"MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF THE MECHANISM Last month, floods caused by Typhoon Yagi ripped through Myanmar leading to widespread death, damage and displacement. This natural disaster has compounded the devastation caused by multiple armed conflicts, and by war crimes and crimes against humanity that are being committed with impunity across the country. As detailed in the Mechanism’s recent Annual Report and in my statement to the Human Rights Council in September, these crimes have become increasingly brutal. Unfortunately, on an almost daily basis the Mechanism receives reports of new atrocities including aerial attacks on civilian targets, unlawful imprisonment, torture in detention centres, violent sexual and gender-based crimes, the burning of villages, beheadings and the public display of sexually mutilated bodies. Many of these crimes appear to be committed to punish and induce terror in the civilian population. Most of the information we have collected concerns crimes committed by the Myanmar security forces. However, we are increasingly collecting credible evidence that armed groups fighting against the military are also perpetrating crimes, such as the execution of civilians suspected of being military informers or collaborators. We are investigating all perpetrators of serious international crimes, no matter their political affiliation, beliefs or ethnicity. We recently opened new investigations in Rakhine State where fighting between the Arakan Army and the military has escalated, and there are allegations of crimes by multiple armed groups involved in the conflict. We have received shocking reports of killings, torture and rapes, and we are collecting and verifying information received and seeking to identify those persons responsible for these crimes. Civilians from all ethnicities in Rakhine have suffered, but the Rohingya population are particularly vulnerable. They have been directly targeted and tens of thousands have had to flee their homes. The echoes of the 2016 and 2017 clearance operations against the Rohingya are impossible to ignore. In August, I released a statement commemorating seven years since the violent attacks that forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar. I reflected that the current situation in Rakhine and elsewhere in the country is the result of decades of impunity. When crimes go unpunished, perpetrators are emboldened to commit more crimes. The Mechanism was created to fight against this impunity. In this regard, we have accelerated the volume of information and analysis we are sharing with the authorities conducting proceedings concerning crimes against the Rohingya at the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and in Argentina. Our fight against impunity would be impossible without courageous individuals and organizations who share information with us in the most challenging of circumstances. Internet blackouts, blocked technologies and increased surveillance deepen the security risks people take to engage with us. We are doing all we can to make their interactions with us as safe as possible, and to ensure that the risks they take are not in vain. I am optimistic that the information people share with us now will one day bring the perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice..."