Thread by @mattfwells

Our new @amnesty investigation out today reveals that the Rohingya armed group ARSA massacred scores of Hindus in #Rakhine St, #Myanmar in August 2017, and carried out other killings and abductions of Hindus amn.st/6009DgOb1 1/n

“I saw men holding the heads and hair [of the women] and others were holding knives… then they cut their throats,” a Hindu survivor told us, about the killing of her family & other villagers in Kha Maung Seik by ARSA fighters 2/n

Eight Hindu women and eight of their children survived the massacre. They were abducted and, several days later, as the #Myanmar military sent reinforcements via helicopter, taken by ARSA to #Bangladesh 3/n

The massacre of the Hindus in Kha Maung Seik village tract is a highly charged and polarizing event. Here’s a little about how we now came to the conclusion that ARSA fighters are responsible, after starting to look at this incident in Sept 2017 4/n

We interviewed all 8 of the adult Hindu survivors. Some we intv’d initially in Bangladesh in Sept 2017 & then again in Myanmar in April or May 2018. 5/n

After being abducted & taken to Bangladesh, they were initially compelled to say that the perpetrators were someone else. They were then moved to a Hindu-only camp area, before being repatriated to #Myanmar in Oct 2017. 6/n

Their testimony with us has been consistent over time. When still in Bangladesh, survivors began identifying ARSA fighters as the perpetrators. They said the attackers spoke the Rohingya dialect. 7/n

The survivors ID’d specific, individual perpetrators, one of whom we have confirmed is a Rohingya resident of Kha Maung Seik. 8/n

They gave highly consistent descriptions of the attackers’ dress. Some men in black, with faces largely covered; others in normal civilian dress. 9/n

In April 2018, we interviewed dozens of other Hindu, Rakhine, Mro, and Khami who live in northern Rakhine St. Descriptions of ARSA attackers in different villages were consistent w/ what Hindu survivors in Kha Maung Seik described. 10/n

We obtained photographs of Hindu bodies being discovered in graves on 23-24 Sept. We sent them to a forensic expert, who said the decomposition was “entirely consistent” with being killed and buried on 25 August. 11/n

Forensic expert also spotted blindfolds on bodies &, in enlarging an image, an injury consistent with a throat being slit. That corroborates what the Hindu survivors told us. 12/n

Separate testimony also corroborated additional details, including that the Myanmar military sent reinforcements via helicopter around 27 Aug—and that appears to have prompted ARSA fighters to flee with the abducted women. 13/n

ARSA fighters responsible for the massacre & other unlawful killings need to be held to account. So, of course, does the #Myanmar military for its crimes against humanity against the Rohingya 14/n

The #Myanmar authorities have complained about the lack of attention on the Hindu massacre. That is absurd. It is the authorities who have blocked independent access to NRS, making documentation incredibly difficult. 15/n

The #Myanmar authorities have shown clearly that they don’t want the full story told—because they know the military committed horrific crimes against the #Rohingya during the ethnic cleansing campaign. 16/n

While some Rohingya joined core ARSA fighters in the attacks, there is no question that the vast, vast majority of Rohingya had nothing to do with the attacks or these Hindu killings. 17/n

In response to the ARSA attacks on security posts, the #Myanmar military committed widespread killings and rape, and burned hundreds of #Rohingya villages. Soldiers targeted entire Rohingya population, as we @amnesty have documented amnesty.org/en/documents/a… 18/n

For more of our reporting about human rights violations in #Myanmar, including the military’s crimes against humanity in Rakhine State, see: amnesty.org/en/countries/a… 19/END