gambia’s Request for Provisional Measures & Myanmar’s Arguments at the ICJ

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Arakan Rohingya Salvation ArmyARSAarsonattacksBangladeshCrimesDisplacementgenocidal intentHindushuman rights violationsICOEIndependent Commission of EnquirykillingslootingsmassacresMilitaryRakhineRapereportRohingyasecurity personnelsummaryTatmadawwar crimes
Kyaw Phyo Tha

Kyaw Phyo Tha

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.3k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses
Business

Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

by The Irrawaddy
November 27, 2023
38.5k

Jin San Jiao is latest northern Shan State trade hub in crosshairs of ethnic Brotherhood Alliance.

Read moreDetails
AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns
War Against the Junta

AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns

by The Irrawaddy
December 18, 2024
25.3k

Ethnic army reportedly poised to capture regime’s last stronghold in Rakhine State.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar General in Charge of Shan State Disaster Handed Surprise Promotion
Burma

Myanmar General in Charge of Shan State Disaster Handed Surprise Promotion

by The Irrawaddy
February 5, 2024
24.4k

Naing Naing Oo elevated to Lieutenant-General and made chief of powerful Bureau of Special Operations No. 2, in a reshuffle...

Read moreDetails
Interview

Myanmar’s Junta And Its Military Face Annihilation, Arakan Army Says

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 25, 2023
22.5k

The current war in Myanmar differs from past conflicts in the country because ethnic armies are no longer on the...

Read moreDetails
Battle of Paletwa Loss Turns Tide Against Myanmar Junta on Western Front
Analysis

Battle of Paletwa Loss Turns Tide Against Myanmar Junta on Western Front

by Moe Sett Nyein Chan
January 23, 2024
22k

The military’s demoralized Western Command is feeling the heat as the Arakan Army closes in on towns in northern Rakhine,...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Dr. Aye Maung talks to the media during a court appearance in Sittwe in October 2018.

Top Myanmar Court Rejects Final Appeal for Rakhine Activists in Treason Case

The NLD and other parties’ lawmakers sign two bills on the amendment of the 2008 Constitution in Naypyitaw on Jan. 23, 2020. / Yinmin Hlaing / Facebook

More Than Half of Parliamentarians Back NLD Charter Amendment Bills

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Will Myanmar’s Military Replace Its Embattled Leader?

Will Myanmar’s Military Replace Its Embattled Leader?

1 week ago
2.5k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

2 days ago
927

Most Read

  • Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Jade Hub Burns as Junta Counteroffensive Penetrates Hpakant

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • High-Level Ministerial Meeting Held to Speed Up Preparations for Myanmar Junta’s Election

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.