A/HRC/42/CRP.5 I knew the soldiers had set themselves up inside the temple in my village that day. It was possible to see the firing as well as the sound of the artillery - it was all coming from the temple.763 335. A monk who confirmed the presence of the soldiers in the temple to the Mission saw the soldiers setting up artillery inside the compound. When the monk returned to the village later to request the soldiers to vacate the temple, the soldiers refused: I went to speak to the military officer and told him to move out of the temple. However, the high- ranking officer of the army refused the request. That man was wearing a military uniform and, he was clearly wearing the 22 badge. There were about 150-200 soldiers still inside the temple at that time.764 336. The Tatmadaw also used a monastery and its temple as a military base to position heavy artillery for its 21 March 2019 attack in Sin Taung, Buthidaung Township. 765 A man described to the Mission how the temple was “full of soldiers … and they were firing their big guns, shells and launchers and also were shooting guns nonstop from inside the Monastery”.766 337. Another man described how military soldiers had installed themselves in a pagoda near U Gar village in Rathedaung Township, since January 2019. He commented: “As the military are staying in the pagodas, the villagers cannot go there to pray”. 767 As a result of the military use of the temple in Hpa Yuar Gyi, Mrauk-U, all the monks from the temple were forced to leave the monastery, including the chief monk, who was 85 years old. 768 338. In all three cases monks and temple-goers were denied access to their places of worship as a result of the Tatmadaw’s military use of the temples and pagoda. 339. The Mission verified two Tatmadaw attacks that caused significant damage to religious sites, in addition to civilian casualties. Sa Par Htar, Minbya Township – 3 June 2019 340. On 3 June 2019, there was heavy fighting between the Tatmadaw and the AA near the village of Sa Par Htar in Minbya Township.769 Some villagers sought shelter in bombshelters in their own houses they had dug for their own safety. Hundreds of other villagers sought shelter in the local monastery.770 341. Shelling and shooting continued for several hours without break. Weapons were fired once every couple of minutes from a Tatmadaw temporary base set up along the riverside of Mrauk-U town.771 342. In the early afternoon, sometime between 2 and 3 pm, shells hit the monastery. 772 The area was covered with smoke and villagers could hardly see each other. 773 At least four people were killed in the monastery as a result of the shelling. A further two villagers, 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 LI-216. LI-215. See section above on the Sin Taung incident. LI-212. LI-175. LI-215. CI-321, CI-322, CI-323, See also, Frontier Myanmar, “Seven killed in Myanmar monastery shelling: witnesses” (04 June 2019), Myanmar Peace Monitor, “The unheeded casualties of war” (03 July 2019). Ibid., See also: EFE, “Shelling kills at least seven people in Myanmar's Rakhine State” (05 June 2019). CI-321, CI-322, CI-323, CI-324; Myanmar Peace Monitor, “The unheeded casualties of war” (03 July 2019). CI-321, CI-322, Frontier Myanmar, “Seven killed in Myanmar monastery shelling: witnesses” (04 June 2019), The Irrawaddy, “Five Civilians Killed by Artillery Shelling in N. Rakhine” (03 June 2019), Radio Free Asia, “Four Villagers Killed, Six Injured in New Fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine State” (03 June 2019). CI-321, CI-323, Myanmar Peace Monitor, “The unheeded casualties of war” (03 July 2019). 101