Religious freedom: reports of violations in Burma

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Description: USCIRF Annual reports from 2006; Congressional Testimony; Government Correspondence; Hearings & Press Conferences, Press releases etc.
Source/publisher: US Commission on International Religious Freedom
Date of entry/update: 2011-04-29
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Violations of religious freedom are increasing and persecution takes place in more than 25 countries, with China and Myanmar among those that have the worst records, according to a report by a Vatican-backed charity. The Religious Freedom in the World Report, covering 2019-2020 and issued on Tuesday, said that in some countries, such as Niger, Turkey and Pakistan, prejudices against religious minorities led local residents to blame them for the COVID-19 pandemic and denial of access to medical aid. The 800-page report was prepared by Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN), a worldwide Catholic charity that studies violations of freedoms of all religions. The latest report put 26 countries in a "red" category denoting the existence of persecution, compared to 21 countries at the time of the last report two years ago. It put 36 countries in the "orange" category denoting discrimination, compared to 17 two years ago. The report describes discrimination as when laws or rules apply to a particular group and not to all, and persecution as when there is an active programme to subjugate people based on religion. "There has been a significant increase in the severity of religiously-motivated persecution and oppression," the report said. It was particularly scathing about China and Myanmar. "The apparatus of repression constructed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in recent years is ... fine-tuned, pervasive, and technologically sophisticated," the report said. The most egregious violations were against Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang "where the atrocities have reached such a scale that a growing number of experts describe them as genocide", it said..... HARASSMENT AND ARREST": In February, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden endorsed a last-minute determination by the Trump administration that China has committed genocide in Xinjiang and has said the United States must be prepared to impose costs on China. China says the complexes it set up in Xinjiang provide vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism. The Chinese foreign ministry has called allegations of forced labour and human rights violations "groundless rumour and slander". The ACN report said Catholic hierarchy in China "continue to suffer harassment and arrest" despite a landmark deal signed in 2018 between Bejing and the Vatican on the appointment of bishops on the mainland. Reuters reported last year that two nuns who work at the Vatican mission in Hong Kong were arrested when they went home to the mainland for a visit. China was increasing the use of facial recognition on worshippers of various religions, it said. In Myanmar, the report said Rohingya Muslims "have been the victims of the most egregious violations of human rights in recent memory". Last year, the International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar to take urgent measures to protect Rohingya from genocide. The government has denied accusations of genocide. The ACN report said the military coup on Feb. 1 was "likely to make things worse for all religious minorities" in Myanmar, where about 8% of the population is Christian. Africa would be "the next battleground against Islamic militants," the report said. Militant groups were causing havoc in countries including Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, northern Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Mozambique, it said..."
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Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "A Myanmar doctor who criticised conservative Buddhist monks has been charged with insulting religion, officials said on Thursday, as a debate heats up over a proposal to teach sex education at school. Kyaw Win Thant, 31, was arrested on Tuesday after angry scenes at a monastery in the central city of Meiktila, where he apologised to monks for deriding them in Facebook posts. His attacks stemmed from comments posted by numerous other monks denouncing the government’s proposal. Footage shared widely on social media showed hundreds of people who had come to the monastery denouncing Kyaw Win Thant and chanting “arrest him, or kill us”. Several sources, including two officials from the Ministry of Religion, confirmed on Thursday that Kyaw Win Thant had been charged with insulting a religion or religious beliefs. He faces up to two years in prison if found guilty. His Facebook posts, which have since been deleted and could not be verified by Reuters, used language deemed offensive to monks and questioned whether they were in a position to pass judgement on sex education. The issue has been a hot topic on social media but remains taboo in the conservative, mainly Buddhist country where monks have long been an influential source of moral guidance..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2020-05-21
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Kachin Baptist Convention president Reverend Hkalam Samson has thanked the prayers of his supporters at home and abroad for the military’s decision to drop its complaint against him for remarks he made to United States President Donald Trump. In a video posted to the KBC’s social media page on September 10, a day after the case was withdrawn, Hkalam Samson also urged the Kachin community’s different Christian denominations to remain united, and to keep praying in solidarity for the future of the nation. Tensions have been high in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina in recent days, with a convoy of military vehicles containing armed soldiers rumbling past demonstrators near the Myitkyina Township Court shortly before the court was due to announce if the case against Hkalam Samson would proceed. The complaint was filed by the Northern Command’s Lieutenant-Colonel Than Htike on August 26 over comments made by Hkalam Samson when survivors of religious persecution from throughout the world met Trump at the White House on July 17. Samson told the US president that that there was no religious freedom in Myanmar and that oppression and torture were common. He also described as “helpful” a decision the US announced the previous day to sanction Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and three other senior officers over what the US State Department called “gross human rights violations” during the “ethnic cleansing” against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State. The decision bans the four officers and members of their families from travelling to the US..."
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Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
2019-09-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The constitution guarantees every citizen “the right to freely profess and practice religion subject to public order, morality or health and to the other provisions of this Constitution.” The law prohibits speech or acts insulting or defaming any religion or religious beliefs; authorities used these laws to limit freedom of expression and press. Local and international experts said deeply woven prejudices led to abuses and discrimination against religious minorities by government and societal actors. It was sometimes difficult to categorize incidents as based solely on religious identity due to the close linkage between religion and ethnicity in the country. Violence, discrimination, and harassment against ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State, who are nearly all Muslim, and other minority populations continued. Following the ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya that took place in 2017 and resulted in the displacement of more than 700,000 refugees to Bangladesh, Rohingya who remained in Burma continued to face an environment of particularly severe repression and restrictions on freedom of movement and access to education, healthcare, and livelihoods based on their ethnicity, religion, and citizenship status, according to the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In March the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar reported that the government appeared to be using starvation tactics against remaining Rohingya. On September 17, the UN FactFinding Mission, established by the UN Human Rights Council, published its final report on the country, which detailed atrocities committed by the military in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan States, as well as other areas, and characterized the “genocidal intent” of the military’s 2017 operations in Rakhine State. The government denied the Fact-Finding Mission permission to enter the country and publicly disavowed the report. Some government and military officials used antiRohingya and anti-Muslim rumors and hate speech circulating on social media in formal meetings, public speeches, and other official settings. Public remarks by the minister of religious affairs in November were widely understood to denigrate Muslims. Christians in Kachin State, according to media and NGO reports, stated the military was carrying out a campaign to eliminate them similar to the situation in Rakhine State. In other areas, non-Buddhist minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Muslims, reported incidents in which authorities unduly restricted religious practice, denied freedom of movement to members of religious minorities, closed places of worship, denied or failed to approve permits for religious buildings and repairs, and discriminated in employment and housing. The military’s selective denial of humanitarian access in some conflict areas..."
Source/publisher: U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
2019-06-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Format : pdf
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Description: Key Findings: "The year 2016 marked a historic and peaceful transition of government in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Yet while the political handover occurred without incident, conditions during the year continued to decline for Rohingya Muslims, as well as for other religious and ethnic minorities. In addition, fresh and renewed fighting in some ethnic areas highlighted the schism between Burma?s civilian-controlled leadership and the military, which controls three powerful ministries and significant portions of the economy. Although the circumstances and root causes driving the ill treatment of religious and ethnic groups differ, there are two common elements: (1) the outright impunity for abuses and crimes committed by the military and some non-state actors, and (2) the depth of the humanitarian crisis faced by displaced persons and others targeted for their religious and/or ethnic identity. Due to both governmental and societal discrimination, Rohingya Muslims—tens of thousands of whom are currently displaced— are stateless and vulnerable, and many Christians are restricted from public worship and subjected to coerced conversion to Buddhism. Given that the National League for Democracy (NLD) government has allowed systematic, egregious, and ongoing violations of freedom of religion or belief to continue, USCIRF again finds that Burma merits designation as a ?country of particular concern,” or CPC, in 2017 under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). The State Department has designated Burma as a CPC since 1999, most recently in October 2016. Non-state actors such as Ma Ba Tha and other nationalist individuals and groups do not meet the definition of an ?entity of particular concern” under the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (P.L. 114-281), but merit continued international scrutiny for their severe violations of religious freedom and related human rights..."
Source/publisher: U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
2017-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-08-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.46 MB
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Description: "This Briefing Paper is written by Equality Myanmar. Equality Myanmar (formerly ?HREIB”) is a non-governmental organization (?NGO”) which facilitates a broad range of human rights education and advocacy programs. It was founded in 2000 with the goal of empowering the people of Myanmar through human rights education to engage in social transformation and promote a culture of human rights. Equality Myanmar envisions a peaceful, tolerant and democratic society built on respect for dignity and human rights for all. This Briefing Paper provides an overview and in-depth analysis of the current situation of freedom of religion and belief in Myanmar. After an initial review of the political landscape in the country following the parliamentary elections on 8 November 2015 and the landslide victory of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy (the ?NLD”), it analyzes a controversial package of four repressive laws that were introduced during the second half of 2015, and contrasts them with international human rights laws on freedom of religion and belief. It goes on to examine some pertinent case studies from across the country, which demonstrate how the right to freedom of religion and belief is already being violated regardless of the new laws. After analyzing the trends, actors, motives and strategies at play, this Briefing Paper looks at the potential risks for Myanmar if it continues down its current path. It concludes by making a range of recommendations to relevant institutions and stakeholders, and by placing the situation of freedom of religion and belief in the wider context of Myanmar?s nascent political reforms..."
Source/publisher: Equality Myanmar
2016-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.51 MB 1.16 MB
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Description: "မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်းရှိ လွတ်လပ်စွာယုံကြည်ကိုးကွယ်ခွင့်အခြေအနေသုံးသပ်ချက် အစီရင်ခံစာ" "ဤသုံးသပ်ချက်အစီရင်ခံစာကို ညီမျှခြင်းမြန်မာ အဖွဲ့က ပြုစုရေးသားထားခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ ညီမျှခြင်းမြန်မာ (ယခင်လူ့အခွင့်အရေးပညာပေးရေးဌာန - မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ) သည် အစိုးရ မဟုတ်သောအဖွ့အဲစည်းတစ်ခုဖြစ်ပြီး လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ပညာပေးခြင်းနှင့် စည်းရုံးလှုံ့ဆော် ရေးလုပ်ငန်းများကို ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့်လုပ်ဆောင်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ညီမျှခြင်းမြန်မာကို လူ့အခွင့်အရေးယဉ်ကျေးမှုမြှင့်တင်ရန်နှင့် ပြည်သူလူထုအား လူမှုအသွင်ကူးပြောင်းမှုများတွင် ပူးပေါင်းပါဝင်လာအောင် ခွန်အားပေးရန် ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ဖြင့် ၂၀၀၀ ခုနှစ်တွင် စတင်တည်ထောင် ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ညီမျှခြင်းမြန်မာသည် ငြိမ်းချမ်းသော၊ သည်းခံမှုရှိသော၊ လူသားအားလုံး၏ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးနှင့် လူ့ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာကိုလေးစားမှုရှိပြီး ဒီမိုကရေစီနည်းလမ်းကျသော လူမှုအသိုင်း အဝိုင်းကို တည်ဆောက်ရန် မျှော်မှန်းပါသည်။ ဤသုံးသပ်ချက်အစီရင်ခံစာထဲတွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်းရှိ လွတ်လပ်စွာကိုးကွယ်ယုံကြည်ခွင့် အခြေအနေအပေါ်ခြုံငုံလေ့လာချက်များနှင့် အသေးစိတ်သုံးသပ်ချက်များပါဝင်သည်။ အစီရင်ခံစာ ထဲတွင် ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည် ဦးဆောင်သည့် အမျိုးသားဒီမိုကရေစီအဖွဲ့ချုပ် (NLD) အပြတ်အသက်အနိုင်ရရှိခဲ့သော ၂၀၁၅ ခုနှစ် နိုဝင်ဘာလ (၈)ရက် ရွေးကောက်ပွဲ အလွန်ကာလ နိုင်ငံရေးအခြေအနေကို ကနဦးသုံးသပ်မှုများပြုလုပ်ပြီးနောက် ၂၀၁၅ ခုနှစ် ဒုတိယနှစ်ဝက်တွင် ထွက်ရှိလာသော အငြင်းပွားဖွယ်ရာဥပဒေ (၄)ခုတွဲကို လွတ်လပ်စွာ ကိုးကွယ်ယုံကြည်ခွင့်ဆိုင်ရာ နိုင်ငံတကာ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဥပဒေများနှင့် နှိုင်းယှဉ်လေ့လာဆန်းစစ်ထားပါသည်။ ပြဋ္ဌာန်းလိုက် သော ဥပဒေသစ်များအပြင် လွတ်လပ်စွာကိုးကွယ်ယုံကြည်ခွင့်ကို အခြားနည်းလမ်းများဖြင့် ချိုးဖောက်ခံနေရမှုများရှိကြောင်း မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်းရှိ ဖြစ်ပျက်ခဲ့သော ဖြစ်စဉ်အချို့ကို သုံးသပ်ကာ သာဓကပြုဖော်ပြထားပါသည်။ တူညီဖြစ်စဉ်များ၊ ပါဝင်သူများ၊ ရည်ရွယ်ချက်များနှင့် နည်းဗျူဟာများကို အစီရင်ခံစာထဲတွင် သုံးသပ်မှုများပြုလုပ်ပြီးနောက် လက်ရှိအခြေအနေ အတိုင်း ဆက်သွားပါက ကြုံတွေ့ရနိုင်သည့် အန္တရာယ်များကို ထောက်ပြထားပါသည်။ နိဂုံးချုပ်အနေဖြင့် သက်ဆိုင်ရာအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ ပါဝင်သူများထံသို့ တင်ပြထားသော အကြံပြုတိုက်တွန်းချက်များကို ဖော်ပြထားပြီး ကျယ်ပြန့်သော မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ နိုင်ငံရေး ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှု အခင်းအကျင်းအောက်ရှိ လွတ်လပ်စွာကိုးကွယ်ယုံကြည်ခွင့် အခြေအနေကို တင်ပြထားပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Equality Myanmar
2016-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.16 MB 1.51 MB
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Description: "The Jubilee Campaign, together with Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), seeks to draw the Council?s attention to the domestic human rights and religious freedom situation in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. In so doing, we welcome the recent reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, applaud her excellent work and that of her predecessor, and condemn recent appalling attacks by U Wira thu and the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar on her integrity and good name...".....Written NGO statement to the 28th Session of UN Human Rights Council.
Source/publisher: Jubilee Campaign via UN Human Rights Council (A/HRC/28/NGO/128)
2015-02-27
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 187.1 KB
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Description: Executive Summary: "The dramatic political developments in Burma in recent years are of historical and geopolitical significance. Burma has progressed much further than most might have imagined possible only a few short years ago. Despite these achievements, Burma still has a long journey along the road to democracy and respect for human rights. Serious violations of religious freedom and human rights continue, accompanied by disturbing evidence of prejudice and intolerance, trends that will inevitably and dra-matically impact the prospects for a brighter future. In short, the political reform process in Burma is at great risk of deteriorating if religious freedom and the right to equal treatment under the law are not honored and pro-tected. USCIRF is concerned that recent openings have coincided with serious and alarming violence against religious and ethnic minorities. Attacks against Muslims, particularly Rohingya Muslims, as well as against Christians, continue with impunity. Burma?s government, both at the central and state levels, has been unable or unwilling to address the abuses. The Commission is concerned by the situation for internally displaced persons in ethnic minority areas, particularly the approximately 140,000 mostly Rohingya Muslims displaced in Rakhine State and the more than 100,000 predominantly Christian Kachin displaced in Kachin State since 2011. Constitutional protections for religious freedoms in Burma are not sufficient to protect non-Buddhists from discrimination, vio-lence, or targeted crimes. And rather than reforming current laws, the government has facilitated the development of legislation that would further impinge on religious freedoms. Four key issues emerged during USCIRF?s trip and in-form the report that follows. First, the Commission ad-dresses the appalling situation facing the Rohingya Muslim community. Due to the issues related to their depri-vation of citizenship, the circumstances surrounding the Rohingya Muslim community in Burma are unique. Nonetheless, the abuses to which they are subjected are in some measure part of a broader pattern of prejudice against Muslims elsewhere in the country. The Rohingya Muslim community, whose population is estimated at approximately 1.3 million nationwide, is often subjected to discrimination that fuels religious and ethnic divisions. Thus, the second section of the report deals with broader issues of discrimination. In particular, and despite meeting with moderate Buddhist monks working to prevent and quell violence, the Commission was struck by the bigotry and chauvinism exhibited by important religious figures within the Buddhist community, with hostility often directed at all non-Buddhists, but especially at Muslims. The third section of the report deals with proposed legislation that, if enacted, would exacerbate these prob-lems. To be sure, discrimination against non-Buddhists through law, regulation and practice is already pervasive, but proposed legislation to restrict religious conversion, marriage, and births would further entrench that discrimination. Finally, in the fourth section of the report, the Commission considers the issues of citizenship for Rohingya Muslims and identification documents for all Muslims, and policies that reflect the denial of the rights of members of these communities. Given the seriousness of these issues, the visit not only confirmed USCIRF?s concerns about the religious freedom violations against religious and ethnic minorities and the ongoing discrimination against Rohingya Muslims, but also underlined the appropriateness of Burma?s designation as a ?country of particular concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). For more than a decade, USCIRF has recommended that Burma be designated as a CPC for its systematic, egregious and ongoing religious freedom violations and recommended actions the U.S. government could take to encourage reform and respect for human rights. The U.S. Department of State has designated Burma as a CPC repeatedly since 1999, most recently in July 2014. The corresponding Presidential Action is the existing ongoing arms embargo referenced in 22 CFR 126.1(a), pursuant to section 402(c)(5) of IRFA."
Source/publisher: U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
2014-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2014-11-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
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Description: ၁။လေ့လာဆန်းစစ်ချက်နှင့် အကြံပြုချက်များ ၂၀၀၈ ခုနှစ် ဖွဲ့စည်းအုပ်ချုပ်ပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ တွင် လူအများစု ကိုးကွယ်ကျင့်သုံးသည့် ဘာသာတရား အဖြစ် ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ၏ အထူးအနေအထားကို ဖော်ပြထားပြီး ခရစ်ယာန်ဘာသာ၊ အစ္စလာမ်ဘာသာ၊ ဟိန္ဒူ ဘာသာ နှင့် ဘာသာမဲ့ တို့အခန်းကဏ္ဍမှာ မူမရှိသလောက်ဖြစ်နေသည်။1 လက်တွေ့တွင် ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာကို နိုင်ငံတော်ဘာသာ အဖြစ် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အတွင်း၌ ကျင့်သုံးနေသည်။ ချင်း 2အခြေအနေတွင်မူ အဆိုပါအချက်သည် ဘာသာတရား (သို့) ယုံကြည်မှု ကိုအခြေခံ၍ ပုံစံမျိုးစုံဖြင့် ခွဲခြားဆက်ဆံခြင်းနှင့် ညှဉ်းပန်းနှိပ်စက်မှုမျိုးစုံ ပပျောက်ရေးဆိုင်ရာ ၁၉၈၁ ကုလသမဂ္ဂကြေညာစာတမ်း တွင် ဖော်ပြထားသည့် ဘာသာအယူဝါဒနှင့် ယုံကြည်ချက်ဆိုင်ရာ အခြေခံ ယုံကြည်ချက်များ နှင့် ဆန့်ကျင် ကွဲလွဲနေသည်။ ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ အခြေခံအဆောက်အအုံများအတွက် နိုင်ငံပိုင် ရင်းမြစ်များကို ခွဲတမ်းချ အသုံးပြုမှုများ ဆက်လက်ရှိနေသည့်တိုင် ခရစ်ယာန်ဘာသာ အခြေခံ အဆောက် အအုံ များ တည်ဆောက် ပြုပြင်ခြင်း၊ ဝတ်ပြုကိုးကွယ်ရန်အတွက် မြေပိုင်ဆိုင်မှု စသည်တို့တွင် ကန့်သတ် တားမြစ်မှု များ ဆက်လက်ရှိနေသေးသည်။2 စက်တင်ဘာလအတွင်း သာသနာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန ဝန်ကြီး ဦး ဆန်းဆင့် မှ ဘာသာရေးဆိုင်ရာ အဆောက်အအုံများ ထိန်းသိမ်းခြင်း၊ မွမ်းမံခြင်း၊ ပြန်လည် တည်ဆောက်ခြင်း နှင့် အသစ်တည်ဆောက်ခြင်း စသည်တို့အတွက် ခွင့်ပြုချက်များ အဆင့်ဆင့် တောင်းခံနေရခြင်း ကဲ့သို့သော ကန့်သတ်ချက်များကို သာသနာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနအနေဖြင့် များစွာ ဖြေလျှော့ပေးထားပြီးဖြစ်ကြောင်း အခိုင်အမာ ပြောကြားခဲ့သည့် နောက်ပိုင်းတွင်ပင် ယင်းသို့ ဆက်လက် ဖြစ်နေခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ သို့ရာတွင် ? ဝန်ကြီးဌာန အနေ နဲ့ အကြံပြုချက်တွေပေးဦးမှာပါ? ဟု လည်း ဝန်ကြီးမှ ပြောကြားခဲ့ပြန်ရာ ကန့်သတ်ချက်များကို ဖြေလျှော့ ရာတွင် လက်တွေ့၌ (သို့) အစိုးရ အဆင့်ဆင့်တွင် မည်သို့ အကောင်အထည်ဖော်မည်နှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ မရှင်း မလင်းဖြစ် စေသည်။3 ၂၀၁၁ ခုနှစ် မတ်လတွင် အများအခေါ် အရပ်သားအစိုးရ မှ အာဏာလွှဲယူခဲ့ချိန်မှ စတင်၍ သမ္မတဦးသိန်းစိန်နှင့် လွှတ်တော်ဥက္ကဌ သူရရွှေမန်းတို့ အပါအဝင် အစိုးရအကြီးအကဲ များသည် ၂၀၁၃ ခုနှစ်အတွင်း ချင်းပြည်နယ် ကို ပထမအကြိမ် သွားရောက်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ဤသို့သွားရောက် လည် ပတ်ရာတွင်လည်း လွန်ခဲ့သည့် ဆယ်စုနှစ် များကအတိုင်းပင် ပြုမူခဲ့ကြသည်။ ချင်းပြည်နယ် သို့ တနင်္ဂနွေနေ့နံနက်များတွင်သွားရောက်ကာ အခမ်းအနား များကို လည်း ကျင်းပစေခဲ့တာကြောင့် လွတ်လပ်စွာကိုးကွယ်ယုံကြည်ခွင့် ရှုထောင့်မှ ကြည့်ပါက ယင်းသည် ဒေသခံပြည်သူများ၏ လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဝပ်ပြုကိုးကွယ်မှု (သို့) ပြည်သူများ၏ အလုပ်ပိတ်ရက် နားနေမှု ကို မလေး မစားပြုခြင်း ဖြစ်ပေသည်။4 ၂၀၁၃ ခုနှစ်တစ်လျှောက်လုံးတွင် ကိုးကွယ်ယုံကြည်မှုအပေါ်အခြေခံ ၍ ခွဲခြား ဆက်ဆံ ခြင်း သည် ကြီးမားပြင်းထန်သည့် အကြောင်းအရာ အဖြစ် ဆက်လက်ဖြစ်ပွားနေခဲ့သည်။ ချင်းပြည်နယ် တောင်ပိုင်းရှိ ဝေးလံခေါင်သီသည့် ခရစ်ယာန်ဘာသာဝင်များ နေထိုင်ရာ ရွာများတွင် ဝတ်ပြု ကိုးကွယ် ရန် စုဝေးမှုများ ဆက်လက်ပြုလုပ်ပါက ရွာများကို မီးရှို့ပစ်မည်ဟု ခြိမ်းခြောက်မှုများ ကို ဒေသတွင်းရှိ
Source/publisher: Chin Human Rights Organization
2014-01-21
Date of entry/update: 2014-01-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
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Description: Analysis and recommendations: "Burma?s 2008 Constitution notes the ?special position? of Buddhism as the faith practiced by the majority, while Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Animism merely ?exist?.1 In practice, Buddhism is treated as the de facto State religion in Burma/Myanmar. In the Chin context, this interferes with the basic tenets of freedom of religion or belief as set out in the 1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (the 1981 Declaration) in a number of ways. While State resources continue to be allocated for Buddhist infrastructure, there are ongoing restrictions on land ownership for religious purposes and on building and renovating Christian infrastructure.2 This is in spite of claims made in September by Minister for Religious Affairs U Hsan Hsint that his Ministry had already relaxed some regulations, such as the need to obtain step by step permission for maintaining, renovating, rebuilding, and constructing religious buildings. However, he noted that, "the Ministry will give suggestions" leaving some ambiguity as to how the relaxations would be implemented in practice, or at different levels of government.3 In 2013, senior government officials including President Thein Sein and the Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament Thura Shwe Mann visited Chin State for the first time since the nominally-civilian government took power in March 2011. However, they continued a decades-long pattern of official visits and events held on Sunday mornings in Chin State, with no respect for the right to freedom of religious assembly or the right to observe days of rest in accordance with the precepts of one?s religion or belief.4 Discrimination on the basis of religious identity continued to be a serious issue throughout 2013. Christian villagers in a remote part of southern Chin State reported threats to burn down their village if they continued to assemble for Christian worship, made by local government officials. Chin Christians continued to express concern about State resources allocated to the promotion of Buddhism, particularly at the State-run Border Areas National Races Youth Development Training schools (known locally as Na Ta La), where CHRO has previously documented coercion to convert to Buddhism. 5 In a positive development, Chin churches, pastors, Members of Parliament and other key stakeholders have begun to make concerted efforts to challenge the authorities regarding issues of freedom of religion or belief. A panel discussion on freedom of religion or belief at the historic Chin National Conference in Hakha from 12-15 November drew up 12 important recommendations to take forward with the authorities, including calls for the government to grant land ownership rights for religious purposes; guarantee freedom of religious worship, assembly and proselytizing; restore all Christians crosses that were destroyed under various pretexts; and replace the Ministry of Religious Affairs with an independent and impartial religious affairs commission in order to eliminate all kinds of religious discrimination. Recommendations to the Government of Burma/Myanmar 1. Adopt legislation that prohibits direct or indirect discrimination against persons from religious minority backgrounds. Such measures should include lifting the restrictions on land ownership for religious purposes and requirements to seek prior permission for building or renovating religious infrastructure at all levels of government."
Source/publisher: Chin Human Rights Organization
2014-01-21
Date of entry/update: 2014-01-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 231.61 KB
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Description: "Ongoing and important political reforms in Burma have yet to significantly improve the situation for freedom of religion and belief. During the reporting period, most religious freedom violations occurred against et hnic minority Christian and Muslim communities, with serious abuses against mainly Christian civilia ns during military interventions in Kachin State and sectarian violence by societal actors targeting Muslims in Rakhine (Arakan) State. In addition, Buddhist monks suspected of anti-govern ment activities were detained or removed from their pagodas, and at least eight monks rema in imprisoned for participating in peaceful demonstrations. In addition to sometimes severe restrictions on worship, education, and other religious activities and ceremonies, religious gr oups continue to face a range of problems, including: pervasive surveillance, imprisonment, di scrimination, societal violence, destruction or desecration of property, and censors hip of religious materials. In light of these systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of freedom of religion and belief, USCIRF recommends that Burma again be designa ted as a ?country of particular concern” in 2013. The State Department has designated Burma as a CPC since 1999. Over the past year, the Burmese government continued to release po litical and religious prisoners, revised laws on media censorship and freedom of assembly, and allowed Aung San Suu Kyi?s National Democracy Party (NLD) to assume its seats in parliament. Nevertheless, Burma?s overall human rights record remains poor and the government was either unable or unwilling to curtail security forces or social actors who enga ged in serious abuses against religious minorities and others during armed conflicts in Kachin St ate and sectarian violence in Rakhine (Arakan) State. Rohingya Muslims, who are denied Burmese citizenship, experience widespread discrimination, strict controls over their religious activities and ceremonies and societal violence that is often incited by Buddhist monks and carried out with impunity by mobs and local militias, including police in Rakhine (Arakhan) State. In the past year, over 1,000 Rohingya have been killed, their villages and religious structures d estroyed, and women raped during attacks. In Kachin and northern Shan states, home to la rge Christian minority populations, the military conducted large operations beginnin g in January 2013. The military reportedly continues to limit religious worship and forcibly promote Buddhism as a means of pacifica tion in these areas and targets Christians for forced labor, rape, intimida tion, and destruction of religious sites. The government also continues to censor religious pub lications and prohibits the import of Bibles and Qu?rans in indigenous languages . Released prisoners face harassment and restrictions, including U Gambria, the head of the All-Burma Monks Alliance. .."
Source/publisher: US Commission on International Religious Freedom
2013-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This 153-page report describes the role of the Burmese government and local authorities in the forcible displacement of more than 125,000 Rohingya and other Muslims and the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Burmese officials, community leaders, and Buddhist monks organized and encouraged ethnic Arakanese backed by state security forces to conduct coordinated attacks on Muslim neighborhoods and villages in October 2012 to terrorize and forcibly relocate the population. The tens of thousands of displaced have been denied access to humanitarian aid and been unable to return home..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2013-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2013-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 5.01 MB
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Description: Executive Summary: "The constitution and other laws and policies restrict religious freedom. The government implemented considerable political reforms, but did not demonstrate a trend toward either improvement or deterioration in respect for and protection of the right to religious freedom. The government maintained restrictions on certain religious activities and limited freedom of religion, although it generally permitted adherents of government-registered religious groups to worship as they chose. While constraints on respect for and protection of the right to religious freedom continued, the community of Christian churches reported a notable easing of restrictions on church building and a positive relationship with the Ministry of Religion, including the ministry?s organization of interfaith dialogues. The government also passed a new law to protect freedom of assembly and procession and provided greater access to ethnic minority areas for U.S. officials and organizations. Religious activities and organizations were subject to restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and assembly. The government continued to monitor the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations, and required religious groups to seek permission from authorities before holding any large public event. The government continued to restrict the efforts of some Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom. While some of the Buddhist monks arrested in the violent crackdown that followed prodemocracy demonstrations in September 2007 were released during the year, many remained in prison serving long sentences. The government also actively promoted Theravada Buddhism over other religions, particularly among ethnic minorities. The government eased restrictions on the building of churches following the November 2010 elections. The government continued to monitor Muslim activities closely. Restrictions on worship for other non-Buddhist minority groups also continued. Although there were no new reports of forced conversions of non-Buddhists, authorities in some cases influenced the placement of orphans and homeless youth, preferring Buddhist monasteries to Christian orphanages. Adherence or conversion to Buddhism was an unwritten prerequisite for promotion to most senior government and military ranks. Nearly all senior level officers of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the armed forces are Buddhists. There were reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. During the year, social tensions continued between the Buddhist majority and the Christian and Muslim minorities. Widespread prejudice existed against citizens of South Asian origin, many of whom are Muslims. The government continued to refuse to recognize the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority as citizens and imposed restrictions on their movement and marriage. The U.S. government advocated religious freedom with all sectors of society, including government officials, religious leaders, private citizens, and scholars, diplomats of other governments, and international business and media representatives. Embassy representatives offered support to local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and religious leaders, including through small grants and training programs, and relayed information to otherwise isolated human rights NGOs and religious leaders. Since 1999 the secretary of state has designated Burma as a ?Country of Particular Concern? (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The secretary of state redesignated Burma as a CPC on August 18. The U.S. government has a wide array of sanctions in place against the country for its violations of human rights but is taking steps to ease those sanctions as the government has undertaken significant political and economic reform efforts."
Source/publisher: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the US Dept. of State
2012-07-30
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Findings: "The Burmese military is implicated in some of the world?s worst human rights abuses, including rape, torture, ethnic cleansing, conscription of child soldiers, and particularly severe religious freedom violations. These abuses continued in the past reporting period, despite November 2010 elections that installed a new government and some initial reforms announced during 2011-2012. Religious groups, particularly ethnic minority Christians and Muslims and Buddhist monks suspected of engaging in anti-government activity, faced intrusive monitoring, arrest, mistreatment, destruction or desecration of property, severe restrictions on worship, education, and religious activities, and targeted violence. Monks are still imprisoned for participating in peaceful demonstrations in 2007, and the ban on independent Protestant ―house church‖ activities remains. In light of these continued systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations, USCIRF again recommends in 2012 that Burma be designated as a ―country of particular concern‖ (CPC). The State Department has designated Burma as a CPC since 1999..."
Source/publisher: U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
2012-03-27
Date of entry/update: 2012-03-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 118.86 KB
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Description: "...There was no change in the government?s limited degree of respect for religious freedom during the reporting period. Religious activities and organizations were subject to restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and assembly. The government continued to monitor meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations, and required religious groups to seek permission from authorities before holding any large public event. The government continued to restrict systematically the efforts of Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom. Many of the Buddhist monks arrested in the violent crackdown that followed prodemocracy demonstrations in September 2007, including prominent activist monk U Gambira, remained in prison serving long sentences. The government also actively promoted Theravada Buddhism over other religions, particularly among ethnic minorities. Christian groups continued to struggle to obtain permission to repair places of worship or build new ones. The government eased some of its travel restrictions on Muslim groups, particularly in the largely Rohingya areas of Rakhine State and predominantly Muslim areas in Rangoon. However, there were reports the government?s actions were a quid pro quo to enlist electoral support for the USDP. The regime continued to monitor Muslim activities closely. Restrictions on worship for other non-Buddhist minority groups also continued. Although there were no new reports of forced conversions of non-Buddhists, authorities in some cases influenced the placement of orphans and homeless youth, preferring Buddhist monasteries to Christian orphanages in an apparent effort to prevent Christian groups? or missionaries? influence. Adherence or conversion to Buddhism was an unwritten prerequisite for promotion to senior government and military ranks. Nearly all senior-level officers of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the armed forces are Buddhists.."
Source/publisher: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2011-09-13
Date of entry/update: 2011-09-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: FINDINGS: "The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military junta that governs Burma, remains one of the world?s worst human rights violators. The SPDC severely restricts religious practice, monitors the activity of all religious organizations, and perpetrates violence against religious leaders and communities, particularly in ethnic minority areas. In the past year, the SPDC has engaged in severe violations of the freedom of religion and belief including: the arrest, mistreatment, and harassment of Buddhist monks who participated in peaceful demonstrations in 2007 or are suspected of anti-government activity; the severe repression and forced relocation of the Rohingya Muslim minority; the banning of independent Protestant ―house church‖ activities; and the abuses, including forced labor, relocations, and destruction of religious sites, against ethnic minority Protestants..."
Source/publisher: US Commission on International Religious Freedom
2011-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2011-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 112.96 KB
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Description: "Myanmar has rejected criticism of the country�s record on religious freedom in a report issued by the United States. ?Myanmar has been singled out for reasons other than religion,? said U Thaung Tun, the director general of the Political Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. U Thaung Tun said Myanmar should be regarded as a model society when it came to religious tolerance and freedom. He was reacting to a report on religious freedom released by the US State Department on October 26 which listed Myanmar as a country of "particular concern" for the third consecutive year..."
Creator/author: Thet Khaing
Source/publisher: Myanmar Times, Bol. 5, No. 88, November 5 - 11, 2001
2001-11-11
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Buddhism has traditionally been synonymous with Burman nationalism. The idea of ultra- Burman nationalism has been used by the military regimes to unite Buddhists in solidarity, and to oppress non-Buddhists. Constant rhetoric, such as the saying ‘Buddha Bata, Myanmar Lumyo? meaning, ‘To be Myanmar is to be Buddhist? is used by the junta to justify their actions and this ideology remains at the centre of the SPDC?s political philosophy. Consequently, the SPDC has maintained efforts to assimilate all ethnic minority groups into the mainstream Burman society to create a single national identity under the policy of ‘one race, one language, one religion?. Under this ideology, the SPDC promotes Buddhism over all other religions. Evidence of this is seen in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which contains the Department for the Protection and Propagation of Sasana (Buddhist teaching). Buddhist doctrine features heavily in the state mandated curriculum for all official elementary schools, where students are required to recite Buddhist prayer daily. Moreover, the SPDC continues to operate two Sangha universities, in Rangoon and Mandalay, to train Buddhist monks under the control of the State Monk Coordination Committee. In 2008, there were no official reports of forced conversion of non-Buddhists, however many students and poor youth were pressured heavily by local authorities to convert to Buddhism. Job placement in the public sector and advancement in the military was largely dependent on whether one was a practicing Buddhist or not. Furthermore, one?s religious affiliation was a requirement for all identification cards that citizens and permanent residents were required to be in possession of at all times. In 2008, the military continued to abuse Christians and Muslims and their right to religious freedom. It was reported that members of these religious minority groups were occasionally used for forced labour to serve the military regime. In some cases forced labour was used to destroy mosques, churches or graveyards in order to build Buddhist pagodas.7 Sometimes these Buddhist pagodas would even be built using forced labour in areas with a low Buddhist population even though, the Religious Affairs Ministry claims to only allow the construction of religious monuments in situations that ?depends upon the population of the location.” However, this rule seemed to be ignored for the building of Buddhist sites in non-Buddhist areas. Christians and Muslims nonetheless, still experienced trouble when applying for permission to build or repair their own religious sites. In many cases, Christians and Muslims were eventually able to obtain the necessary permits to build, but only when the groups in question had paid bribes to the authorities. There were also occasions when these groups simply had their applications denied for various reasons, such as that the church did not have a proper property permit. At other times, church or mosque leaders were given informal permission to commence construction, only to have SPDC authorities change their mind and destroy the buildings after they had been completed. This raises the question of whether or not in these cases the authorities processed the applications solely in order to collect the bribes required to have the petitions granted.8 In addition to oppressing religious minority groups in 2008, the SPDC increased its control over Burma?s Buddhist population. Even though there are approximately 400,000 monks in Burma, there are only nine state-endorsed monastic orders that are permitted to operate under the SPDC sponsored Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee (SMNC). Furthermore, independent monastic orders are illegal since the establishment of the 1990 Sangha Organisation Law. These laws have since been used to control the Sangha and limit its rights to expression and assembly. For example, abbots are not allowed to deliver instruction on any topics which could be related to politics and monks are restricted from joining together in opposition to the government. Violations of this law, as witnessed during the September 2007 ‘Saffron Revolution?, result in grave consequences. Monks who were accused of participating in the protests were defrocked in jail, where they were not allowed to shave their heads or eat their meals in accordance with the monastic codes. Monks were thus treated as laypersons and common criminals; treatment which comprises one of the gravest offences one can commit within the Buddhist religion..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
2009-11-23
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 833.12 KB
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Description: "Highly repressive, authoritarian military regimes have ruled the country since 1962. Constitutional protection of religious freedom has not existed since 1988, after the armed forces brutally suppressed massive prodemocracy demonstrations and abrogated the Constitution. In 1990 prodemocracy parties won a majority of seats in a free and fair election, but the junta of senior military officers refused to recognize the results and has ruled the country by decree and without a legislature ever since. The authorities generally permitted most adherents of registered religious groups to worship as they choose; however, the Government imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and frequently abused the right to freedom of religion..."
Source/publisher: (US) Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2008-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-10-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Highly repressive, authoritarian military regimes have ruled the country since 1962. In May 2008 the Government announced voters had approved a new draft Constitution in a nationwide referendum. Democracy activists and the international community widely criticized the referendum as seriously flawed. The new Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, it also grants broad exceptions that allow the regime to restrict those rights at will. Although authorities generally permitted most adherents of registered religious groups to worship as they choose, the Government imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and frequently abused the right to freedom of religion..."
Source/publisher: (US) Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009-10-26
Date of entry/update: 2009-10-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Highly repressive, authoritarian military regimes have ruled the country since 1962. Constitutional protection of religious freedom has not existed since 1988, after the armed forces brutally suppressed massive pro-democracy demonstrations and abrogated the Constitution. In 1990 pro-democracy parties won a majority of seats in a free and fair election, but the junta of senior military officers refused to recognize the results and has ruled the country by decree and without a legislature ever since. The authorities generally permitted most adherents of registered religious groups to worship as they choose; however, the Government imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and frequently abused the right to freedom of religion. There was no change in the limited respect for religious freedom by the Government during the period covered by this report. The Government continued to infiltrate and covertly and overtly monitor meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations. The Government systematically restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom and discouraged and prohibited minority religious groups from constructing new places of worship. In some cases, government officials destroyed existing places of worship. The Government also actively promoted Theravada Buddhism over other religions, particularly among members of ethnic minorities. Christian and Islamic groups continued to have trouble obtaining permission to repair existing places of worship or build new ones. Anti-Muslim violence continued, as did the close monitoring of Muslim activities. Restrictions on worship of other non-Buddhist minority groups also continued throughout the country. Although there were no new reports of forced conversions of non-Buddhists, the Government applied pressure on students and poor youth to convert to Buddhism. Adherence or conversion to Buddhism is generally a prerequisite for promotion to senior government and military ranks..."
Source/publisher: US State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2007-09-14
Date of entry/update: 2007-09-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...There was no change in the limited respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. In October 2004, the military intelligence apparatus that, as part of its responsibilities, covertly and overtly monitored religious activities in the country was disbanded; however, the Government continued to infiltrate and monitor the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations. The Government systematically restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom, discouraged and prohibited minority religions from constructing new places of worship, and actively promoted Buddhism over other religions, particularly among members of the minority ethnic groups. Christian and Muslim groups continued to experience difficulties in obtaining permission to repair existing churches or build new ones in most regions. Anti-Muslim violence continued to occur, as did the monitoring of Muslims' activities. Restrictions also continued on worship countrywide of non-Buddhist minority groups. There were no reports of forced conversions of non-Buddhists or forced labor to build Buddhist pagodas..."
Source/publisher: US Department of State - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2005-11-08
Date of entry/update: 2007-04-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Highly repressive, authoritarian military regimes have ruled the country since 1962. Constitutional support for religious freedom has not existed since 1988 after the armed forces brutally suppressed massive prodemocracy demonstrations and abrogated the constitution. In 1990 prodemocracy parties won a majority of seats in a free and fair election, but the junta of senior military officers refused to recognize the results and has ruled the country by decree and without a legislature ever since. The authorities generally permitted most adherents of registered religions to worship as they choose; however, the Government imposes restrictions on certain religious activities and frequently abuses the right to freedom of religion. There was no change in the limited respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. The Government continued to infiltrate and covertly and overtly monitor meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations. The Government systematically restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom and discouraged and prohibited minority religions from constructing new places of worship. The Government also actively promoted Theravada Buddhism over other religions, particularly among members of minority ethnic groups. Christian and Islamic groups continued to have trouble obtaining permission to repair existing places of worship or build new ones in most regions. Anti-Muslim violence continued, as did the close monitoring of Muslims activities. Restrictions on worship of other non-Buddhist minority groups also continued throughout the country. There were no reports of forced conversions of non-Buddhists. Adherence or conversion to Buddhism, however, is generally a prerequisite for promotion to senior government and military ranks..."
Source/publisher: US State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2006-09-15
Date of entry/update: 2007-04-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: In a country where discrimination against minority groups is a fact of life, Muslims are bottom of the heap... "There is a saying that if you lose control of your bicycle in Burma?s western Arakan State, you shouldn?t worry as it will stop when it hits a kala. Kala is Burmese slang for outsider, or alien, and although Caucasians are sometimes referred to as white kala, the term is more commonly used for anyone dark skinned, usually of Indian origin. While some shrug the term off, others consider it abusive and degrading: an insult to people whose ancestors may have fought for the country and who consider themselves wholly Burmese...
Creator/author: Harry Priestley
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 14, No. 1
2006-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Executive Summary: "In Burma, anyone can be detained for being involved in human rights advocacy, democratic activities or peaceful demonstrations. Thus, political activists are not the only stratum of society vulnerable to arrest by the military intelligence, Buddhist monks are also subject to the same fate. It is estimated that there are approximately 300 monks and novices in Burma?s prisons, whereas the number of political prisoners lingers at about 1400 to date. Since the pro-democracy uprising occurred in 1988, the military regime has constantly attempted to crackdown on all strata of society including Buddhist monks who are assumed to be potentially significant revolutionary forces. During the demonstrations that occurred in August and September 1988, the regime killed masses of peaceful demonstrators including monks, students and civilians. Although Buddhist monks have been involved in the movement by non-violent means, they have not been excluded from arrest and imprisonment. Since there is no rule of law but only ‘law and order? in Burma, all arrests come without a warrant and the victims face brutal interrogations at military detention centers. Almost all the lawsuits concerning such arrests have been tried secretly without granting the accused any rights to seek legal counsel. Trials have been perfunctory; the so-called judges just read out the charges. While the accused is asked to plead guilty or not, the court announces its verdict which has invariably been one of guilt. Most of the monks, including novices, that were arrested were charged under Section 5 (J) of the Emergency Provisions Act which is a widely worded law that has been used to suppress dissent even in the absence of a proclaimed ‘State of Emergency?. Some monks were charged under Article 295 of the Penal Code which describe the charge as ‘of offenses relating to religion?. Aside from these Acts, Buddhist monks are vulnerable to arrest and charge under other Acts described in the Penal Code. In October 1990, immediately after the monks boycott of the regime began, the regime created ‘ The Law Concerning the Sangha Organizations? or Sangha Organization Law, an intrusion of the state in Sangha affairs. Subsequently, more than 200 monks and novices were found to be guilty of contravening these rules and regulations and were stripped of their monkhood that year. Since the ‘Sangha Organization Law? describes all nine Sangha Sects as members of the State Sangha Organization, every monk, or member of Sangha, has no alternative but to abide by all the rules and regulations pronounced by the regime. In brief, all the orders and decrees the military regime has issued are designed to keep monks under tight control and thwart them from being involved in any social movements. According to Buddhist principles, disrobing a monk forcibly cannot alter him into an ordinary laymen unless he himself chooses to be. Many monks who were arrested and imprisoned adhered to the principles of monkhood and never assumed that they had become laymen because they were disrobed. However, the authorities concerned in Burma, particularly those in military interrogation camps and inside prisons, treated the disrobed monks inhumanely as they considered the monks to be common criminals as they were no longer in their robes. This report attempts to reveal some of the most offensive incidents perpetrated by a military regime, which is pretending to be the most pious government to ever rule in modern Burmese history. It should be noted that the data and information included in this report is only a sampling of incidents from a decade of arrests as the researchers faced difficulties in obtaining information from inside sources. However, the reliability of the information included in this report is unarguable. This report serves to voice previously unheard voices that have been suppressed since these episodes transpired in Burma. Through the publication of this report, we hope to provide an opportunity for these voices to be heard."... CONTENTS: Acknowledgements; Executive Summary; Recommendations; Introduction; Background History; Buddhist Monks and Burmese Society; Buddhist Monks under the BSPP Regime; Buddhist Monks under the SLORC Regime; Overturning the Bowls; SLORC?s Response to the Monks? Boycott; Disrobing; Torture and Abuses in Prison and Prison Labor Camp; The Regime?s Image as a Pious Ruler; Recent Arrests of Monks in 2003 for ?Overturning the Bowl”... APPENDICES: Appendix 1-a - Photos and List of 26 Monks Arrested from Mahar Ghandaryone Monastery in 2003 for ?Overturning the Bowl”;; Appendix 1-b - Photos of Monks Who Have Been Released; Appendix 2 - Sangha Organization Law; (as the SLORC issued on October 31, 1990); Appendix 3 - Analysis of the SPDC?s Sangha Organization Law by Burma Lawyers? Council; Appendix 4 - Pattam Nikkujjana Kamma (or) ?Overturning the Bowl”; Appendix 5 - Entreaty to All Monks and People- by Young Monks? League (Lower Burma) and League of Monks? Union from 4 Sides (Mandalay); Appendix 6 - Firsthand Account of a Monk Who Was Imprisoned for Involvement in the Monk Boycott; Appendix 7 - Firsthand Account of a Monk Who Was Imprisoned and Sent to Prison Labor Camp; Appendix 8 - Firsthand Account of a Monk Who Was Involved in the Monk Boycott and Evaded Arrest; Appendix 9 - Firsthand Experience of a Former Political Prisoner who Observed Monks Who Were Taken to Myitkyina Prison and Forced Labor Camps; Appendix 10 - Radio Interview with the Abbot of New Masoeyein Monastery, Mandalay; Appendix 11 - Radio Interview with a Buddhist Monk Regarding the Arrests of Monks; Appendix 12 - Interview with an Eyewitness about the Kyaukse Riot; Appendix 13 - Account of a Monk Regarding the Mahar Ghandaryone Monk Boycott; Appendix 14 - Relationship between Monks and the SPDC (An excerpt from a radio interview with monks inside Burma); Appendix 15 - (Article) Sons of Buddha in Prison by Naing Kyaw; Appendix 16 - (Article) Imprisoned Monks-I by Win Naing Oo; Appendix 17 - (Article) Imprisoned Monks-II by Win Naing Oo; Appendix 18 - (Article) Imprisoned Monks-III by Win Naing Oo... LISTS: Partial List of Monks Who Died in Prisons and Forced Labor Camps; Partial List of Monks Who Are Currently in Prison; Acronyms, Glossary and Bibliography.
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) - AAPP
2004-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-11-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 705.76 KB
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Description: "The country has been ruled since 1962 by highly repressive, authoritarian military regimes. Since 1988, when the armed forces brutally suppressed massive prodemocracy demonstrations, a junta composed of senior military officers has ruled by decree, without a constitution or legislature. Although there is currently no constitution in place, the principles laid out by the Government for its reconvened constitutional convention allow for "freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess and practice religion subject to public order, morality, or health?E" Most adherents of religions that are registered with the authorities generally are allowed to worship as they choose; however, the Government imposes restrictions on certain religious activities and frequently abuses the right to freedom of religion. There was no change in the limited respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. Through its pervasive internal security apparatus, the Government generally infiltrated or monitored the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations. It systematically restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom, discouraged or prohibited minority religions from constructing new places of worship, and in some ethnic minority areas coercively promoted Buddhism over other religions, particularly among members of the minority ethnic groups. Under the principles that are to guide the drafting of the constitution, "the State recognizes the special position of Buddhism as the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens of the State." Christian groups continued to experience difficulties in obtaining permission to repair existing churches or build new ones in most regions, while Muslims reported that they essentially are banned from constructing any new mosques or expanding existing ones anywhere in the country. Anti-Muslim violence continued to occur during the period covered by this report, as did monitoring of Muslims' activities and restrictions on Muslim travel and worship countrywide. There were flare-ups of Muslim-Buddhist violence during the period covered by this report. Persistent social tensions remained between the Buddhist majority and the Christian and Muslim minorities, largely due to old British colonial and contemporary government preferences. There is widespread prejudice against Burmese of South Asian origin, most of whom are Muslims. The U.S. Government promoted religious freedom with all facets of society, including government officials, religious leaders, private citizens, scholars, diplomats of other governments, and international business and media representatives. Embassy staff offered support to local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and religious leaders and acted as a conduit for information exchange with otherwise isolated human rights NGOs and religious leaders. Since 1999, the U.S. Secretary of State has designated Burma as a "Country of Particular Concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act for particularly severe violations of religious freedom. ..."
Source/publisher: US Dept. of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
2004-09-15
Date of entry/update: 2004-10-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Japanese
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Description: "This report was prepared with the aim of bringing to light the decades-long systematic denial and violation of religious rights of Chin Christians who inhabit Burma's western territory of Chin State or Chinland by the country's ruling military junta known as the State Peace and Development Council. The report is a compilation of more than eight years of field documentation by Chin Human Rights Organization, and is the first comprehensive report by CHRO on the situation of Chin Christians who have been suffering persecutions under Burma's ruling military regime due to their religious and ethnic identity. More than 90 percent of Chin people are Christians. This report reveals that Burma's ruling military regime is systematically persecuting Chin Christians as part of a program to Burmanize the Chin. Despite Burma's complex ethnic composition, the Chin people are a relatively homogenous society. A predominantly Christian State, the Chin today strongly identify themselves with Christianity. And as a prominent Chin scholar puts it "Christianity is the pillar of today's Chin society." As this report reveals, Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council is committing an act of ethnocide against Chin Christians by trying to destroy the Chin religious and cultural identity..."
Creator/author: Salai Za Uk Ling & Salai Bawi Lian Mang
Source/publisher: Chin Human Rights Organization
2004-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-05-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 461.99 KB
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Description: "Burma has been ruled since 1962 by highly repressive, authoritarian military regimes. Since 1988 when the armed forces brutally suppressed massive prodemocracy demonstrations, a junta composed of senior military officers has ruled by decree, without a constitution or legislature. The most recent Constitution, promulgated in 1974, permitted both legislative and administrative restrictions on religious freedom: "the national races shall enjoy the freedom to profess their religion, provided that the enjoyment of any such freedom does not offend the laws or the public interest." Most adherents of religions that are registered with the authorities generally are allowed to worship as they choose; however, the Government has imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and frequently abused the right to freedom of religion. There was no change in the limited respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. Through its pervasive internal security apparatus, the Government generally infiltrated or monitored the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations. It systematically has restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom, has discouraged or prohibited minority religions from constructing new places of worship, and, in some ethnic minority areas, has coercively promoted Buddhism over other religions, particularly among members of the minority ethnic groups. Christian groups have experienced increasing difficulties in obtaining permission to build new churches, while Muslims report that they essentially are banned from constructing any new mosques anywhere in the country. While the sharp increase in the level of anti-Muslim violence during the period covered by the previous report (some of which the Government may have tacitly supported, contributed to, or even instigated) has abated, there were reports that restrictions on Muslim travel and worship countrywide have increased, especially since the fall of 2001. There are social tensions between the Buddhist majority and the Christian and Muslim minorities, largely due to colonial and contemporary government preferences. There is widespread prejudice against Muslims. A sharp increase in anti-Muslim violence in 2001 significantly heightened tensions between the Buddhist and Muslim communities, as it had done in the past. Since 1988 a primary objective of U.S. Government policy towards the country has been to promote increased respect for human rights, including the right to freedom of religion. In September 2001, the Secretary of State designated Burma a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act for particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The Secretary of State had so designated Burma in 1999 and 2000..."
Source/publisher: US Dept. of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2002-10-07
Date of entry/update: 2003-12-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Burma has been ruled since 1962 by highly repressive, authoritarian military regimes. Since 1988, when the armed forces brutally suppressed massive pro-democracy demonstrations, a junta composed of senior military officers has ruled by decree, without a constitution or legislature. The most recent constitution, promulgated in 1974, permits both legislative and administrative restrictions on religious freedom: "the national races shall enjoy the freedom to profess their religion, provided that the enjoyment of any such freedom does not offend the laws or the public interest." Most adherents of religions that are registered with the authorities generally are allowed to worship as they choose; however, the Government has imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and frequently abused the right to freedom of religion. There was no change in the limited respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. Through its pervasive internal security apparatus, the Government generally infiltrated or monitored the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations. It systematically restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom, discouraged or prohibited minority religions from constructing new places of worship, and, in some ethnic minority areas, coercively promoted Buddhism over other religions, particularly among members of the minority ethnic groups. Christian groups continued to experience increasing difficulties in obtaining permission to build new churches in most regions, while Muslims reported that they essentially are banned from constructing any new mosques, or expanding existing ones anywhere in the country. Anti-Muslim violence continued to occur. Restrictions on Muslim travel as well as monitoring of Muslims? activities and worship countrywide have increased in recent years. There are social tensions between the Buddhist majority and the Christian and Muslim minorities, largely due to colonial and contemporary government preferences. There is widespread prejudice against Muslims. Since 1988, a primary objective of U.S. Government policy toward the country has been to promote increased respect for human rights, including the right to freedom of religion. In March, the Secretary of State designated Burma a "country of particular concern" (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act for particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The Secretary of State also designated Burma a CPC in 1999, 2000, and 2001. During the period covered by this report, the U.S. Embassy promoted religious freedom during contacts with all facets of Burmese society, including officials, private citizens, scholars, representatives of other governments, international media representatives, and international business representatives, as well as leaders of Buddhist, Christian, and Islamic religious groups..."
Source/publisher: US Dept. of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
2003-12-18
Date of entry/update: 2003-12-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The US Secretary of State has designated Burma as a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act for acute violations of religious freedom since 1999. According to the US Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2002, there remained minimal respect of religious freedom in Burma. The 1974 Constitution indicates that freedom of religion should be granted to members of the national races as long as their activities do not interfere or disturb existing laws or public interest. Burma does not have an official religion, but the SPDC shows favoritism towards Theravada Buddhism. As the minority religions are associated with ethnic minority groups connected with opposition groups, the SPDC often considers religious freedom as a danger to national unity. As a result, the SPDC keeps all organizations, including religious organizations, under a watchful eye by entering or monitoring meetings. All organizations must register with the Ministry of Home Affairs with the approval of the Ministry for Religious Affairs, except for "genuine" religious organizations. In order to buy or sell property or maintain a bank account, an organization must be registered. Therefore most are compelled to do so. In addition, registered organizations may also receive assistance from the government towards electric and utility services. (Source: US Department of Sate) The SPDC established rules for the proper code and conduct of Buddhist clergy and bans any involvement with political activism or the promotion of human rights. The SPDC has forcibly converted Christians and Muslims, the minority religions and mostly minority ethnicities, to Buddhism. The SPDC does not allow Muslims to build new mosques or to make repairs on the exteriors of existing mosques. Christians must gain permission from many different government levels in order to build new churches. The SPDC has been reported to destroy religious buildings of minority religions and construct Buddhist temples or military buildings in their place. The SPDC has also included Buddhist codes of belief in the state authorized curriculum of all elementary schools. While students are allowed to choose not to partake in Buddhist instruction, the SPDC often punishes those who don?t. (Source: US Department of State)..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
2003-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-11-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 59.73 KB
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Description: "Burma?s Muslims are gaining the attention of Western observers... Burma?s importance in world affairs has long derived from its critical geo-strategic position. Now, however, it is the country?s large Muslim population and its possible links with pan-Islamist extremist organizations that is attracting the interest of Western scholars and officials. While usually overlooked in surveys of Islam in the Asia-Pacific region, Burma is home to at least two million Muslims, or four percent of the population. Some estimates of their numbers range as high as 16 percent, or eight million people. All statistics on Burma are unreliable, but the difference between these two estimates arises from the fact that a large proportion of the country?s Muslims are denied full citizenship, and therefore not included in official surveys. Also, the latter figure usually includes a large expatriate population, possibly of 1.5 million Burmese Muslims, who are currently living in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Middle East..."
Creator/author: Andrew Selth
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 11, No 7
2003-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-11-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Contains sections on the Rohingyas, Chin and other non-Buddhist groups
Source/publisher: Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Dept. of State
1999-09-09
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: The Buddha-image in the Mahamuni pagoda in Mandalay is one of Burma?s holiest shrines. Its bulk is swollen by millions of slivers of gold-leaf placed there by the devout, forming a crust six-inches thick. So when, last month, a crack appeared by the statue?s right breast, it was an evil omen.
Creator/author: Editorial
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 5. No. 2
1997-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
1995-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 24.06 KB
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Description: "The military junta shows no sign of diverting from a long trend of discriminating against religious minorities. the Government imposed some restrictions on certain religious minorities...The Government imposed some restrictions on the religious freedom of both Christian and Islamic groups, and individual Christians and Muslims experienced some discrimination by the State. The Government monitored the activities of members of all religions, including Buddhism, in part because clergy and congregation members in the past have become active politically. Christians and Muslims experienced difficulties in obtaining permission to build places of worship and in importing indigenous-language translations of traditional sacred texts. Through the 1990?s, the Government increasingly has made special efforts to link itself with Buddhism as a means of asserting its own popular legitimacy. State-controlled news media continued frequently to depict or describe junta members paying homage to Buddhist monks, making donations at pagodas throughout the country, officiating at ceremonies to open, improve, restore or maintain pagodas, and organizing ostensibly voluntary "people?s donations" of money, food, and uncompensated labor to build or refurbish Buddhist religious shrines throughout the country..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
2001-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm htm
Size: 43.69 KB 6.04 KB
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Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
2002-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 59.73 KB
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Description: "...Human Rights Watch said that various factors sparked last year?s confrontations between Buddhists and Muslims, including anger over the destruction of Buddhist images in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in March 2001. Military authorities confiscated pirated photos and videos of the Bamiyan statues being blown up by the Taliban, fearful they would enflame Buddhist sentiment. But in some cities outside Rangoon, there were credible reports of military intelligence officers stirring up anti-Muslim violence..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2002-07-18
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "While extensive reporting has been done on the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, very little attention has been paid to the persecution suffered by the thousands of Muslim communities which exist in villages and towns throughout Burma. With no political voice or armed group to stand up for them, Muslim communities are forced to endure the denial of all citizenship rights, restrictions on travel, work, and education, prohibitions on practicing Islam, and the systematic destruction of their mosques. This report looks at the systematic way these communities have been persecuted, impoverished and scapegoated by the military regime and by local populations, which culminated in the anti-Muslim riots and massacres of 2001..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2002-02)
2002-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Includes sections on the Chin and the Rohingyas and other non-Buddhist groups
Source/publisher: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State
2000-09-05
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "There was no change in the status of the limited respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. Through its pervasive internal security apparatus, the Government generally infiltrated or monitored the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations. It systematically has restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom, has discouraged or prohibited minority religions from constructing new places of worship, and, in some ethnic minority areas, has coercively promoted Buddhism over other religions, particularly among members of the minority ethnic groups. Christian groups have experienced increasing difficulties in obtaining permission to build new churches, while Muslims report that they essentially are banned from constructing any new mosques anywhere in the country. There also was a sharp increase in the level of anti-Muslim violence during the period covered by this report, some of which the Government may have tacitly supported, contributed to, or even instigated..."
Source/publisher: US Dept. of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2001-10-26
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "No official proclamation has been made that Burma is a theocracy based on Buddhism. Yet religious riots and religious suppression can be seen to be a direct result of divisions between Buddhist and non-Buddhist religions. It has become clear that the ruling military regime is using religious issues for its political interests. Burmese peoples who practice other religions have suffered from repression simply because of their religion... All religions in Burma are subject to the political interests of the military regime. However the difference between suppression of Buddhists on the one hand and Christians and Muslims on the other, is that there is no intention to eliminate Buddhism, whereas suppression against Christians and Muslims is so intended. Suppression of Buddhist monks and Buddhist Burmese occurs simply because of their involvement in politics. In contrast, the suppression of Muslims and Christians is carried out to undermine their religions, so that Buddhism will remain as the dominant, and perhaps become the exclusive, religion. The promotion of Buddhism by the military regime at the expense of other religions is undertaken to increase Burmese nationalism based on Buddhism. Religions in Burma have been divided into Buddhist and non-Buddhist. There is enough evidence to conclude that as long as the military regime is in power, religion in Burma will be divisive and oppressive..."
Creator/author: Khin Maung Win
Source/publisher: Legal Issues on Burma Journal No. 4 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
1999-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 33.62 KB
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Description: "Muslim minorities across Asia are under siege?and their persecution fuels fundamentalists' rage...the Burmese government has convinced many Buddhists in the Arakan region that the Rohingyas are fighting for an independent Islamic state?a goal embraced by radical militant groups in exile in Bangladesh but not by the majority of Muslims living in Arakan. "It's propaganda," says Christina Fink, a cultural anthropologist at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. "It's a way for the regime to divide the Arakanese and make sure the people are less interested in the pro-democracy movement and more interested in driving the Muslims out." The United Nations has overseen the return to Burma of more than 200,000 Rohingya refugees. But many have found their houses and land appropriated by Buddhist settlers and their basic rights still denied by the authorities. For example, to qualify for citizenship, says Fink, the Rohingyas must prove that their grandparents on both sides were born in Burma, but "there are very few who can." Many have abandoned hope and go back to Bangladesh, only to find they are no longer allowed access to the refugee camps, says French anthropologist Chris Lewa, who studies the Rohingya refugees. "Perhaps as many as 100,000 live in slums around Cox's Bazar," she says. "They are not wanted in Bangladesh or in Burma. Effectively, they are stateless people."..."
Creator/author: Andrew Perrin
Source/publisher: Time Asia Vol. 161 No. 9
2003-03-10
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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