Human rights organization Fortify Rights has urged the Bangladesh government to cooperate with international justice mechanisms to prosecute ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) leaders for war crimes. Bangladesh authorities arrested 10 people on March 17, including 6 top ARSA leaders, and produced them in court the following day. Those arrested include ARSA’s main leader Ata Ullah, leadership members Mostaff Ahmed, Salimullah, Asmul Husna, Hassan and Monirul Zaman, along with three of their wives and one child.
According to Fortify Rights, ARSA members have committed acts amounting to war crimes, including killing, kidnapping, torture and threats against Muslim refugees in the camps. The report documents evidence of war crimes committed by ARSA against Muslim men, women and children in refugee camps in Bangladesh. The death toll from killings by ARSA and other Muslim armed groups in the refugee camps reached 22 in 2021, 42 in 2022, at least 90 in 2023, and over 65 in 2024. Top leader Ata Ullah and ARSA have not only violated multiple existing laws in Bangladesh but have also been involved in transnational crime, drug trafficking, and the killing of a Bangladesh military intelligence (DGFI) officer, according to Bangladesh media reports.
During the 2017 events in Rakhine State, ARSA killed Muslim civilians who allegedly disobeyed their orders and carried out mass killings of hundreds of Hindu people, according to Amnesty International. Fortify Rights states there is complete evidence for the atrocities committed by ARSA and other Muslim armed groups, and further investigations should be conducted into ongoing war crimes through any means possible. The organization’s director John Quinley said the violence and killings in Rohingya refugee camps must stop and those responsible, including ARSA and RSO members, must be held accountable. While at least 6 top leaders are among the 10 ARSA members currently detained in Bangladesh, other senior leadership members like Maulvi Ramat Karim and Maulvi Ali remain at large, according to sources in the Muslim community.
