(DHAKA, March 18, 2025)—On March 18, 2025, Bangladeshi authorities announced the arrest of Ata Ullah—the commander-in-chief of the Rohingya armed group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)—and other senior ARSA leaders. The announcement of the arrest of Ata Ullah occurred on the same day that Fortify Rights published its report “I May Be Killed Any Moment” in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The report details international crimes by Rohingya armed groups, including crimes ordered by Ata Ullah.
In its report, Fortify Rights documented how members of Rohingya armed groups, including ARSA, have killed, abducted, tortured, and threatened Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh—crimes that may amount to war crimes under international law. The report finds “reasonable grounds” to believe that certain acts committed by armed groups in Bangladesh are sufficiently linked to the ongoing armed conflict in Myanmar, that they may be considered war crimes under international law.
Fortify Rights, in a letter to interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus on February 16, 2025, gave the Government of Bangladesh advance notice of the report.