A/HRC/42/CRP.5 protected from indiscriminate attack and enjoy the protections of precautionary measures. 794 International humanitarian law requires the Tatmadaw, to the extent feasible, to avoid locating military personnel and objects in places of worship that are within or near densely populated areas.795 Depending on the historical and cultural significance of the religious sites that the Tatmadaw used or damaged, international law may also afford them the protections of cultural property.796 The Tatmadaw’s use of places of worship denies people their right to worship and can make places of worship legitimate targets of attack. 356. The incidents that the Mission investigated, that left temples damaged and civilians dead and injured, may have been indiscriminate. Further information is required. The military should always assess the necessity of using places of worship for military purposes and determine whether alternative options are available to ensure the protection of civilians and their right to worship. When a place a worship is in a densely populated area, the military is obligated to do this. 3. Torture, arbitrary detention and deaths in custody 357. The Mission documented a pattern of Tatmadaw soldiers moving into ethnic Rakhine villages and rounding-up groups of ethnic Rakhine men for collective questioning. The interrogations often took place inside or just outside the village. The Mission received many accounts of the Tatmadaw beating the men and insulting them verbally. 797 358. One Rakhine man described to the Mission how in his village near Mrauk-U town soldiers beat and kicked him and a group of men whom they questioned about the AA. The Tatmadaw gathered both men and women in one place, and then took approximately 40 men to a location outside the village. There, the soldiers forced the group to strip naked, lie on the ground and do jumping exercises under threat of being shot. The man also described how the soldiers “kicked us with their boots and slapped our faces and pointed their guns at us. They beat us badly.”798 359. In other cases, Tatmadaw soldiers violently forced ethnic Rakhine men into military vehicles and drove them to formal detention sites, including military bases and police stations, where they were subjected to brutal beatings, psychological abuse and verbal threats.799 A man who was arrested with three fellow ethnic Rakhine villagers told the Mission what happened when nine soldiers came to his cell immediately after they were placed there: They blindfolded us and started interrogating us about our involvement with the AA. While asking questions, the soldiers beat us using a bamboo rod, kicked us with their hard boots, and punched us.800 360. In another case, an ethnic Rakhine man described how Tatmadaw soldiers from the 55th LID, which he identified by their badge, tied him and a fellow ethnic Rakhine villager up because they were not in possession of their identity documents. The soldiers detained the two in the yard of the village school for several hours in the hot sun, accused them of belonging to the AA, beat them with the barrels of their guns, kicked them and threatened that they would shoot them. They were eventually released without any charges.801 361. Detainees were often unaware of the location of their detention, were not informed about the charges laid against them and were unable to contact relatives or obtain legal 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 104 See J.M. Henckaerts and L. Doswald-Beck, “Customary International Humanitarian Law. Volume I: Rules” (Cambridge, ICRC/Cambridge University Press, 2005), rule 1 (the principles of distinction between civilians and combatants), rule 11 (indiscriminate attacks) and rule 14 (proportionality in attack). Ibid., rule 23 (location of military objectives outside densely populated areas). See section above in this Chapter on: Unlawful attacks by the Tatmadaw. CI-275, CI-285, CI-286 LI-166, LI-179, LI-216. LI-166. CI-277, CI-281, LI-170, LI-174. CI-277. LI-179.