A/HRC/42/CRP.5 671. The Mission concludes that a moratorium on domestic and international investment and development assistance in Rakhine State is necessary at this stage to ensure that investment and development assistance do not directly, indirectly or inadvertently consolidate the Tatmadaw’s persecutory and genocidal objectives. The moratorium should continue until the Rohingya population is able to enjoy its rights free from discrimination and on the basis of equality. The Mission concludes that a moratorium should be imposed on domestic and international investment and development assistance in Rakhine State at this time. Such moratorium could be ended once the restrictions on the remaining Rohingya population in Rakhine are lifted and they can enjoy rights free from discrimination on the basis of equality with the non-Rohingya population. This, in turn, would allow the Rohingya to benefit from investment and development assistance on an equal footing with the rest of the population in Rakhine State. In implementing a moratorium, due consideration should be given to ensure it does not have adverse socio-economic impacts on Rohingya and other communities in Rakhine State that would result in further harm. The moratorium must not prevent life-saving programmes and services from being provided. B. The situation of the ethnic Rakhine 672. In its 2018 report, the Mission found that some ethnic Rakhine, while victims of serious human rights violations by the Tatmadaw in their own right, had also played a direct role in the 2017 “clearance operations” against the Rohingya. In the recent conflict between the Tatmadaw and the AA, ethnic Rakhine have themselves again been subjected to one of the hallmarks of the Tatmadaw’s military operations, indiscriminate attacks that kill and injure civilians. The Mission found that violations of international human rights and humanitarian law have been committed in a series of Tatmadaw attacks in the past months. These have been compounded by a pattern of arrests, detention, torture and illtreatment of ethnic Rakhine men and boys, some of which resulted in death. 673. In striking contrast to the “clearance operations” against the Rohingya, the Mission found that sexual and gender-based violence has not been used as a tactic of war by the Tatmadaw in its conflict this year with the AA. This is a marked shift in pattern and supports the Mission’s previous conclusions that in 2017 the Tatmadaw used sexual and gender-based violence as a means of persecution that was also indicative of genocidal intent against the Rohingya population. It indicates that Tatmadaw commanders are able to control the perpetration of sexual and gender-based violence and that there is command responsibility for the perpetration of sexual and gender-based violence. The Mission reiterates its recommendation that instructions at the highest level of command should be given to ensure military personnel refrain from committing rape, gang rape and other forms of sexual violence. Accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims are required for past practices of sexual and gender-based violence. 674. As with all other ethnic conflicts in Myanmar examined by the Mission, the civilian populations affected by the conflict, including ethnic Rakhine, Chin and Rohingya, have suffered severe humanitarian consequences as a result of the implementation of policies consistent with the Tatmadaw’s “four cuts” strategy. In this most recent conflict, the Tatmadaw has included a novel fifth cut, the “cutting of information”. Through its clampdown on freedom of expression, association and information, by way of a series of legal actions against individual journalists, access restrictions for the media to conflict areas and an internet shutdown, the Myanmar Government has effectively deprived the population of the ability to communicate with the outside world and prevented the outside world from communicating about the military operations in Rakhine. This isolates the ethnic Rakhine population further. It also carries the risk of further abuse being perpetrated by the Tatmadaw without proper oversight. While the Mission welcomes initiatives to curb hate speech and incitement to violence, well-documented in its 2018 report, the strategy of cutting off information must be monitored closely for their potential to affect adversely and disproportionately not only the fundamental freedoms of the population in Rakhine, but also the protection of civilians. 176