top of page

Case Number

20241101KE

Case Date of Filing

01/10/2024

Suspected/Known Time of Incident

Local Time and Date: 27/08/2017 12:00 (GMT+6:30)

Case Researcher(s)

Kennan McAndrews

Summary

In August 2017, soldiers and Buddhist community members attacked Rohingya villagers in the town of Gu Dar Pyin. Refugees from the village who fled from Bangladesh reported 100s of casualties while the military reported 19 “terrorist” fatalities whom they said were “carefully buried” (Al Jazeera).  As of February 2018, community leaders compiled a list of 75 known casualties, but some estimates put the number of casualties at up to 400. Through interviews with victims and witnesses who had fled to Bangladesh, The Associated Press established that the victims of the attack were buried in several mass graves. Of the graves’ location, the AP reported. “Almost every villager interviewed by the AP saw three large mass graves at Gu Dar Pyin’s northern entrance, near the main road, where witnesses say soldiers herded and killed most of the Rohingya. A handful of witnesses confirmed two other big graves near a hillside cemetery, not too far away from a school where more than 100 soldiers were stationed after the massacre. Villagers also saw other, smaller graves scattered around the village,” (AP News). Notably, the bodies were burned with acid, which is the first known case of this practice in Myanmar (AP News). 

Case Location

Gu Dar Pyin.

​

Latitude/Longitude (WGS84): Approximate Town Coordinates:

20°45'19.9"N 92°32'40.1"E

​

Town/Region/Country:

Gu Dar Pyin, Rakhine, Myanmar (Burma)

​​

Individual Incident Locations:

Mass Grave Site 1, 2, and 3-

MG-1-

​

MG-2-

  • “"There were so many bodies in so many different places," said Mohammad Lalmia, 20, a farmer whose family owned a pond that became the largest of the mass graves.” (SBS News)

 

This mention of a grave near a pond likely refers to one of the five mass graves reported by other news sources. There are no ponds near the school or hilltop gravesite, but there are several in other locations in Gy Dar Pyin. After considering several locations and various bodies of water of varied sizes, a small pond near the Northern entrance to the town appears the most likely candidate because of its proximity to the Northern entrance, proximity to another reported mass grave, and smaller size compared to other labelled and notable bodies of water in the village.

image.png

The North entrance of the town, with the location mentioned in the X post and the pond marked.

MG-4 and MG-5-

Gu Dar Pyin School: 20°45'25.46"N 92°32'39.52"E

Hilltop: 20°45'12.11"N 92°32'34.45"E (elevation 39 feet)

 

The mass graves are nearby these locations, but satellite data is not clear enough to show excavation in the area.

image.png

Primary locations mentioned by eyewitnesses relating to graves four and five.

Casualties

Total Suspected/Known Number of Casualties:

19-400 (19 reported by military)

 

Injured:

unknown- reported injuries to children as young as three

 

Fatalities in Incident:

75-400 (19 reported by military)

 

Fatalities in Grave:

unknown

 

Further Casualty Information:

Age Range: children to elderly adults

Genders: Males and Females

Ethnicity/ies: Rohingya

 

Casualty Evidence Below:

“Buddhist villagers then moved through Gu Dar Pyin in a sort of mopping-up operation, using knives to cut the throats of the injured, survivors said, and working with soldiers to throw small children and the elderly into the fires.” (CBS News)

“Community leaders in the refugee camps have compiled a list of 75 dead so far, and villagers estimate the toll could be as high as 400, based on testimony from relatives and the bodies they’ve seen in the graves and strewn about the area. A large number of the survivors carry scars from bullet wounds, including a 3-year-old boy and his grandmother.” (AP News)

Suspected or Known Aggressors

Group/Tribe/Militia/Organisation:

Myanmar military and local Buddhist villagers

​

Suspected/Known Quantity of Participants:

unknown

 

Aggressor Evidence Below:

After an investigation that interviewed numerous survivors, AP News used eyewitness reports to confirm that both soldiers and Buddhist villagers from the surrounding area participated in the crimes.

image.png
bottom of page