A/HRC/42/CRP.5 351. The following morning, the deceased girl’s father went with other villagers to collect her body. A bullet had penetrated her skull from behind. Colonel Win Zaw Oo, spokesperson for the military’s Western Regional Command, commented in public statements to the media that government forces engaged in a firefight with the AA after AA soldiers attacked a Tatmadaw convoy with mines and fired on troops from within Myauk Taung village. The Tatmadaw reportedly stated they “couldn’t be sure who shot the bullet”. 785 Villagers and the AA deny that the AA was inside the village. 786 (c) Conclusions and legal findings 352. Schools are civilian objects under international humanitarian law. As such, they must not be the object of direct attack or the object of indiscriminate attacks and are afforded the protections of precautionary measures unless and for such time as they become legitimate military objects.787 International humanitarian law also requires the Tatmadaw, to the extent feasible, to avoid locating military personnel and objects in schools when they are within or near densely populated areas.788 The purpose of this rule is to guard civilians from the dangers of conflict. 353. The Mission shares the United Nations Security Council’s concerns that a military’s use of schools in contravention of applicable international law “may render schools legitimate targets of attack, thus endangering children’s and teachers’ safety as well as children’s education”.789 The Safe Schools Declaration, which at the time of writing 95 States endorsed,790 similarly recognizes that educational facilities used by parties to armed conflict “expose students and education personnel to harm, deny large numbers of children and students their right to education and so deprive communities of the foundations on which to build their future”.791 The Declaration has guidelines that instruct parties to armed conflict not to use functioning schools and universities in support of their military efforts. 792 The guidelines also instruct parties not to use schools and universities that have been abandoned or evacuated because of the dangers of conflict for any purpose that supports the military effort, except in extenuating circumstances when they are presented with no viable alternative.793 354. The Mission demands that the military cease its use of schools. It calls on the Government of Myanmar to endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration fully as a matter of urgency. The Tatmadaw should also always assess the necessity of using schools for military purposes and determine whether alternative options are available to ensure the protection of children, teachers, education and schools. When a school is in a densely populated area, the military is obligated to do this. 355. Similarly to schools, places of worship receive general protections of international humanitarian law as civilian objects. This means they cannot be the object of attack, are 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 https://burma.irrawaddy.com/news/2019/05/20/191927.html, http://burmese.dvb.no/archives/328285, https://burmese.voanews.com/a/rakhine-conflict-kyauk-taw/4924427.html, https://www.bbc.com/burmese/burma-48346351, https://www.rfa.org/burmese/news/kyauktawshooting-05202019072127.html. LI-205, The Irrawaddy “Ten-Year-Old Shot Dead in Restive Rakhine State” (20 May 2019). See J.M. Henckaerts and L. Doswald-Beck, “Customary International Humanitarian Law. Volume I: Rules” (Cambridge, ICRC/Cambridge University Press, 2005), rule 10 (civilian objects’ loss of protection from attack). Ibid., rule 23 (location of military objectives outside densely populated areas). UNSC Res. S/RES/2427 (2018). Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, Safe Schools Declaration Endorsements, available at https://ssd.protectingeducation.org/endorsement/ Safe School Declaration. available at: http://www.protectingeducation.org/sites/default/files/documents/safe_schools_declaration-final.pdf Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use During Armed Conflict. Available at http://www.protectingeducation.org/sites/default/files/documents/guidelines_en.pdf Ibid. 103