A/HRC/42/CRP.5 schools in the region being closed and otherwise negatively affecting the access to education of children irrespective of ethnicity 753 In Rakhine and Chin villages Tatmadaw soldiers install themselves in schools and use them as barracks where they sleep and cook.754 One Chin woman from Paletwa Township explained: “Since the Tatmadaw soldiers arrived, the school has been closed”.755 330. The Tatmadaw also used schools as detention and interrogation sites, in particular for ethnic Rakhine villagers accused of supporting the AA.756 One ethnic Rakhine man described how he and a fellow villager were detained by soldiers of the 55 th LID in a school on grounds of supporting the AA. “They kept us in the hot sun at a school compound, and we were beaten with the barrel of a gun by Tatmadaw soldiers of the 55 th LID.”757 331. In the village of Kyauk Tan in Rathedaung Township, the Tatmadaw used a school to detain and interrogate ethnic Rakhine villagers for weeks. As detailed below, the Tatmadaw opened fire on the detainees, killing seven and injuring eight others.758 332. The Tatmadaw’s use of schools may also contribute to them being the object of attacks by the AA. During a clash between the AA and Tatmadaw in and around the Chin village of Auk Pyin Wa in Paletwa Township, a Chin villager described how heavy AA gunfire damaged a school in her village and said the AA may have targeted the school because they thought the Tatmadaw was inside: ���I cannot say exactly how many bullet holes in the school, but the whole side wall, and the top of the roof, there were holes everywhere”.759 333. Tatmadaw attacks have also damaged schools.760 As detailed above, on 13 June 2019, in the village of Yraw Haung Taw in Mrauk-U Township, the Tatmadaw fired munitions that damaged a school and injured at least one student inside the school’s premises.761 (b) Religious sites 334. Tatmadaw soldiers have also set up bases in monasteries and temples from which they have carried out military operations and attacks. 762 One villager described how, on 4 March 2019, hundreds of Tatmadaw soldiers wearing the badge of the 22nd LID entered a temple in Hpa Ywar Gyi village in Mrauk-U Township: 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 100 While the Mission has not documented the Tatmadaw’s use of Rohingya schools and madrassas, credible reports indicate that this may be taking place in Rohingya villages as well. See for example: Amnesty International, No one Can Protect Us: War Crimes and Abuses in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, (May 2019) p.30; FFFGEN-1555826851-1890; CI-319, CI-320. See, also, Myanmar Peace Monitor, “Peace Monitoring Dashboard: June 2019”, available at: http://www.mmpeacemonitor.org/2050 (accessed 9 September 2019). LI-142, LI-207, FFFGEN-1555826851-1890, See also Amnesty International, No one Can Protect Us: War Crimes and Abuses in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, (May 2019), p. 30, UNICEF, “UNICEF Myanmar calls for the urgent protection of children in Rakhine State as schools re-open soon” (Press Release, 28 May 2019) available at: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-myanmar-callsurgent-protection-children-rakhine-state-schools-re-open-soon. LI-142. LI-166, LI-179, LI-202, LI-203, LI-204, See also: Amnesty International, No one Can Protect Us: War Crimes and Abuses in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, (May 2019) p.30. LI-179. See section above on the Kyauk Tan incident. See also LI-202, LI-203, LI-204 LI-158. See Chapter V, section D in this report: the Tatmadaw conflict with the Arakan Army; Abuses by the Arakan Army. CI-275, LI-214, See also: The Irrawaddy “Civilians Injured, School Shelled in Army Response to Mrauk-U Ambush” (14 June 2019). LI-214, see also: Khaing Roe La, “Four people injured by Tatmadaw gunfire” (Development Media Group, 13 June 2019, The Irrawaddy “Civilians Injured, School Shelled in Army Response to MraukU Ambush” (14 June 2019). LI-165, LI-175, LI-210, LI-211, LI-212, LI-214, LI-215, LI-216.

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