A/HRC/34/67 against the Rohingya. On 24 October, the Special Rapporteur and several United Nations experts publicly expressed their concerns regarding allegations of summary executions, including of children, and arbitrary arrests, as well as burning down of houses and mosques as part of the security operations. The experts called for thorough and impartial investigations of all suspected cases of extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions and for access for humanitarian organizations to undertake a needs assessment, continue delivering assistance and ensure that the protection, needs and well-being of affected populations were urgently and properly addressed. 14 73. Despite the lack of access to the affected areas, reports continue to be released, including by international non-governmental organizations and media, based on satellite imagery and analysis, as well as from interviews with individuals who have fled Rakhine State. 15 The Government’s consistent response to those allegations was denial and dismissal. While the Government declined the request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for a team to access northern Rakhine, 16 the Government of Bangladesh allowed access to a four-member team from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to meet in Cox’s Bazar with members of the Rohingya population who had fled from northern Rakhine in the wake of the events of 9 October. The flash report issued on 3 February documented a horrifying number of serious human rights violations that appeared to have taken place in a widespread and systematic manner “indicating the very likely commission of crimes against humanity”.17 The alleged violations recorded from testimonies of over 200 Rohingyas include extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and inhuman treatment, rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, deportation and forced transfer as a result of violence and persecution. The testimonies indicate that the attacks against Rohingya villages, including the deliberate destruction of houses and food stocks, made it impossible for Rohingya people to continue living in their villages, “thereby creating a coercive environment amounting to forced displacement”. In that regard, the High Commissioner urged Myanmar to bring the military operations to an end and conduct an independent investigation. 74. While the Special Rapporteur did have access to five Rohingya villages in Maungdaw from where many reports of alleged violations had emanated and spoke to villagers, the visits were conducted in a brief period of time conducted over one day, making it difficult to ascertain the full scale and reliability of allegations conveyed. Furthermore, while government officials and security personnel did not closely monitor the Special Rapporteur while she was talking to community members, she still noted the extreme state of fear and anxiety on the part of those who spoke with her and recognizes the possibility that informants from within the community might later report to others on those conversations. The Special Rapporteur also visited Rakhine communities, including one displaced Mro community, and one Hindu community during her visit to Rakhine State. She notes that all communities reported increased livelihood difficulties following the 9 October attacks, as well as anxiety and fear. 75. One of the more remarkable observations made during the visit to Maungdaw was of “hanging doors”. It had been reported previously that during the security operations, villagers were ordered to remove fencing around their houses, yards, ablution blocks and water ponds (allegedly accompanied by harassment, arrest and extortion of villagers). The observation of doors standing alone without fencing appears to corroborate those orders, which have made women feel particularly vulnerable and insecure as bathing and toilet facilities are normally enclosed within those fences. The Special Rapporteur noted that earlier in June, an instruction was apparently issued by the Maungdaw authorities to ban zinc fencing around “Bengali” houses and its implementation was reportedly accelerated following the 9 October attacks. While the justification given for those instructions was 14 15 16 17 14 See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20742&LangID=E#sthash. See Human Rights Watch, “Burma: military burned villages in Rakhine State”, 13 December 2016. Available from www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/13/burma-military-burned-villages-rakhine-state. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21042&LangID=E. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/MM/FlashReport3Feb2017.pdf. See also A/HRC/32/18.