occurred against local populations in the CHT, often at the direction of the government, army, and intelligence agencies. In September reports emerged that a rubber plantation had poisoned the water source of several villages to displace the local Indigenous population from its land. In August the UN special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples; the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions; and the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression wrote to the government with concerns regarding the alleged torture and subsequent death of Nabayan Chakma Milon, an Indigenous political activist, in military custody. They called for an immediate investigation into Milon’s death. The United Nations noted “it has been brought to our attention that the Indigenous peoples and Indigenous rights activists, as well as Indigenous political activists have repeatedly been subjected to alleged arbitrary arrest, torture, arbitrary deprivation of life and enforced disappearance in CHT. Moreover, almost every time a raid took place in CHT area by the military personnel, the legal requirements such as obtaining warrants for search, arrest, or both were not being followed.” Indigenous communities in areas other than the CHT reported the loss of land to Bengali Muslims, and Indigenous peoples’ advocacy groups reported deforestation to support Rohingya refugee camps and other commercial pursuits caused severe environmental degradation in their land, adversely affecting their livelihoods. The central government retained authority over land use. In what local rights groups deemed a blatant land grab, Lama Rubber Industries Limited filed a case in August in the Senior Judicial Magistrate Court of Bandarban against 11 villagers who demanded protection of 400 acres of their farmland and rural forest. Indigenous communities, organized under different political groups, engaged in violence within the Indigenous community. The factional clashes between and within the United Peoples’ Democratic Forum and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti resulted mostly from the desire to establish supremacy in particular geographic areas. Media reported many leaders of these factions were engaged in extortion and smuggling of money, drugs, and arms. Meanwhile, the deaths and violence remained unresolved. NGOs and Indigenous persons familiar with the Page 42