The Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) has issued a condemnation of what it describes as a mass atrocity committed by the Arakan Army (AA), following the massacre of over 600 Rohingya civilians in Htan Shauk Khan village (Hoinya Seeree), Buthidaung Township, on May 2, 2024.
According to a statement released by the ARNC on Monday, the massacre included the killing of entire families, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, burned alive or executed in cold blood.
“This atrocity is further proof of the AA’s ongoing campaign of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Rohingya people,” the ARNC statement said.
The ARNC alleges that the killings were systematic and intentional, targeting those unable or unwilling to flee the village.
Eyewitnesses recount that AA fighters accused villagers of being associated with the Myanmar military before executing them and setting bodies ablaze in an apparent effort to destroy evidence. Recently surfaced photos and physical evidence, such as the skeletal remains of children, have corroborated these accounts.
“This brutal massacre was not an isolated incident,” the ARNC continued. “It is part of a wider, systematic pattern of targeted violence, mass displacement, forced starvation, arbitrary detention, and destruction of Rohingya villages—all carried out by AA with total impunity.”
Rights organisation Fortify Rights has also reportedly gathered documentation and testimonies verifying the massacre and identifying hundreds of victims. Survivors have spoken out, detailing how the assault unfolded, describing bodies burned with gasoline and homes turned to ash.
Citing the AA’s consistent refusal to allow independent investigations and its denial of all allegations, the ARNC reiterated its demand for urgent international action.
“The longer the international community delays, the more complicit it becomes in these ongoing crimes,” the ARNC warned. “The silence and inaction of the global community, governments, institutions, and civil society have emboldened the perpetrators and contributed to the unfolding genocide against Rohingya in Arakan State.”
The ARNC has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other international and regional bodies to immediately open an independent investigation and hold the perpetrators accountable.
The ARNC also sought to confront narratives that attempt to justify or excuse such atrocities under the guise of resistance.
“There is no moral or legal justification for the Arakan Army’s genocide against Rohingya,” the statement reads. “Resistance to military oppression cannot come through committing genocide against a community that is not a party in the conflict. Genocide is genocide, no matter who commits it.”