On August 3, Houthi forces raided the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and “seiz[ed] documents and property by force,” according to High Commissioner Volker Türk. The office has remained under Houthi occupation, despite calls by OHCHR and others for the Houthis to vacate the premises and return all stolen assets.
Since May 31, the Houthis, an armed group that controls much of Yemen, have arrested staff from various UN agencies, international organizations, and local nongovernmental organizations. Because the Houthis did not divulge the location of those arbitrarily detained, Human Rights Watch found them to be enforced disappearances. A civil society worker tracking the arrests said that as of July 7, the Houthis had arrested over 72 people. Among those still detained are 13 UN staff members, including 6 OHCHR employees. Since 2021, the Houthis have also arbitrarily detained two other OHCHR staff and several former staff members of the United States embassy in Sanaa. They remain in custody.
The Houthis’ crackdown on UN agencies and civil society offices comes at a time when Yemen is in desperate need of humanitarian aid as the country faces multiple devastating crises. Over half of Yemen’s population lacks adequate access to food and water. The Houthis’ obstruction of aid has also exacerbated a cholera outbreak, which has resulted in at least 95,000 suspected cases and claimed at least 258 lives over the last few months. Additionally, recent floods in Houthi-controlled territories have killed dozens of people, injured hundreds more, damaged homes and infrastructure, and displaced thousands of people.
Türk, in his statement on August 13, described the seizure of his agency’s office as a “serious attack on the ability of the UN to perform its mandate, including with respect to the promotion and protection of human rights.”
The Houthis should immediately vacate the OHCHR premises, unconditionally release all UN and civil society staff, and return all assets and belongings. As a de facto authority in Yemen, the Houthis should fully meet their obligations under international human rights law and provide lifesaving services to the people living in areas under their control.
(Nyon) – The disqualification of the Olympic breaking athlete Manizha Talash for promoting gender equality should be overturned and remedied, the Sport & Rights Alliance said today. Talash, an Afghanrefugee breaker known as “b-girl Talash,” was disqualified from the Paris 2024 Olympics’ breaking competition on August 9 after she competed wearing a cape that said “Free Afghan Women.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should stop using Rule 50 in the Olympic Charter to punish athletes for standing up for universal values of equality, inclusion, and respect, the Alliance said. Rule 50 has long been used by sport governing bodies in the Olympic movement to sanction athletes advocating for social justice and human rights causes. In some cases, these sport governing bodies have later acknowledged and congratulated such athletes for their advocacy.
“When athletes speak out for causes of justice and equality, they are human rights defenders and deserve protection and solidarity,” said Ginous Alford, director of sport and human rights at World Players Association. “The Paris 2024 Olympics have claimed to be the first ‘Gender Equal’ – Games’ – so it is shocking then to punish an Olympic refugee team member for promoting precisely that during the competition. This case shows how Rule 50 can endanger athletes’ human rights to free expression and how its inconsistent application makes it even more alarming and confusing for athletes who are human rights defenders.”
Talash, a 21-year-old from Afghanistan representing the Olympic Refugee Team, was disqualified during her prequalifying battle on August 9. Talash fled Afghanistan in 2021, after her team received threats and were forced to practice at home due to worsening conditions under Taliban rule. Now living in Spain, Talash was “given a special berth to compete” by the IOC as “part of efforts to shine a spotlight on the estimated 100 million people who are forcibly displaced around the world.”
“At the third anniversary of the Taliban takeover, the crisis for women’s rights is the worst in the world. As a result, 20 million women and girls in Afghanistan are still suffering. Sports are still forbidden for all female athletes and the Taliban are refusing to reverse the ban on women’s sports,” said Friba Rezayee, one of Afghanistan’s first two Olympian women and the founder and executive director of Women Leaders of Tomorrow. “Given that all three women on the Afghan Olympic National Team – and two out of the three men – are living in exile, Talash should not have been disqualified for a simple call for women’s basic human rights.”
The World DanceSport Federation, the Lausanne-based governing body for breaking, said Talash was disqualified for “displaying a political slogan on her attire in violation of Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter.” Due to her defeat in the prequalifying battle, Talash would not have advanced to the next round even without being disqualified.
“Women’s freedom in Afghanistan is a human rights concern and universal cause that everyone at the Olympics should be able to support,” said Khalida Popal, former captain of the now-exiled Afghan Women’s National Football Team and executive director of Girl Power Organization. “Manizha Talash should be honored for her courage, if sport is to embody the values of dignity, peace, and respect for human rights that are enshrined in the Olympic Charter.”
Since taking power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have created what Human Rights Watch calls “the world’s most serious women’s rights crisis” by acts including banning girls and women from attaining secondary and higher education, violating women’s right to freedom of movement, banning women from many forms of employment, and barring women and girls from playing sports.
“Athletes do not surrender their human rights in competition, including to speak out on women’s rights,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “Manizha Talash has already faced discrimination and hardship just for being an Afghan woman, and her statement at the Paris Games aligned with the Olympic Charter’s recognition of the importance of human rights.”
Talash is a human rights defender and cultural rights defender as well as an athlete, the alliance said. In her statement on Instagram following her disqualification, Talash also makes solidarity statements with athletes, such as Basket Pour Toutes, fighting the hijab ban in French sport and promotes the counter-culture origins of break dancing. International human rights standards protect human rights defenders like Talash. The role of nonstate actors in protecting human rights defenders can be found in documents such as the 2019 Swiss Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, issued by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, where the IOC and World DanceSport Federation are headquartered.
“Manizha Talash’s brave and powerful statement at the Olympics took place almost exactly three years since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and began to silence the voices and aspirations of the country’s women,” said Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International’s regional campaigner for South Asia. “Now, more than ever, we need to hear and amplify the voices of Afghan women on every stage and every platform, including the Olympic Games. No one can be expected to remain ‘neutral’ in the face of such systemic discrimination, and no athlete should be reprimanded simply for supporting Olympic values of gender equality.”
***
The Sport & Rights Alliance’s mission is to promote the rights and well-being of those most affected by human rights risks associated with the delivery of sport. Its partners include Amnesty International, The Army of Survivors, Committee to Protect Journalists, Football Supporters Europe, Human Rights Watch, ILGA World (The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association), the International Trade Union Confederation, and World Players Association, UNI Global Union. As a global coalition of leading nongovernmental organizations and trade unions, the Sport & Rights Alliance works together to ensure sports bodies, governments, and other relevant stakeholders give rise to a world of sport that protects, respects, and fulfills international standards for human rights, labor rights, child wellbeing and safeguarding, and anti-corruption.
Thousands of Indians have taken to the streets to protest the rape and murder of a doctor in a government hospital in Kolkata city last week. They are demanding justice and better security and facilities at medical campuses and hospitals.
On August 9, a 31-year-old trainee doctor was found dead in a seminar room. News reports said she had fallen asleep in the classroom after a grueling 36-hour shift because there was no designated rest area for staff. The autopsy showed her body bore severe injuries, including fractures, suggesting a brutal assault. A male hospital volunteer worker has been arrested.
However, the authorities have failed to effectively enforce the law or ensure complaint committees tackle sexual harassment in both the formal and informal sectors.
While most private sector companies and government offices have set up internal complaint committees, many exist only on paper. Employers do little to improve workplace culture by raising awareness about what constitutes sexual harassment and consequences for such behavior.
Many protesters alleged that the Kolkata hospital’s administrator blamed the victim and attempted to cover up the crime. A mob attacked the hospital to disrupt protests, renewing concerns over barriers faced by victims and their families in cases of sexual violence. Federal investigators are now investigating the case.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal state chief minister has demanded the “hanging of the guilty” by August 18. Imposing the death penalty may have popular appeal after such a horrific crime, but it won’t protect girls and women from abuse and violence. That requires systemic reforms, including better enforcement of laws and protections in public spaces as well as in the workplace and in institutions. Human Rights Watch opposes all use of the death penalty.
Women and girls in India have the right to live and work without fear for their safety and to do so with dignity.
Bad actors are flooding the information landscape with false and misleading information ahead of US elections in November, disproportionately targeting communities of color. The torrent of misinformation is sparking concerns it could alter voting patterns and even affect the outcomes of the presidential and other elections.
Misinformation is the inadvertent spread of false information with no specific intent to harm, while disinformation is false information designed to deliberately mislead people. Disinformation can include confusing or incorrect information about the voting process, which amounts to voter suppression, a continuation of Jim Crow-era attempts to disenfranchise Black voters through poll taxes and literacy tests. Today, Black, Brown, and immigrant communities continue to be impacted by mis- and disinformation, which sometimes exploits shared trauma among these communities to sway voters.
For example, during the 2020 election, Latinx voters in Florida were targeted by ads that falsely linked President Joe Biden to the repressive Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Immigrants who rely on translated content often find themselves subjected to mistranslations in WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms, where Spanish content moderation is limited.
In comparison to text, audio and visual mis- and disinformation can be especially difficult to detect and debunk. These threats are amplified by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Not only is AI used to produce realistic mis- and disinformation quickly and cheaply, bad actors can also use AI to reach communities of color with even more precision.
AI-generated images featuring former President Donald Trump with Black voters were recently posted on social media in an apparent attempt to appeal to these voters. Some of these images have been created by conservative media groups and others by private individuals. They also create fake social media accounts to peddle false information to Black voters.
Elected officials, media outlets, and community groups should work together to provide accurate, reliable, and accessible sources of information for all people, especially communities that hold pre-existing suspicions of the political process. Online platforms have a responsibility to respect human rights, including the right to vote. These safeguards are necessary to ensure free and fair elections that lie at the heart of the US democratic system.
Over the past week, Tanzanian police have arbitrarily arrested 375 members and supporters of the country’s main opposition party, the Party for Democracy and Progress (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo, or Chadema). Among them are former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu, party chairman Freeman Mbowe, party youth wing leader John Pambalu, and several journalists. The arrests took place ahead of the party’s planned August 12 International Youth Day celebration in the city of Mbeya.
On August 11, the police announced they were banning the event because it was intended to “breach the peace.” They cited a recent statement from a Chadema youth wing mobilization coordinator that referenced the recent youth-led protests in neighboring Kenya. The authorities did however allow another International Youth Day celebration organized by the ruling party to occur two days earlier in Zanzibar.
The police said on August 13 that they released Lissu, Mbowe, and other party leaders without criminal charges following questioning. But this clampdown was a bad sign as Tanzania prepares for local elections later this year and general elections in 2025.
When Samia Suluhu Hassan took office after President John Magufuli’s death in March 2021, she took some measures to improve Tanzania’s human rights record. Attacks on basic rights had escalated under Magufuli, including a violent crackdown on the opposition around the October 2020 general elections.
However, progress has been inconsistent. In July 2021, police arrested Mbowe and 11 other Chadema members ahead of a conference to discuss reforms of the country’s constitution. Mbowe was held on terrorism charges in pretrial detention for seven months before being released. In 2023, authorities arrested and threatened dozens of critics of a government agreement concerning management of the country’s ports. The government has also yet to prosecute any security force personnel for killing at least 14 people and injuring another 55, as well as beating opposition supporters, in Zanzibar during the 2021 elections.
The rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly are safeguarded by the Tanzanian constitution and the regional and international treaties that the country has ratified. The authorities should reverse this troubling trend and ensure that the political opposition and other critics of the government enjoy these fundamental rights.
(Bangkok) – The Vietnamese authorities should immediately drop all charges and release the prominent rights activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen, Human Rights Watch said today. Hanoi police arrested Nguyen Chi Tuyen on February 29, 2024, for criticizing the government on social media. He was charged under article 117 of the penal code, which criminalizes “making, storing, disseminating, or propagandizing information, materials and products that aim to oppose the State.”
Nguyen Chi Tuyen’s trial is scheduled for August 15 at a court in Hanoi. If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison.
“Vietnam’s authorities have targeted Nguyen Chi Tuyen for expressing views they don’t like,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should stop jailing peaceful critics, repeal its draconian penal laws, and end the systematic violation of basic rights.”
Nguyen Chi Tuyen (also known as Anh Chi), 50, is a rights campaigner who uses YouTube, Facebook, and other social media to comment on social and political issues. His primary YouTube channel, Anh Chi Rau Den, has produced over 1,600 videos and has 98,000 subscribers. His second YouTube channel, AC Media, has produced more than 1,000 videos and has almost 60,000 subscribers.
Nguyen Chi Tuyen was a founding member of the now closed No-U FC (No U-line Football Club), a soccer team whose members were outspoken against China’s territorial claims on maritime areas claimed by Vietnam. He helped organize and participated in many anti-China protests in the early 2010s, and pro-environmental protests in the mid-2010s. He joined fellow activists to provide humanitarian assistance to impoverished people in rural areas and victims of natural disasters.
He also openly supported imprisoned rights activists including Pham Doan Trang, Can Thi Theu, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, Nguyen Huu Vinh (also known as Ba Sam), and Nguyen Lan Thang. Prior to Nguyen Lan Thang’s trial, Nguyen Chi Tuyen published an open letter in support of his friend. He wrote, “The only thing we did was to act in accordance with our conscience, speak up our thoughts, our desire, our longing.”
Nguyen Chi Tuyen has repeatedly faced police intimidation, harassment, house arrest, bans on international travel, arbitrary detention, and interrogations. In May 2015, five unidentified men attacked and beat him near his house in Hanoi. The attack left him with injuries that required stitches on his face.
Despite the risk of prosecution on politically motivated charges, Nguyen Chi Tuyen continued his campaign for human rights and democracy. In a 2017 interview in Mekong Review, he said, “[Communist Party officials] have all the power in their hands. They have prisons, they have guns, policemen, army force, the court: they have everything. They have media. We have nothing except our hearts, and our minds. And we think it’s the right thing to do … that’s all.”
Nguyen Chi Tuyen’s trial occurs just as To Lam takes office as Vietnam’s newly appointed Communist Party general secretary. To Lam served as head of Vietnam’s notorious Ministry of Public Security between April 2016 and May 2024, during which the Vietnamese police arrested at least 269 people who had peacefully exercised their basic civil and political rights.
“The Vietnamese government will remain mired in oppression so long as it continues to lock up dissidents like Nguyen Chi Tuyen who dare to speak their minds,” Gossman said. “Vietnam’s international donors and trade partners shouldn’t have any illusions when dealing with this rights-abusing government.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2024 electoral campaign frequently used hate speech against Muslims and other minorities, inciting discrimination, hostility, and violence.
Inflammatory speeches, amid a decade of attacks and discrimination against minorities under the Modi administration, have normalized abuses against Muslims, Christians, and others.
The new Modi government needs to reverse its discriminatory policies, act on violence against minorities, and ensure justice for those affected.
(New York) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2024 electoral campaign frequently used hate speech against Muslims and other minorities, Human Rights Watch said today. The leadership of Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) repeatedly made statements inciting discrimination, hostility, and violence against marginalized groups during his campaign to win his third consecutive term of office, which began on June 9.
Several BJP state governments have demolished Muslims’ homes, businesses, and places of worship without due process and carried out other unlawful practices, which have continued since the election. These demolitions are often carried out as apparent collective punishment against the Muslim community for communal clashes or dissent, and BJP officials have dubbed them “bulldozer justice.” Violence against religious minorities has also continued, with at least 28 reported attacks across the country, resulting in the deaths of 12 Muslim men and a Christian woman.
“Indian Prime Minister Modi and BJP leaders made blatantly false claims in their campaign speeches against Muslims and other minority groups,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These inflammatory speeches, amid a decade of attacks and discrimination against minorities under the Modi administration, have further normalized abuses against Muslims, Christians, and others.”
Human Rights Watch analyzed all 173 campaign speeches by Modi after the election code of conduct took effect on March 16. The code forbids appealing to “communal feelings for securing votes.” In at least 110 speeches, Modi made Islamophobic remarks apparently intended to undermine the political opposition, which he said only promoted Muslim rights, and to foster fear among the majority Hindu community through disinformation.
However, during the campaign, Modi regularly raised fears among Hindus through false claims that their faith, their places of worship, their wealth, their land, and the safety of girls and women in their community would be under threat from Muslims if the opposition parties came to power.
He repeatedly described Muslims as “infiltrators” and claimed Muslims had “more children” than other communities, raising the specter that Hindus—about 80 percent of the population—will become a minority in India.
In a speech on May 14 in Koderma, Jharkhand, Modi said that “the idols of our gods are being destroyed” and that “these infiltrators [Muslims] have threatened the security of our sisters and daughters.”
In a May 17 speech in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, he made false claims that the political opposition would harm the newly opened Ram Temple, controversially built atop a razed historical mosque at Ayodhya. He said that if the opposition alliance came to power, “they will again send Ram Lalla [the Hindu deity Lord Ram] to the tent and they will run a bulldozer over the temple.”
On May 7, in a speech in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, he falsely said that the opposition Congress Party “intends to give priority to Muslims even in sports. So, Congress will decide who will make the Indian cricket team on the basis of religion.”
Since Modi’s BJP government first took office in 2014, its discriminatory policies and anti-Muslim speeches by BJP leaders have incited Hindu nationalist violence. The authorities have failed to take adequate action against those responsible, fostering a culture of impunity that has fueled further abuses. At the same time, the authorities have often acted against victims of the violence and sought to persecute critics of the government through politically motivated prosecutions.
India is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits “advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.” Government officials and others who effectively wield governmental authority have a duty not to engage in speech advocating discrimination, hostility, or violence toward any individual or social group, Human Rights Watch said. Those in a position of governmental authority should speak out to dissuade others from engaging in discriminatory conduct.
The Modi government’s actions have violated India’s obligations under international human rights law that prohibit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or religion and require the government to ensure equal protection of the law to everyone. The government is also obligated to protect religious and other minority populations and to fully and fairly prosecute those responsible for discrimination and violence against them, Human Rights Watch said.
“The Indian government’s claims of plurality and being the ‘mother of democracy’ ring hollow in the face of its abusive anti-minority actions,” Pearson said. “The new Modi government needs to reverse its discriminatory policies, act on violence against minorities, and ensure justice for those affected.”
BJP Hate Speech and the Election Commission’s Failure to Address It
Congress [Party] is not contesting these elections for democracy, but it’s fighting these elections against Lord Ram. … I want to ask you, if Lord Ram loses, who wins? … It was similar thinking that led the Mughals to destroy the Ram temple 500 years ago and that led them to raze our Somnath temple.
He said in a campaign speech on May 10, in Mahbubnagar, Telangana: “Congress wants to make Hindus second-class citizens in their own country. Is this why they are calling for vote jihad?”
Modi falsely claimed that the opposition parties planned to take away benefits guaranteed by the constitution to historically marginalized communities such as Dalits, Adivasis, and other groups, and give them instead to Muslims. He also asserted without basis that if the Congress Party came to power, it would take away the wealth and assets of other communities and redistribute them among Muslims. In a May 7 speech in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, he said, “If Congress has its way, it would say that the first right to live in India belongs to its vote bank [Muslims]. … Congress will give quota even in government contracts on the basis of religion.”
Modi often implied that Muslims endangered the safety of girls and women in the country and claimed that the interests of Congress and opposition parties were aligned with Pakistan and “terrorists.”
On May 5, in Dhaurahra, Uttar Pradesh, Modi said the opposition parties constrained the country’s investigative agencies and did not allow them to take action against terrorism: “After all, who are they doing it all for? There’s only one answer: for their vote bank [Muslims] to appease them.” On May 14, in Koderma, Jharkhand, a state governed by an opposition party, he said:
It has become difficult to follow our faith in Jharkhand today. The idols of our gods are being destroyed. Infiltrators with a jihadi mindset are ganging up and attacking, but the Jharkhand government is looking away and is supporting them from afar. These infiltrators have threatened the security of our sisters and daughters.
In many areas today, the Adivasi [Indigenous] population is rapidly declining while the number of infiltrators is increasing. Are the infiltrators not occupying Adivasi lands? Have our Adivasi daughters not been targeted by infiltrators? Our daughters’ safety is threatened, is it not? Their lives are in danger, they are being murdered, an Adivasi daughter is burned alive, another Adivasi daughter’s voice is taken away. Who are these people targeting Adivasi daughters?
Several other BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and the former minister for information and broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, made speeches pitting Hindus against Muslims, fueling hatred and insecurity among the Hindu population.
The BJP also published animated videos vilifying Muslims and spreading disinformation during the campaign. On April 30, the BJP’s official account on Instagram posted a video that reportedly received 1.6 million views before it was taken down. The video claimed that the Congress Party was empowering people from the community that infiltrated India and robbed it of its riches: “Congress Party’s manifesto is nothing but the [Pakistani] Muslim League’s ideology in disguise. If you are a non-Muslim, Congress will snatch your wealth and distribute it to Muslims. Narendra Modi knows of this evil plan. Only he has the strength to stop it.”
On May 4, the BJP’s official account in Karnataka state posted another anti-Muslim animated video that was also taken down after many users complained that it violated the platform’s hate speech policy. After receiving numerous complaints about the video, on May 7, the Election Commission finally wrote to X, formerly Twitter, where the video was also posted, asking them to take the video down.
After Modi’s speech on April 21 in Banswara, Rajasthan, thousands of voters wrote to the Election Commission and asked it to censure the prime minister for violating the code of conduct by “instigating and aggravating hatred in the Hindus against Muslims.” Ordinary voters and several opposition politicians also submitted written complaints about speeches that Modi and other top BJP leaders had made.
However, the Election Commission failed to take adequate action to respond to these violations, Human Rights Watch said. Despite finding that Modi and others had violated the guidelines, the commission only wrote to the office of the BJP president, without naming the prime minister, and asked that the BJP and its “star campaigners” refrain from making speeches along religious or communal lines. These directions did not deter Modi, who continued to make speeches inciting hate throughout the campaign period.
The Election Commission defended allegations of bias, saying: “We deliberately decided—this is such a huge nation—that the top two people in both the parties [BJP and Congress] we did not touch. Both party presidents we touched equally.” The Election Commission also sent nearly identical letters to the office of the Congress Party president.
Government Authorities Targeting Muslims Since the Elections
Uttar Pradesh BJP Chief Minister Adityanath, in a campaign speech on May 30 in Himachal Pradesh, made false claims that the opposition Congress party, inspired by the 17th century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, wanted to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, in the country, and warned that those who follow Aurangzeb’s path will be “buried by bulldozers.”
On June 15, Madhya Pradesh authorities demolished without due process 11 Muslim houses in the Adivasi-dominated Mandla district, saying they had found beef in their refrigerators, as well as animal hides and skeletal remains of cattle. While the authorities justified the demolitions saying the houses had been illegally built on government land, news reports indicated that 16 other houses in the same neighborhood, which authorities acknowledged were also illegal but where no rumored beef was recovered, remained standing. “We demolished the homes where beef was found and left the others alone for now. … We were taking action against cattle smugglers,” a police official told the Indian Express.
On June 25, protests erupted in Mangolpuri in northwest Delhi after authorities demolished portions of a mosque, claiming it was illegal. The demolition came just five days after authorities razed another historic mosque, Jannatul Firdaus, in Delhi’s Bawana area. The mosque’s caretakers alleged that the authorities demolished it without any prior notice or warning.
In July, BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand states issued directives requiring all food sellers along the route of an annual Hindu pilgrimage to display the names and identities of their owners and employees. The state governments claimed it was to ensure the devotees could make an “informed choice” regarding the food they eat during the pilgrimage keeping in mind their “religious sentiments.”
However, on July 22, the Supreme Court ordered an interim stay on the decision, saying that while it is permissible for authorities to ensure that the pilgrims are served “vegetarian food conforming to their preferences,” compelling owners to display “names and address, also of their staff, can hardly achieve [the] intended objective.” The court added that if the directive is permitted to be enforced, “it will infringe upon the secular character of the Republic of India.”
Recent Attacks Against Religious and Other Minorities
Attacks by Hindu mobs and others against Muslims and other religious minorities have continued since the election campaign period.
On June 7, attackers killed three Muslim men—Saddam Qureshi, 23; Chand Miya Khan, 23; and Guddu Khan, 35—who were transporting cattle in Raipur district, Chhattisgarh state. Family members allege that Hindu vigilantes claiming to be a “cow protection” group killed the men and then threw them off a bridge. Police charges stated that men in three cars chased the Muslim men’s truck for 33 miles and hurled spikes and stones until they forced the truck to stop at a bridge by damaging one of its tires. The three Muslims, terrified, jumped off the bridge and died.
Local Hindu men in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district on June 18 allegedly beat to death Mohammed Farid, a 35-year-old Muslim man. Police said the Hindu attackers suspected Farid of attempted theft at a Hindu trader’s house. After the police arrested six men for murder, a BJP lawmaker joined local Hindu community members to defend the accused, demanding their release and pressing the police not to take action against others named in the case. Eleven days after the killing, the police filed a case against the deceased, his brother and five others on charges of dacoity (banditry) and sexually assaulting a woman.
On June 22, a local Hindu mob in Chikhodra village in Gujarat allegedly beat to death Salman Vohra, 30, while he attended a cricket match. Local activists alleged that the village chief, the son of the local BJP lawmaker, and his cousin were involved in the killing. The activists have requested that the case be transferred to another jurisdiction to prevent political interference.
On June 16, members of a “cow protection” group allegedly barged into a Muslim home in Khordha town in Odisha and seized all the family’s meat and their refrigerator, suspecting that they were storing beef. On June 18, in Faridabad, Haryana, vigilantes reportedly attacked a Muslim butcher shop owner and two Hindu men who were there to buy chicken.
On June 19, a Hindu mob in Pakri village in Uttar Pradesh attacked a motor rickshaw driver for carrying meat, saying a particular road could not be used to transport meat. On the same day, a mob attacked a Muslim-owned shop in front of the police in Himachal Pradesh state, after the owner allegedly shared a picture of a buffalo sacrifice on his WhatsApp status.
During this period, Hindu men were implicated in attacks on Christians, Dalits, and Sikhs in several parts of the country.
A Decade of BJP Hindu Nationalist Hate Speech
There has been a surge in anti-Muslim hate speech in India since the Modi administration first took office in 2014.
During the 2014 national election campaign, Modi repeatedly called for the protection of cows, raising the specter of a “pink revolution” by the previous government that he claimed had endangered cows and other cattle to export meat. After coming to power, several BJP leaders made statements that spurred a violent vigilante campaign against beef consumption and those deemed linked to it.
This led to self-appointed “cow protection” groups springing up across the country, many claiming to be affiliated with militant Hindu groups with ties to the BJP. Between May 2015 and December 2018, at least 44 people—36 of them Muslims—were killed across 12 states. Over that same period, about 280 people were injured in more than 100 incidents across 20 states. The attacks have continued, with several more killed since then.
Following widespread peaceful protests across the country against the government’s discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act in December 2019, some BJP leaders derided the protesters, or more dangerously called them anti-national and pro-Pakistan. Others led a chant to “shoot the traitors,” inciting violence. Government supporters twice showed up at protest sites with guns to use against protesters.
On January 30, 2020, a 17-year-old with a gun first threatened protesters outside Jamia Millia Islamia university in Delhi, and then opened fire in the presence of police, injuring a student. Two days later, a man fired two shots in the air near a protest site at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh.
Since 2014, the BJP has denounced what it has called “love jihad,” a baseless theory claiming that Muslim men lure Hindu women into marriages to convert them to Islam. This has led several states to pass anti-conversion laws, which are used against Muslim men who marry Hindu women. Hindu nationalist groups have beaten Muslim men in interfaith relationships, harassed them, and filed cases under these laws against them.
Leaders from the BJP and affiliated Hindu nationalist groups have made statements that led to numerous mob attacks on churches in the last decade. In many cases, pastors have been beaten, prevented from holding religious meetings, and accused under anti-conversion laws, and churches have been vandalized.
After hundreds of thousands of farmers of various faiths began protesting against the government’s new farm laws in November 2020, senior BJP leaders, their supporters on social media, and pro-government media began blaming the Sikhs. They accused Sikhs of having a “Khalistani” agenda, a reference to a Sikh separatist insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s and 1990s. On February 8, 2021, Modi spoke in parliament, describing people participating in various peaceful protests as “parasites.”
Punjab’s opposition politicians said that anti-Sikh statements by BJP leaders led to a June 10 attack by two men on a Sikh man, whom they called Khalistani, in Haryana’s Kaithal district. “This is the direct consequence of the politics of hate and polarization of various groups that has come to afflict the country over the past decade,” Punjab’s former deputy chief minister posted on X.
Since 2017, an anti-Rohingya campaign by Hindu nationalist groups who claim that Rohingya Muslim refugees are “terrorists” has incited vigilante-style violence, including arson attacks on the homes of Rohingya in Jammu and Delhi. In 2017, the Indian government called Rohingya refugees a “threat to national security.”
The BJP minister of state for home affairs said: “As far as we are concerned, they are all illegal immigrants. They have no basis to live here. Anybody who is an illegal migrant will be deported.” In 2018, following a fire in a Rohingya settlement in Delhi that burned at least 50 homes, a leader from the BJP youth wing applauded the action on Twitter, saying: “Well done by our heroes … Yes we burnt the houses of Rohingya terrorists.”
Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Indian authorities contributed to a surge in anti-Muslim hate speech and violence. After authorities announced that they found a large number of coronavirus cases among Muslims who had attended a mass religious congregation in Delhi, some BJP leaders called the meeting a “Talibani crime” and “CoronaTerrorism,” and some mainstream media used the term “CoronaJihad,” with the hashtag going viral on social media.
Los Angeles systematically criminalizes unhoused people through arrests and citations for violations arising out of their unhoused status and by destroying their property through sanitation sweeps.
Criminalization drives unhoused people out of public spaces but does nothing to solve their lack of housing.
City government should stop its practice of criminalization and destructive sanitation sweeps and instead devote resources to preserving and providing affordable housing for all and services to those in need.
(Los Angeles, August 14, 2024) – The Los Angeles city government has pursued a cruel, expensive, and ineffective policy of criminalizing people’s unhoused status through arrests, tickets, and property destruction, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. On June 28, 2024, the US Supreme Court ruled that enforcing laws criminalizing unhoused people, even in the absence of available shelter, was constitutional. California Governor Gavin Newsom has since urged local jurisdictions to destroy unhoused encampments, risking increased use of these tactics in Los Angeles and across the state and country.
The 337-page report, “‘You Have to Move!’ The Cruel and Ineffective Criminalization of Unhoused People in Los Angeles,” documents the experiences of people living on the streets and in vehicles, temporary shelters, and parks in Los Angeles, as they struggle to survive while facing criminalization and governmental failures to prioritize eviction prevention or access to permanent housing. Law enforcement and sanitation “sweeps” force unhoused people out of public view, often wasting resources on temporary shelter and punishments that do not address the underlying needs. Tens of thousands of people are living in the streets of Los Angeles; death rates among the unhoused have skyrocketed.
“Just because the Supreme Court allows a vicious and counterproductive strategy, doesn’t mean Los Angeles has to use it,” said John Raphling, associate US program director at Human Rights Watch. “The proven way to end houselessness is not by arresting people and throwing away their belongings, but by keeping people in their homes and developing and preserving more permanent, affordable housing.”
From August 2021 through May 2024, Human Rights Watch researched houselessness in Los Angeles, including the history of housing policy and practices, interviewing about 150 experts—over 100 of whom have personal experience of houselessness—and analyzing data from the Los Angeles Police Department, Sanitation Department, and other relevant government agencies.
Unhoused residents gave accounts of being ticketed and arrested for crimes arising from their poverty, including violations of Los Angeles Municipal Code section 41.18, which forbids sitting or lying down in designated public places, and section 56.11, which forbids keeping personal property in public places. People described being taken to jail and receiving fines amounting to more than their monthly income.
LAPD data revealed that nearly all enforcement of low-level infraction offenses, like drinking in public, littering, and jaywalking, targets unhoused people. From 2016 through 2022, nearly 40 percent of all arrests and citations in the city, including for felony, misdemeanor, and infraction offenses, were of unhoused people, who make up less than 1 percent of the city’s population.
Nearly every unhoused person interviewed described Sanitation Department sweeps in which their possessions were removed and destroyed, almost always with police threatening to arrest anyone who objected. Those possessions include items that provide comfort and protection from the elements, like tents, chairs, bedding, and clothing; identification, medications, court papers, cash, and other survival essentials; and family photos, letters, heirlooms, and even the remains of loved ones. Human Rights Watch witnessed the brutality of the sweeps and described their impact.
Although shelters and interim housing, including temporary stays in hotel rooms, can provide welcome relief from the discomfort of the streets, they have not provided a reliable pathway to permanent housing, Human Rights Watch found. Conditions in shelters range from marginally comfortable to unlivable. Shelters limit independence and often impose degrading rules, including curfews, searches, and prohibitions on guests, which many compare to being in jail. A large percentage of people leave interim housing out of frustration or when their limited stay ends, after which they return to the streets.
City policymakers have used the existence of scarce interim housing as a justification for criminalization and sweeps, deflecting charges of cruelty through claims that they are placing people into “housing.” Sweeps have moved people from high-profile encampments into hotels and shelters, while forcing those in less visible locations to simply move to new spots on the streets. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s participation in the sweeps contradicts their stated values and best practices, damaging their ability to build the trust needed to help people, Human Rights Watch said.
Mayor Karen Bass has emphasized addressing houselessness and has worked to bring more resources to the challenge. However, her signature program, Inside Safe, which sweeps encampments and moves their residents to hotel rooms, is unsustainably expensive, plagued by inconsistent and inadequate support services, and stymied by the lack of permanent housing for people to move on to. Further, with only 1,500 rooms at its peak, Inside Safe lacks capacity to serve, even temporarily, the over 35,000 people living without shelter on the streets of Los Angeles.
Human Rights Watch found that historic and present-day racially discriminatory policies and practices, including restrictive covenants, redlining, single-family zoning, policing, and defunding of schools and health care, have converged to make houselessness dramatically worse among Black people in Los Angeles. Black people are under 8 percent of the city’s population, but over one-third of all of those who lack housing.
Houselessness is part of a systemic housing crisis, Human Rights Watch said. Los Angeles leads the United States in people paying too much of their income for housing, as well as in overcrowding. Studies show a shortage of 500,000 units of affordable housing in the city. These conditions mean a large percentage of the city’s population is at imminent risk of losing their homes and facing criminalization on the streets.
While each individual has their own circumstances that led them to live on the streets, it is the overall shortage of affordable housing, in the context of a market economy geared toward the development of expensive homes and government failure to ensure access to permanent housing for all, that causes mass houselessness.
International human rights law upholds a right to housing for everyone, including homes that are habitable, have security of tenure, and are accessible, among other qualities that differentiate them from shelter. Human Rights Watch found that US governments at all levels have failed to devote adequate resources to attaining this right. Interviewed experts almost invariably agree that building, maintaining, and keeping people in permanent housing is the solution. Human Rights Watch described successful housing programs in the report and the positive experiences of individuals who have obtained housing after having lived on the streets.
“Criminalization may drive unhoused people into the shadows and out of sight, but it only makes the situation worse,” Raphling said. “We know getting people into housing or keeping them in their housing is the only way to end houselessness. We need to stop hurting people and focus on housing them.”
Survivors and relatives of victims of a 2004 attack on the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi have filed criminal cases against alleged perpetrators in their home countries of Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The complaints, which allege genocide and crimes against humanity, are an effort to secure justice two decades later. The lawyer involved in these cases said this information has also been communicated to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
On August 13, 2004, the National Forces of Liberation (Forces nationales de libération, FNL) targeted mostly Banyamulenge refugees—Congolese Tutsi from South Kivu province in eastern Congo—at the Gatumba camp, close to the Congolese border. More than 150 civilians were killed and another 106 were injured. The refugees had fled fighting in Congo. The FNL, a predominantly Hutu Burundian rebel movement, fired upon and burned to death the Banyamulenge refugees, while sparing refugees from other ethnic groups and Burundians also living in the camp.
Human Rights Watch research at the time found that the Burundian armed forces failed to intervene, even though the slaughter took place within a few hundred meters of military camps. Soldiers of the United Nations peacekeeping force were unable to protect the refugees because they only learned of the attack when it was over.
The FNL claimed responsibility soon after the massacre. Several years later, however, its then-spokesperson, Pasteur Habimana, denied making that statement. In 2009, the armed group disarmed and became a political party, marking the end of the civil war.
In 2004, Burundian authorities issued arrest warrants for two FNL leaders, including Agathon Rwasa, a prominent opposition figure. However, he was never arrested. In September 2013, judicial authorities announced the opening of a case against Rwasa for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gatumba, but proceedings were delayed indefinitely.
The new complaints explicitly implicate Rwasa and Habimana, according to the lawyer involved in the cases.
Despite years of delays, prosecuting those responsible for this heinous massacre would help bring closure to those affected by the killings and demonstrate that justice can be obtained for the Great Lakes region’s worst atrocities.
(Bangkok) – Myanmar junta forces and the opposition Arakan Army have committed extrajudicial killings and widespread arson against Rohingya, Rakhine, and other civilians in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State in recent months, Human Rights Watch said today. The military’s unlawful recruitment of Rohingya men and boys has stoked communal tensions between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities.
In April and May 2024, the junta military and allied Rohingya armed groups as well as the advancing Arakan Army all committed atrocities against civilians. On May 17, as the Arakan Army gained control of the remaining junta military bases in Buthidaung township, its forces shelled, looted, and burned Rohingya neighborhoods in Buthidaung town and nearby villages, causing thousands of Rohingya to flee. The clashes have since moved west to Maungdaw, where fighting has surged over the past week, with reports of killings and other abuses against the Rohingya population, including children, women, and older people. All parties to the conflict should halt unlawful attacks, cease the use of hate speech, and allow unimpeded humanitarian access to those in need.
“Ethnic Rohingya and Rakhine civilians are bearing the brunt of the atrocities that the Myanmar military and opposition Arakan Army are committing,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Both sides are using hate speech, attacks on civilians, and massive arson to drive people from their homes and villages, raising the specter of ethnic cleansing.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 33 ethnic Rohingya and Rakhine victims and witnesses to abuses and analyzed satellite imagery, open-source material, private videos and photos, and medical records.
The Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed group, has engaged in periods of heavy fighting with the Myanmar military for control of Rakhine State since late 2018. Hostilities between junta forces and the Arakan Army have surged since mid-November 2023, ending a year-long unofficial ceasefire. As the Arakan Army has rapidly expanded its control across Rakhine State, the military has responded with indiscriminate attacks using helicopter gunships, artillery, and ground assaults. From November to July, junta forces carried out over 1,100 airstrikes nationwide, more than one-fifth of them in Rakhine State, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).
By April, fighting had intensified in the predominantly Muslim townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw, where an estimated 240,000 Rohingya lived. Junta forces and allied Rohingya armed groups carried out arson attacks on ethnic Rakhine villages on the outskirts of Buthidaung town and Rakhine areas within the town in mid-April, according to satellite imagery analysis, witness accounts, and local media reports.
In late April, the Arakan Army began burning Rohingya villages east of Buthidaung town. Satellite imagery and thermal anomaly data analyzed by Human Rights Watch reveal that more than 40 villages and hamlets in Buthidaung township were partially or completely destroyed by fire from April 24 to May 21. Burning destroyed thousands of structures across the township, including predominantly Rohingya areas downtown. Human Rights Watch concluded that the pattern of destruction caused by fire throughout Buthidaung suggests that all these attacks were deliberate.
Residents said Arakan Army fighters began setting fire to Buthidaung town on the evening of May 17, despite having told them to evacuate by 10 a.m. the following day. Thousands of Rohingya displaced from nearby villages were sheltering in schools, homes, and the hospital in downtown Buthidaung. Witnesses said the burning, shelling, and gunfire were not in response to any evident fighting between the forces.
“Without any conflict, the Arakan Army besieged the town,” said a man who fled Buthidaung’s Ward 2. “They started launching heavy weapons and at the same time began setting the houses on fire. People ran, fleeing for their lives, while older people and children were left behind in burning houses. It was a real scene of Qayamat [apocalypse].”
The capture of Buthidaung displaced an estimated 70,000 people, mostly Rohingya, who fled to the west and south amid further attacks. The Arakan Army announced that it had captured all Myanmar junta bases in Buthidaung on May 18. Satellite imagery indicates that the arson attacks continued in the area through May 21, following the paths of people fleeing.
Human Rights Watch also verified videos and photographs posted on social media and shared privately that showed destroyed houses in Buthidaung in April and May and large groups of people fleeing.
Rohingya described being caught between junta and Arakan Army forces, both trying to coerce them to take sides in the conflict. The junta military has unlawfully recruited thousands of Rohingya men and boys from Rakhine State and the refugee camps in Bangladesh, with support from Rohingya armed groups, and has forced Rohingya to participate in sham protests against the Arakan Army. Such efforts have inflamed relations between the Rohingya and Rakhine, triggering the spread of hate speech and misinformation online and offline.
The Arakan Army has denied attacking Rohingya civilians, asserting it issued sufficient warning and that the May 17-18 fires resulted from junta airstrikes and arson committed by Rohingya militia. In an August 5 letter to Human Rights Watch, the Arakan Army stated, “We do not condone or engage in unlawful attacks or arson attacks against civilians.”
The laws of war prohibit deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and on civilian objects, such as homes, schools, and hospitals. Summary killings, mutilation of bodies, recruitment of children, looting, and arson are all prohibited as war crimes. Warring parties must take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians, must cancel attacks if it becomes evident the target is not a military objective, and must provide effective advance warnings of attacks unless circumstances do not permit.
The Myanmar junta and Arakan Army should urgently allow access to Rakhine State to an independent international inquiry and to humanitarian agencies, Human Rights Watch said.
“The military junta and Arakan Army need to take immediate steps to protect civilians and civilian property during the hostilities,” Pearson said. “Governments with influence over the warring parties should weigh in forcefully or once again face a situation of ethnic cleansing.”
Names have been withheld or replaced with pseudonyms to protect the identities of victims and witnesses.
Crisis in Rakhine State
In 2017, more than 750,000 Rohingya fled the Myanmar military’s crimes against humanity and acts of genocide in the same areas beset by armed conflict today, seven years on. About 630,000 Rohingya remain in Rakhine State under a system of apartheid that leaves them exceptionally vulnerable to renewed fighting.
Since the February 2021 coup, the Myanmar military has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes across the country. Security forces have continued to persecute the Rohingya, arresting thousands for “unauthorized travel” and imposing new movement restrictions and aid blockages on Rohingya camps and villages.
The conflict has displaced an estimated 310,000 people in Rakhine State and southern Chin State since it resumed in November 2023. Yet the junta has ramped up its deadly blockages of humanitarian aid to civilians across Rakhine, a form of collective punishment that violates international humanitarian law. Security forces have shut down major roads and waterways, banned the transport of medical supplies, and attacked healthcare facilities. Internet and telecommunication outage data and reports from civil society groups demonstrate a total lack of internet services in Rakhine State between January 10 and May 31, 2024. These restrictions sustain the military’s longstanding “four cuts” strategy, designed to exert control over an area by isolating and terrorizing civilians.
Unlawful Forced Recruitment; Rising Hostilities
The military has been stoking communal tensions between the Rohingya and Rakhine communities through forced recruitment and other exploitative tactics, similar to its efforts during the 2012 ethnic cleansing campaign, Human Rights Watch said.
In late March, the military coerced Rohingya to participate in anti-Arakan Army protests in Buthidaung and Sittwe townships, threatening to burn down their homes, launch artillery attacks, or detain them if they refused. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that the military organized the protests “most likely in order to destabilize Rakhine State to its own advantage by inflaming communal tensions.”
The military activated the 2010 People’s Military Service Law in February, enabling conscription of Myanmar citizens. Despite having long been denied citizenship and regarded as foreigners, the Rohingya became the first targets of the conscription campaign.
Security forces have abducted and forcibly recruited thousands of Rohingya men and boys through nighttime raids, coercion, false promises of citizenship, and threats of arrest, abduction, and beatings. The military has been sending forced recruits to abusive two-week military training, then deploying them to the front lines, where some have been killed or injured. Local media reported in late April that the military had conscripted 5,000 Rohingya into military training.
Yusuf, who lived in the village of Htin Shar Pyin, said that junta soldiers forcibly recruited him with about three dozen other Rohingya in a 3 a.m. raid in late March. “The military now wants us to join them in their fight against the Arakan Army almost seven years after they brutalized our mothers and sisters in 2017,” he said. “None of us joined them willingly.” Yusuf said he saw over 1,000 Rohingya conscripts at the cantonment. For two months, he was deployed to the front lines in Buthidaung.
In Bangladesh, where one million Rohingya refugees live in camps, Rohingya armed groups forcibly recruited and smuggled at least 1,800 refugees into Rakhine State on behalf of Myanmar junta forces between mid-March and early June. A camp majhi (community leader) said that the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) armed group had tried to force the majhis to provide lists of 25 young men per camp block.
A Rohingya refugee said that on May 4, RSO members took his 15-year-old son, 17-year-old nephew, and about 20 other young men and boys to Myanmar. “We have stopped eating and drinking due to grief,” he said. “I want to get my son back. He is too young to understand anything about war.”
Rohingya said that the forced recruitment inflamed hostilities with Rakhine communities and made them a target of the Arakan Army. “Five young men were forcibly taken from our village by the military for conscription,” said a resident of Nan Yar Kone, a village attacked in early May. “I think this was why the Arakan Army launched the attack on our village in retaliation.”
In March and April, official Arakan Army social media accounts, including leader Twan Mrat Naing’s, referred to the Muslim Rohingya as “Bengali,” a pejorative term long used by the military to label them as foreigners. Both Rakhine and Rohingya accounts have spread misinformation and hate speech online.
“Before the recent clashes in Buthidaung, our relationship [with the Arakan Army] wasn’t so bad,” said Sadek, 19, from Htin Shar Pyin. “After these clashes, they started looting our houses and took all of our belongings on trucks.”
Another villager from Htin Shar Pyin said that during attacks on his village on May 14, Arakan Army fighters told them: “‘You sent your sons to the military for training to kill us. The military is your father. Is the military coming to protect you now? You don’t have the right to live in this area anymore.’ Afterward, they started burning the houses.”
April-May Violence
Between April 11 and 20, the junta military and Rohingya armed groups looted and set on fire ethnic Rakhine areas in Buthidaung town and villages to the south, according to satellite imagery reviewed by Human Rights Watch, witness accounts, and local media reports. Within the town, property in predominantly Rakhine, Hindu, and Khami areas in Wards 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were set on fire in arson attacks between April 11 and 17, with Ward 4 most affected. The damage visible in the satellite imagery resulted from numerous fires originating in different parts of the town over several days, suggesting they were deliberately ignited. A Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) office and pharmacy were burned down on April 15.
A 26-year-old Rakhine villager from Buthidaung town said:
[Rohingya] Muslims collaborated with the SAC [State Administration Council junta] to destroy Rakhine villages and loot everything from the houses. The Muslims came in groups. The SAC forces were few, maybe around 10 or 20, but there were over 100 or around 200 Muslims. They destroyed our Buddhist religious buildings. They broke into the houses, took everything they wanted, loaded them onto their trucks, and then finally burned the houses. They also shot at us as we fled.
A 13-minute video made up of five clips was posted on Facebook by the account “Democratic Voice of Arakan” on May 26. The video, recorded from a moving vehicle, starts in Ward 3 and shows destroyed or partially destroyed buildings on both sides of the road in Wards 3 and 6 for the first five minutes. Satellite imagery captured on April 27 shows that most of the buildings filmed in this video were destroyed during the April attacks.
A photograph posted in a series on Facebook by Western News on April 24 shows dark smoke clouds filling the sky. Initially geolocated by Bellingcat and verified by Human Rights Watch, the photograph was taken south of Buthidaung Road in Ward 4 on April 14, according to the image timestamp.
While defeating junta units in Buthidaung, Arakan Army forces also began launching arson attacks on the surrounding Rohingya areas. Predominantly Rohingya villages and hamlets on the eastern bank of the Mayu River show destruction by fire in late April and early May, while smoke plumes and fires were detected on a dozen villages.
Ibrahim, 28, was severely injured in an attack on his village, Da Pyu Chaung:
Many people were killed in our village when the Arakan Army carried out random shootings and drone attacks. I was lying on the porch at our house. Suddenly a bomb fell on my neighbor’s house. Fragments severely damaged my face. The whole family of six next door was killed – two parents and four children – along with five others who were sheltering there. Days after the attack on our village, the Arakan Army captured MOC [Military Operations Command] 15. The Arakan Army also burned our village down.
The Arakan Army announced it captured the junta’s Military Operations Command 15 headquarters on May 2, about six kilometers east of Buthidaung town, after two weeks of fighting. A few days later, junta forces blew up the main bridge entrance to Buthidaung town from the east.
Da Pyu Chaung village is located less than 500 meters from the MOC headquarters. Satellite imagery captured in early May shows the village reduced to ashes along with other settlements nearby.
Infrared satellite image comparison between April 25 and May 6, 2024, showing all the structures in Da Pyu Chaung village in the Buthidaung township reduced to ashes. On infrared images, the vegetation appears in red and the burned areas in darker colors.
A Rakhine villager who witnessed Arakan Army fighters burning houses in U Hla Pay and Ywet Nyo Taung said the Arakan Army framed the attacks as “clearance operations” against the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
Rohingya fleeing attacks in late April and early May sought shelter across the river in Buthidaung town. Much of the ethnic Rakhine community had already fled the town, escaping earlier attacks and hostilities or having been evacuated by the Arakan Army.
May 17-18
Rohingya said that Arakan Army fighters warned them to leave Buthidaung town by the morning of May 18 but began setting fire to houses the night before. “Arakan Army fighters gave us an ultimatum to vacate the town by 10 a.m. tomorrow,” a 28-year-old Rohingya man said during a phone interview the night of May 17. “But now they suddenly came and forced us to leave instantly and started setting every house on fire. Now everywhere is in flames.”
An 85-year-old man from Ward 2 said his son had attended a meeting with Arakan Army fighters who told Rohingya to leave their houses by 10 a.m. on May 18. “But they came at around 10 p.m. on May 17 and started firing and setting fire to the houses while villagers were busy preparing food and packing their belongings to leave the next day,” he said.
Rohingya told Human Rights Watch that Arakan Army fighters set fire to buildings across Buthidaung town; fired artillery shells; shot at villagers who were fleeing or not willing or able to leave; and looted houses. “They didn’t hesitate to torch our houses, even with people inside,” said Kabir, who lived in Ward 1. “They started setting fire to our homes around 9 p.m. We were inside when they began. They launched mortar shells at our houses and burned our village mosque.” Satellite imagery reveals fire damage in all seven wards, with Wards 1, 2, 3, and 6 most affected.
Witnesses reported mortar and drone attacks on Buthidaung General Hospital, a mosque in Ward 1, a guest house in Ward 2, government buildings, schools including the high school, and other buildings where thousands of displaced Rohingya were sheltering. New tents and shelters are visible in the courtyard of Basic Education High School in Ward 1 in satellite imagery captured since late April.
Thermal anomalies were detected by an environmental satellite on May 17 in all seven wards. Satellite imagery from May 18 confirmed that the thermal anomalies were caused by fire, and that the destroyed areas were Rohingya neighborhoods that had not been affected during the April attacks. Residential buildings and other infrastructure surrounding the Basic Education High School in Ward 1 and Buthidaung General Hospital in Ward 2 were destroyed, along with Buthidaung market in Ward 6.
Fatema, 22, lived in Ward 4 with 10 family members, 6 of whom were killed on May 17. She fled her house with her husband and two children when it was set on fire at about 8 p.m., but five other family members, including her 70-year-old father-in-law, were trapped on the upper floor: “After we got out of the house, we waited a long time for them, but they never came out.” Arakan Army fighters started shooting at the masses of fleeing villagers, she said. “Without saying anything, they started shooting toward the crowd. My brother-in law was hit and killed by a bullet. We couldn’t pick up his dead body or gather other remains because we were all running to save our own lives.”
Fatema said she saw 10-12 people shot and killed while fleeing, including a young boy. “His mother had to leave him by the road,” she said.
“The Arakan Army didn’t let us retrieve the bodies,” Kabir said.
Witnesses said they identified the Arakan Army fighters by their uniforms and insignia, and heard them speaking Rakhine.
Arson attacks were also carried out in villages south of Buthidaung town. Residents of Htin Shar Pyin said Arakan Army troops had first attacked the village a few days earlier, launching shells and burning houses. Sadek said that the attacks resumed the evening of May 17, reaching his home around 9:30 p.m. He had gone to a nearby shop while his parents were finishing dinner. “Suddenly, countless mortar shells were launched at our houses, and they were set on fire,” he said. “I saw from the shop that my house was burning. I saw it burn to ash.”
Sadek fled with other villagers. “I saw almost 15 dead bodies scattered around as I fled,” he said. “The bodies were covered with cloths so I couldn’t identify anyone. Arakan Army troops were guarding the bodies: no one was allowed to approach them. I don’t know if my family members are still alive.” Another villager from Htin Shar Pyin said his 16-year-old cousin had been killed.
Satellite imagery from May 18 shows at least three impact craters with a diameter of about 2.5 meters located less than 100 meters from the southern part of Htin Shar Pyin village, people visible in the fields next to the village, and large vehicles along the road between Htin Shar Pyin and Done Chaung.
On May 18, the Arakan Army announced it had seized Buthidaung town and overtaken all military bases.
The UN told Reuters that at least 45 Rohingya died during the attack and its immediate aftermath.
Fleeing the Town
Thousands of Rohingya fled Buthidaung town the evening of May 17. With the main bridge providing access from the east side destroyed, people were forced to flee west and south of the town.
Large numbers were trapped in Ward 5, which was only partially burned, or outside the Buthidaung jail. “The Arakan Army is allowing Rohingya to stay in Ward 5, but they aren’t allowing us to flee to Maungdaw,” said a man sheltering at a warehouse. “It’s like a confinement.”
“Arakan Army fighters say those who violate their orders will be punished,” another man said.
Those who escaped the town to the west converged with junta troops retreating from the remaining bases overtaken by the Arakan Army, including the military’s Buthidaung Tactical Operations Command (TOC), which was captured after intense fighting on May 17. Witnesses said that Arakan Army fighters began firing at civilians and setting fire to houses in their efforts to overrun the military troops, some of whom continued fighting along the route.
Ahmad, 21, fled to Tat Min Chaung, near the Tactical Operations Command:
The scene was chaotic, with the military fleeing ahead and us caught in the middle. Many fleeing villagers were killed or arrested by the Arakan Army. I was hit in the shoulder by a bullet. People were killed before our eyes as we ran for our lives in the paddy fields. Some were hit by bullets, others were killed by heavy artillery shells. After arriving in a forest, we looked back and saw the village and the TOC on fire.
Sadek had fled to Tat Min Chaung from Htin Shar Pyin. “That night, a group of Arakan Army fighters were burning houses and launching heavy artillery,” he said. “The next day, they called us and started detaining villagers, accusing them of being recruited by the military or having ties with it.” Sadek was also shot during the attacks: “I was holding the wound with one hand as I ran to the crowd in the rice field.” Human Rights Watch reviewed his medical records from a hospital in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, including x-rays that show a bullet in his chest. His medical chart from May 24 states: “Gunshot 7 days ago over right side of chest. One entry wound; no exit wound.”
Fatema said that when she arrived at the Tactical Operations Command around 2:30 a.m. with other fleeing Rohingya, they were questioned by Arakan Army fighters. “They asked us if any Myanmar military were in the crowd,” she said. “We said no, since there were none. But they selected some young people and accused them of having ties with the military or being military recruits. They kicked and punched them and took them inside the base. They didn’t let us proceed so we stayed there the whole night.”
Two people said that while fleeing west, they saw bodies of people who had been beheaded, including at least two children. “When we arrived in Thar Mai Khali [Tat Min Chaung], we saw a mother and her child on her lap, both beheaded,” Yusuf said. “Then we saw another adolescent girl who had been beheaded. All were lying beside the road to the east of the mosque. We also saw thousands of villagers, including women and children, in the bushes. Children were screaming at the entrance of the village, and we saw four houses being burned down.” The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed at least four beheadings.
At 1:42 p.m. on May 18, satellite imagery captured a large crowd of people in a rice field, appearing to carry plastic sheltering, around 350 meters east of Tat Min Chaung.
Tat Min Chaung and nearby villages in the area show traces of burning. The image also shows impact craters across the Buthidaung Tactical Operations Command.
Satellite imagery shows that from May 17 to 21, about 17 additional villages south and northwest of Buthidaung town were burned, following patterns where people from downtown and surrounding villages had been trying to flee, including around Tat Min Chaung and Htin Shar Pyin areas.
Infrared satellite image comparison between May 16 and May 22, 2024, showing more than 70 percent of the structures in Tat Min Chaung village in Buthidaung township destroyed by fire. On infrared images, the vegetation appears in red and the burned areas in darker colors.
Thousands who fled south ended up sheltering in schools and makeshift camps in Sein Hnyin Pyar under a curfew, movement restrictions, and limited aid. “I don’t know how my family is surviving without food,” Yusuf said. He fled to Bangladesh, but his wife, children, mother, and brothers remain in Buthidaung. “People are now very helpless and in extreme and dire situations. They are living under the open sky in rain and shine. I cried so much for my family; I have run out of tears.”
Many attempted the arduous journey into Bangladesh; only some succeeded. Border Guard Bangladesh forces have ramped-up pushbacks of asylum seekers along the Rakhine border since January. “On our way to Bangladesh, we suffered a lot: no food, no rest,” Fatema said. “We only survived on tender leaves of trees and water.”
Ibrahim from Da Pyu Chaung floated on the Naf River for two days after the Border Guard Bangladesh pushed his boat back, before finding another area where he could enter. He arrived in Bangladesh a month after his face and jaw were severely injured in the attacks. “During these days, we starved many times,” his father said.
Sadek arrived in Bangladesh after a week in the jungle. “On my way, I didn’t see any village untouched,” he said. “I was always in fear of being found.”
Ahmad traveled for six days through the mountains with his gunshot injury but was unable to cross the border. “I need to go to Bangladesh to get treatment for my bullet wound,” he said. “I’m currently struggling. There are no medical facilities in Maungdaw. The border is sealed, and more border security forces have been deployed. I still don’t know my parents’ whereabouts.”
Blockages of Aid, Telecoms
The junta’s increasing and deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid has endangered millions of people. In Rakhine State, an estimated 1.6 million people have been cut off from hospital access since early 2024, according to the UN.
MSF said on June 27 that it had been forced to suspend all medical activities in northern Rakhine State due to the “extreme escalation of conflict, indiscriminate violence, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access,” leaving people “with zero access to healthcare in the face of huge needs” and contributing to the “total decimation of the healthcare system.” Both Buthidaung and Maungdaw hospitals were shut down.
On June 22, a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Maungdaw storing a month’s worth of lifesaving food and supplies for 64,000 people was looted and burned.
The UN and humanitarian organizations have reported that lack of access to medical care has caused growing malnutrition, waterborne illness, and preventable deaths, including of children due to treatable diarrhea and of pregnant women. “All communities are without proper primary and secondary healthcare and our teams observed pregnant women and unborn babies losing their lives due to the lack of healthcare,” MSF said.
“We do not know what to do or how to survive,” said a Rakhine villager displaced in April. “No food. Our children are sick. We urgently need medicine. We are filled with fears of aerial attacks and artillery.”
For months, the junta has severely restricted internet and phone services, with grave impacts on access to information, the humanitarian response, and the ability to document attacks. According to the Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA) project, Rakhine State experienced a complete internet outage from January 10 until May 31. Human Rights Watch also documented through use of the tool GPSJam multiple instances of likely Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) jamming in and around the Buthidaung area, affecting telecommunication providers.
The Rohingya population remains particularly vulnerable to the junta’s restrictions, which contravene the December 2022 UN Security Council resolution and numerous other international calls.
In January 2020, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) imposed provisional measures ordering Myanmar to prevent all genocidal acts against the Rohingya while it adjudicates alleged violations of the Genocide Convention. In a June report, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded: “Actions taken by all parties that endanger the Rohingya appear inconsistent with the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.”
On July 10, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on the Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar in which it “strongly condemns the attack in Buthidaung township on 17 May 2024 and the continuous targeting of Rohingya Muslims … and urges all parties to the conflict to fully comply with the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.”
“For Rohingya people – oppressed, scapegoated, exploited, and stuck between warring parties – the situation carries echoes of the lead-up to genocidal violence in 2016 and 2017,” the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmartold the Human Rights Council on July 3.
