International
Religious Freedom Report 2002
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,
U.S. Department of State, October 7, 2002
Burma
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, 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.
Section
I. Religious Demography
The country has a total area
of approximately 251,000 square miles and a population of
approximately 50 million persons. The majority of the population are
Theravada Buddhists, although in practice popular Burmese Buddhism
includes veneration of many indigenous pre-Buddhist deities called
"nats," and coexists with astrology, numerology,
and fortune-telling. Buddhist monks, including novices,
number more than 300,000 persons, (roughly 2 percent of the
male Buddhist population), and depend for their material needs
entirely on alms donated by the laity, including daily donations of
food. The clergy also includes a much smaller number of nuns. There
are minorities of Christians (mostly Baptists as well as some
Catholics and Anglicans), Muslims (mostly Sunni), Hindus, and
practitioners of traditional Chinese and indigenous religions.
According to government statistics, almost 90 percent of the
population practice Buddhism, 4 percent practice Christianity, and 4
percent practice Islam; however, these statistics may understate the
non-Buddhist proportion of the population. A very small Jewish
community, estimated to be less than 50 persons, exists in Rangoon.
The country is ethnically
diverse, and there is some correlation between ethnicity and
religion. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion among the
majority Burman ethnic group, and among the Shan and Mon ethnic
minorities of the eastern and southern regions. In much of the
country there also is some correlation between religion and social
class. Non-Buddhists tend to be better educated, more urbanized, and
more business oriented than the Buddhist majority.
Christianity is the dominant
religion among the Kachin ethnic group of the northern region and
the Chin and Naga ethnic groups of the western region (some of which
practice traditional indigenous religions); it also is practiced
widely among the Karen and Karenni ethnic groups of the southern and
eastern regions. Many other Karen and Karenni are Theravada
Buddhists. Hinduism is practiced chiefly by Indians, mostly Tamils
and Bengalis, who are concentrated in major cities and in the
south-central region (although many Tamils are Catholic). Islam is
practiced widely in Rakhine State, where it is the dominant religion
of the Rohingya minority, and among Indians and Bengalis and their
descendants. The Chinese ethnic minorities practice traditional
Chinese religions. Traditional indigenous religions are practiced
widely among smaller ethnic groups in the northern regions and
practices drawn from those indigenous religions persist widely in
popular Buddhist rituals, especially in rural areas.
Section
II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy
Framework
The country has been ruled
since 1962 by highly authoritarian military regimes. The latest
military regime, now called the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), has governed without a constitution or legislature since
1988. 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 were registered with the authorities generally have
enjoyed the right to worship as they choose; however, the Government
has imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and
frequently abused the right to religious freedom.
Since independence in 1948,
many of the ethnic minority areas have been bases for armed
resistance to the Government. Although the Government has negotiated
ceasefire agreements with most armed ethnic groups since 1989,
active Shan, Karen and Karenni insurgencies continue, and a Chin
insurgency has developed since the late 1980's. Successive civilian
and military governments have tended to view religious freedom in
the context of threats to national unity.
There is no official state
religion; however, in practice the Government continued to show a
preference for Theravada Buddhism. Successive governments, civilian
and military, have supported and associated themselves conspicuously
with Buddhism.
Virtually all organizations
must be registered with the Government. A government directive
exempts "genuine" religious organizations from
registration; however, in practice only registered organizations can
buy or sell property or open bank accounts, which coerces most
religious organizations to register. Religious organizations
register with the Ministry of Home Affairs with the endorsement of
the Ministry for Religious Affairs. The State also provides some
utility services, such as electricity, at preferential rates to
recognized religious organizations.
Buddhist doctrine remained
part of the state-mandated curriculum in all elementary schools.
Individual children may opt out of instruction in Buddhism, and
sometimes do; however, at times the Government also deals harshly
with efforts to opt out. The Government also funded two state
universities to train Buddhist clergy, and one university intended
to teach non-Burmese about Burmese Theravada Buddhism.
Official public holidays
include some Christian and Islamic holy days, as well as several
Theravada Buddhist holy days.
The Government ostensibly
promotes mutual understanding among practitioners of different
religions. The Government maintains a multi-religion monument in
downtown Rangoon. In 1998 the Government announced plans to build a
new multi-religion Square on some of the land that it recovered in
1997 by relocating Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Muslim cemeteries
in Rangoon's Kyandaw neighborhood. During 2001, the Government
objected to the inclusion of a cross in the design of a proposed
Christian monument at the site, and, as a result, there was no
progress on the project during the period covered by this report.
Restrictions
on Religious Freedom
The Government continued both
to show preference for Theravada Buddhism, the majority religion,
and to control the organization and restrict the activities and
expression of its clergy ("sangha"), although the clergy
have resisted such control. Beginning in late 1990, the Government
banned any organization of Buddhist clergy other than the nine
state-recognized monastic orders. These nine orders submit to the
authority of a state-sponsored State Clergy Coordination Committee
("Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee"--SMNC), which is elected
indirectly by monks. The Government also authorized military
commanders to try Buddhist clergy before military tribunals for
"activities inconsistent with and detrimental to
Buddhism," and imposed on Buddhist clergy a code of conduct.
Infractions of the code are punished by criminal penalties. In 1999
the regional military commander in Mandalay reportedly issued an
order that forbade Buddhist clergy to leave their township of
residence without first surrendering their identity cards and
obtaining written permission from local authorities. In November
2001 two nuns at Thayet were arrested and imprisoned for violating
this order. Persons other than Buddhist clergy generally were not
subject to such severe restrictions on movement.
Since the early 1990's, the
Government increasingly has made special efforts to link itself with
Buddhism as a means of boosting its own legitimacy. State-controlled
news media continue frequently to depict or describe government
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. State-owned newspapers routinely featured, as front
page banner slogans, quotations from the Buddhist scriptures. The
Government has published books of Buddhist religious instruction.
The Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a
Government-sponsored mass organization in which participation often
is not entirely voluntary, has organized courses in Buddhist culture
attended by millions of persons, according to State-owned media
reports.
The Government continued to
fund two State Sangha Universities in Rangoon and Mandalay to train
Buddhist clergy under the control of the SMNC. The State's relations
with the Buddhist clergy and Buddhist schools are handled chiefly by
the Department for the Perpetuation and Propagation of the Sasana (DPPS--"Sasana"
means Buddhist doctrine) in the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
During the mid-1990's, the Government funded the construction of the
International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University (ITBMU) in
Rangoon, which opened in December 1998. The ITBMU's stated purpose
is "to share Burma's knowledge of Buddhism with the people of
the world," and the main language of instruction is English.
The Government, which operates
a pervasive internal security apparatus, generally infiltrates or
monitors the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations,
including religious organizations. Religious activities and
organizations of all faiths also are subject to broad government
restrictions on freedom of expression and association. The
Government also subjects all publications, including religious
publications, to control and censorship. The Government generally
prohibits outdoor meetings, including religious meetings, of more
than five persons. This monitoring and control undermines the free
exchange of thoughts and ideas associated with religious activities.
The Government continued to monitor closely the activities of
members of all religions, including Buddhism, in part because clergy
and congregation members in the past have become active politically.
In 1995 the military Government prohibited the ordination as clergy
of any member of a political party. This measure remains in effect;
however, it is not strictly enforced.
The Government continued to
discriminate against members of minority religions, restricting the
educational, proselytizing, and building activities of minority
religious groups. There is a concentration of Christians among some
of the ethnic minorities (such as, the Karen and the Kachin) against
which the army has fought for decades, although groups that practice
Buddhism (like, the Shan) also have waged many of the ethnic
insurgencies.
Unlike in past years, there
were no reports of clergy being beaten to discourage proselytizing.
Local military commanders, who often issued such orders, rarely
cited any legal justification for their actions. Government
authorities continued to prohibit Christian clergy from
proselytizing in some areas, often in support of local Buddhist
populations opposed to the spread of Christianity. For example, in
early April 2002 the Government suddenly rescinded the Kachin
Baptist Convention's permission to hold its 125th
anniversary celebration in Kachin state. The celebration, which was
expected to attract approximately 30,000 members, was rescheduled
for November 2002. The Government initially also denied the Baptist
Youth Assembly to hold a rally for 3,000 members in Taunggyi, Shan
state in November 2001. In May 2002, the Government allowed the
group to hold the rally but attendance was restricted to only 300
members.
In general the Government has
not allowed permanent foreign religious missions to operate in the
country since the mid-1960's, when it expelled nearly all foreign
missionaries and nationalized all private schools and hospitals,
which were extensive and were affiliated mostly with Christian
religious organizations. The Government is not known to have paid
any compensation in connection with these extensive confiscations.
However, the Government has allowed a few elderly Catholic priests
and nuns who have worked in the country since before independence to
continue their work. At times, religious groups, including Catholics
and Protestants, bring in foreign clergy and religious workers as
tourists but are careful to ensure that their activities are not
perceived as proselytizing by the Government. Some Christian
theological seminaries established before 1962 also have continued
to operate; however, in 2000 military authorities forced a Bible
school, which had been operating in Tamu township in Sagaing
division since 1976, to close.
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. Buddhist
groups are not known to have experienced similar difficulties in
obtaining permission to build pagodas or monasteries. In parts of
Chin state, authorities reportedly have not authorized the
construction of any new churches since 1997. The Government
reportedly also has denied permission for churches to be built on
main roads in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state. In Rangoon
authorities have instructed various Christian groups to call their
worship facilities "social centers" rather than
"churches." One source estimated that the Government
approves construction of only approximately 10 to 15 new churches
per year. In most regions of the country, Christian and Muslim
groups that seek to build small churches or mosques on side streets
or other inconspicuous locations do so with informal, rather than
formal, approval from local authorities. However, obtaining an
informal approval from local authorities creates a tenuous legal
situation. When local authorities or conditions change, informal
approvals for construction have been rescinded abruptly,
construction halted and, in some cases, buildings have been torn
down.
Since the 1960's, Christian
and Islamic groups have had difficulties importing religious
literature into the country. All publications, religious and
secular, remain subject to control and censorship. Translations of
the Bible into indigenous languages can not be imported legally;
however, Bibles can be printed locally in indigenous languages with
government permission. During the period covered by this report,
there were no reports of the confiscation of Bibles or other
religious materials. In January 2002, the German based company Good
Books for All was allowed to distribute 10,000 Bibles in the
country. In 1999 however, approximately 20,000 illegally imported
Bibles were seized in Tamu township in Sagaing division. During
2001, countering rumors that the Bibles were destroyed, authorities
informed one religious group that the Bibles were in storage in
Rangoon. At the end of the period covered by this report, the
disposition of these Bibles remained unclear. Last year, one
religious group reported that in 2001 it had received government
permission to import 2,000 English-language Bibles, the first such
import allowed in 20 years; the Bibles were not imported, however,
and in May 2002 the Government reversed its earlier decision.
State censorship authorities
continued to enforce restrictions on the local publication of the
Bible, and Christian and Muslim publications in general. The most
onerous restriction is a list of over 100 prohibited words that the
censors would not allow in Christian or Islamic literature because
they purportedly are indigenous language terms long used in Buddhist
literature. Many of these words have been used and accepted by some
of the country's Christian and Muslim groups since the colonial
period. Organizations that translate and publish non-Buddhist
religious texts are appealing these restrictions. They reportedly
have succeeded in reducing the number of prohibited words to
approximately 12, but the issue still was pending at the end of the
period covered by this report. In addition, according to other
reports, the censors have objected to passages of the Old Testament
and the Koran that may appear to approve the use of violence against
nonbelievers. Although possession of publications not approved by
the censors is an offense for which persons have been arrested and
prosecuted in the past, there have been no reports of arrests or
prosecutions for possession of any traditional religious literature
in recent years.
The Government allowed members
of all religious groups to establish and maintain links with
coreligionists in other countries and to travel abroad for religious
purposes, subject to restrictive passport and visa issuance
practices, foreign exchange controls, and government monitoring that
extends to all international activities for any purpose. The
Government sometimes expedited its burdensome passport issuance
procedures for Muslims making the Hajj.
Religious affiliation
sometimes is indicated on government issued identification cards
that citizens and permanent residents of the country are required to
carry at all times. There appear to be no consistent criteria
governing whether religion is indicated on an identification card.
Citizens also are required to indicate their religions on some
official application forms, such as, on passports (which have a
separate "field" for religion, as well as ethnicity).
Non-Buddhists continued to
experience employment discrimination at upper levels of the public
sector. Only one non-Buddhist served in the Government at a
ministerial level, and the same person, a brigadier general, is the
only non-Buddhist known to have held flag rank in the armed forces
during the 1990's. The Government discourages Muslims from entering
military service, and Christian or Muslim military officers who
aspire to promotion beyond middle ranks are encouraged by their
superiors to convert to Buddhism.
Members of the Muslim Rohingya
minority in Rakhine state, on the country's western coast, continued
to experience severe legal, economic, and social discrimination. The
Government denies citizenship status to most Rohingyas on the
grounds that their ancestors allegedly did not reside in the country
at the start of British colonial rule, as required by the country's
highly restrictive citizenship law. Muslim Rohingya minority
returnees complained of severe government restrictions on their
ability to travel and their ability to engage in economic activity.
Unlike the practice for other foreign persons in the country, these
Muslims are not issued a Foreign Registration Card (FRC). They are
required to obtain permission from the township authorities whenever
they wish to leave their village area. Authorities generally do not
grant permission to travel to Rangoon to Rohingya Muslims, however,
permission sometimes can be obtained through bribery. In addition
because the Government reserves secondary education for citizens
only, Rohingya do not have access to state run schools beyond
primary education, and are unable to obtain most civil service
positions. There are reports that restrictions on Muslim travel and
worship, in particular, have increased countrywide during the period
covered by this report.
Abuses
of Religious Freedom
Government restrictions on
speech, press, assembly, and movement, including diplomatic travel,
make it difficult to obtain timely and accurate information on human
rights in Burma, including freedom of religion. Information about
abuses often becomes available only months or years after the
events, from refugees who have fled to other countries, from
released political prisoners, or from occasional travel inside the
country by foreign journalists and scholars.
There continued to be reports
that military officers killed villagers who refused to provide
portering services to the Army. For example, in December 2000, junta
military officers allegedly shot and killed the local imam of a
mosque in Karen state for asking the authorities to spare him from
portering, as it was the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. The
military on occasion has killed religious figures as well. On May
30, 2002 troops killed 10 ethnic Karen, including a pastor one day
after being ambushed by fighters from the Karen Resistance group.
Government security forces
continued to take actions against minority Christian groups,
arresting clergy, destroying churches, and prohibiting religious
services. In Rangoon during 2001, authorities closed more than 80
home-churches (a traditional gathering place for many Christians)
because they did not have proper authorization to hold religious
meetings. At the same time, the authorities have made it
increasingly difficult to obtain approval for the construction of
"authorized" churches. In Chin state in the western part
of the country in particular, the Government attempted to coerce
members of the Chin ethnic minority to convert to Buddhism and
prevented Christian Chin from proselytizing by, among other things,
arresting and physically abusing Christian clergy and destroying
churches. Until 1990 the Chin generally practiced either
Christianity or traditional indigenous religions with little
interference from the Government. Since 1990 the Government has
supported forced conversions of Christians to Buddhism. The majority
of Chins, however, are still Christian. (The Chin were the only
major ethnic minority in the country that did not support any
significant armed organization in active rebellion against the
Government or in an armed ceasefire with the Government. However,
Chin opposition groups emerged in 1988 and subsequently developed
active insurgencies against the Government).
Authorities have attempted to
prevent Chin Christians from practicing their religion. Military
units repeatedly located their camps on the sites of Christian
churches and graveyards, which were destroyed to build these camps;
local Chin Christians were forced to assist in these acts of
desecration. In addition, the Army reportedly tends to use churches,
desecrating them for their bases when in remote areas. Since the
early 1990's, security forces have torn down or forced villagers to
tear down crosses that had been erected outside Chin Christian
villages. These crosses often have been replaced with pagodas,
sometimes built with forced labor. During the period covered by this
report, there were reports that, while the Government still bans
most of these crosses, permission has been granted to erect at least
one cross in Southern Chin state. It also was reported that in July
2000, Captain Khin Maung Myint forcibly ordered the closure of all
Christian schools in Tamu township.
The authorities reportedly
subjected Christian sermons to censorship and repeatedly prohibited
Christian clergy from proselytizing. On April 4, 2002, two Chin
pastors, Reverend That Ci, his son-inlaw Reverend Lian Za Dal, and
their families reportedly were arrested in a suburb of Rangoon for
having unregistered overnight guests in their home. However,
Reverend That Ci had filed the necessary paperwork and had not
received a reply. The arrests reportedly were an effort to force
them to stop proselytizing so boldly in the Dagon North area. When
they refused, they were sent from Dagon North police station to
Insein prison. The status of their eight family members is unknown.
In the past, soldiers beat Christian clergy who refused to sign
statements promising to stop preaching to nonChristians. Since 1990
government authorities and security forces, with assistance from
monks of the Hill Regions Buddhist Missions, have sought coercively
to prevent Christian Chins from proselytizing to Chins who practice
indigenous religions.
Since 1990 government
authorities and security forces have promoted Buddhism over
Christianity among the Chin ethnic minority in diverse and often
coercive ways. This campaign, reportedly accompanied by other
efforts to "Burmanize" the Chin, has involved a large
increase in military units stationed in Chin state and other
predominately Chin areas, state-sponsored immigration of Buddhist
Burman monks from other regions, and construction of Buddhist
monasteries and shrines in Chin communities with few or no
Buddhists, often by means of forced "donations" of money
or labor. Local government officials promised monthly support
payments to individuals and households who converted to Buddhism.
Government soldiers stationed in Chin state reportedly were given
higher rank and pay if they coerced Chin women to marry them and
convert to Buddhism. The authorities reportedly supplied rice to
Buddhists at lower prices than to Christians, distributed extra
supplies of foodstuffs to Buddhists on Sunday mornings while
Christians attended church, and exempted converts to Buddhism from
forced labor. In the past, it credibly was reported that in Karen
state's Pa'an township army units repeatedly conscripted as porters
young men leaving Sunday worship services at some Christian
churches, causing young men to avoid church attendance. Soldiers led
by officers repeatedly disrupted Christian worship services and
celebrations. Chin Christians were forced to "donate"
labor to clean and maintain Buddhist shrines. There also were a
number of credible reports that the Army continued to force Chin to
porter for it, both in Chin state and Sagaing division. More
specifically it was reported that the Army no longer takes rations
with it, and rather lives off local villagers to feed army
personnel, by force if help is refused, although villagers
reportedly were allowed to buy their way out of such work. Local
government officials ordered Christian Chin to attend sermons by
newly arrived Buddhist monks who disparaged Christianity. Many
Christian Chin are pressured and some are forced to attend schools
for monks and Buddhist monasteries and then are encouraged to
convert to Buddhism. Local government officials separated the
children of Chin Christians from their parents under false pretenses
of giving them free secular education and allowing them to practice
their own religion, while in fact the children were lodged in
Buddhist monasteries where they were instructed in and converted to
Buddhism without their parents' knowledge or consent. Finally, since
1990, government authorities and security forces, with assistance
from monks of the Hill Regions Buddhist Missions, coercively have
sought to coerce Chins, including children, to convert to Theravada
Buddhism.
In 2001, according to the Chin
Human Rights Organization, Lt. Colonel Biak To was fired from his
military position and fined; allegedly his army and police superiors
discriminated against him because of his religious (Christian) and
ethnic (Chin) identity.
There were unconfirmed reports
of governmental restrictions on the religious freedom of Christians
among the Naga ethnic minority in the far northwest of the country.
These reports suggested that the Government sought to coerce members
of the Naga to convert to Buddhism by means similar to those used to
convert members of the Chin to Buddhism. However, reports concerning
the Naga, although credible, are less numerous than reports
concerning the Chin. Consequently, knowledge of the status of
religious freedom among the Naga is less certain. During 1999 the
first mass exodus of Naga religious refugees from the country
occurred; more than 1,000 Christians of the Naga ethnic group
reportedly fled the country to India. These Naga reportedly claimed
that the army and Buddhist monks tried to force them to convert to
Buddhism, had forced them to close churches in their villages, and
then desecrated the churches. A particularly harsh military
commander in the Naga area reportedly was removed from command in
late 2000 and imprisoned for rape.
There are credible reports
that SPDC authorities have systematically repressed and relocated
Muslims to isolate them in certain areas. For example, Rakhine
Muslims have been forced to donate time, money, and materials toward
buildings for the Buddhist community. There now are certain
townships in the Rakhine state, such as Thandwe, Gwa, and Taung-gut,
which are "Muslim-free zones." Muslims no longer are
permitted to live in the areas, mosques have been destroyed and
lands confiscated. To ensure that the mosques are not rebuilt, they
have been replaced with government-owned buildings, monasteries, and
Buddhist temples. Authorities also have issued a court order in
Rakhine stating that the killing of a Muslim is punishable by a
minimal 3-month sentence while the sentence for a Muslim hitting a
Buddhist is 3 years. Last year in northern Rakhine state, the
Government systematically destroyed mosques in some small villages.
In one area, local authorities already had destroyed at least 10 of
40 mosques that had been designated for destruction before higher
authorities intervened at the request of international agencies. The
mosques, which typically are little more than thatch huts,
reportedly were constructed without proper authority by villagers
who had difficulty getting to mosques in neighboring towns due to
strict travel restrictions on Muslims.
In 2001 there was a sharp
increase in anti-Muslim violence in the country. In February 2001,
riots broke out in the town of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state.
There were various, often conflicting, accounts of how the riots
began, but reports consistently stated that government security and
firefighting forces did little to prevent attacks on Muslim mosques,
businesses, and residences. There also were credible reports that at
least some of the monks that led attacks on Muslims were military or
USDA instigators dressed as monks. After 4 days of rioting, security
forces moved in and prevented any additional violence. An estimated
50 Muslim homes were burned and both Muslims and Buddhists were
killed and injured. Since that time, the Government has tightened
already strict travel restrictions for Muslims in the area,
essentially preventing any Muslims from travelling between Sittwe
and other towns in the region. In late March or early April 2001,
seven Arakanese politicians were sentenced to 7- to 12-year prison
terms for inciting the riots.
In May 2001, anti-Muslim riots
broke out in the town of Taungoo in the Bago Division between
Rangoon and Mandalay (an estimated 2,000 of 90,000 Taungoo
inhabitants are Muslim). The riots followed the same pattern as
those in Sittwe: there were varying accounts of what precipitated
the fighting, security and firefighting forces did not intervene,
and Muslim mosques, businesses, and residences were targeted. Again
there were credible reports that the monks that appeared to be
inciting at least some of the violence were Union Solidarity and
Development of Agriculture or military personnel dressed as monks.
After 2 days of violence the military stepped in and the violence
immediately ended, but not before there was widespread destruction
of Muslim homes and businesses and, reportedly, of several mosques.
An estimated 10 Muslims and 2 Buddhists were killed in this
incident. No further information about this incident was available
at the end of the period covered by this report.
While there is no direct
evidence linking the Government to these violent acts against
Muslims, there are reports that the instigators were military or
Union Solidarity and Development Association personnel. There also
are reports that local government authorities alerted Muslim elders
in advance of the attacks and warned them not to retaliate to avoid
escalating the violence. While the specifics of how these attacks
began and who carried them out may never be documented fully, it
appears that the Government was, at best, very slow to protect
Muslims and their property from destruction. The violence
significantly heightened tensions between the Buddhist and Muslim
communities.
While anti-Muslim violence
abated during the period covered by this report, restrictions on
Muslims countrywide reportedly have increased, especially since the
fall of 2001. Muslims reportedly have not been allowed to build any
new mosques in the country, or to replace those destroyed in the
rioting last year. Authorities also have refused to approve requests
for gatherings to celebrate traditional Muslim holidays, and have
restricted the number of Muslims that can gather in one place.
Restrictions on Muslim travel reportedly have increased throughout
the country.
In 1991 tens of thousands
(according to some reports as many as 300,000 persons) of members of
the Muslim Rohingya minority fled from Rakhine state into Bangladesh
following anti-Muslim violence alleged, although not proven, to have
involved government troops. Many of the 21,000 Rohingya Muslims
remaining in refugee camps in Bangladesh have refused to return
because they feared human rights abuses, including religious
persecution. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
reported that authorities cooperated in investigating isolated
incidents of renewed abuse of repatriated citizens.
In September 2000, according
to the Muslim Information Center of Burma (MICB), a local
nongovernmental organization (NGO), four Muslim elders of Daing Win
Gwan Block village, Moulmein township in Mon state, filed an
application with the authorities to allow the Muslim students to
stop learning Buddhism in school; the authorities arrested the four
elders for their actions. No further information was available about
this incident during the period covered by this report.
The Government continued to
prevent Buddhist monks from calling for democracy and political
dialog with pro-democracy forces. During the period covered by this
report, government efforts to control these monks have included
travel restrictions, arrests, pressure on Buddhist leaders to expel
"undisciplined monks," and a prohibition on certain
monasteries from receiving political party members as overnight
guests. More than 100 monks credibly have been identified as having
been imprisoned during the 1990's for supporting democracy and human
rights; however, about half of these have been released, and there
was no reliable estimate of the number of Buddhist clergy in prisons
or labor camps at the end of the period covered by this report.
Following a February 2000 letter from the Young Buddhist Monk Union
advocating political actions, government authorities reportedly
arrested approximately 40 monks in May or June 2001. By the end of
the period covered by this report, the status of those arrested
remained unknown. Monks serving sentences of life in prison
reportedly included the venerable U Kalyana of Mandalay, a member of
the Aung San Red Star Association, and the venerable U Kawiya of the
Phayahyi monastery in Mandalay.
In July 2000, U Tay Zawata, a
monk in Shan state, filed a complaint with the SPDC Secretary One
Lt. General and the Attorney General stating that in August 1999,
government authorities in the town of Tachileik had destroyed two
monasteries and dispersed over 50 monks without a proper court order
and without compensation. On August 1, 2001, at a religious ceremony
in Mandalay, a Buddhist monk reportedly was arrested for delivering
a sermon critical of the prevailing economic and political
situation. There was no information available on whether he was
later released or if he remains in prison.
There continued to be credible
reports from diverse regions of the country that government
officials compelled persons, especially in rural areas, to
contribute money, food, or uncompensated labor to state-sponsored
projects to build, renovate, or maintain Buddhist religious shrines
or monuments. The Government calls these contributions
"voluntary donations" and imposes them on both Buddhists
and non-Buddhists. In recent years, there had been credible reports
that Muslims in Rakhine state have been compelled to build Buddhist
pagodas as part of the country's forced labor program. These pagodas
often have been built on confiscated Muslim land. However, there
were no known reports of such activity during the period covered by
this report. There also were reports of forced labor being used to
dismantle temples and monasteries. In July 2000, army troops from
the 246th Infantry Division reportedly forced 54 men to
dismantle several temples and monasteries in the forced relocation
areas of Kun-Hing township; in August 2000, the same troops again
conscripted 87 workers from the same town and forced them to build a
shelter for the lumber and tin sheets taken from the dismantled
monasteries.
On June 14, 2002, Aung San Suu
Kyi, (leader of the National League for Democracy), traveled to
Karen state to visit Thamanya Sayadaw, a famous monk, without
incident. Suu Kyi had been released from house arrest in May 2002.
Thamanya Sayadaw is revered by the wife of General Than Shwe, the
Head of State and Chairman of the SPDC.
Forced
Religious Conversion
Since 1990 government
authorities and security forces, with assistance from monks of the
Hill Regions Buddhist Missions, have sought to coerce Chins,
including children, to convert to Theravada Buddhism.
According to the Islamic
Republic News Agency, there are credible reports that hundreds of
Christian tribal Nagas in the country have been converted forcibly
to Buddhism by the country's military. The persons were lured with
promises of government jobs to convert to Buddhism, while those who
resisted were abused and kept as bonded labor by the military.
There were no reports of
forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been
abducted or illegally removed from the United states, or of the
refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.
Section
III. Societal Attitudes
There are social tensions
between the Buddhist majority and the Christian and Muslim
minorities, largely due to preferential treatment by the Government,
both in hiring and other areas, in practice (although not in law)
both for non-Buddhists during British colonial rule and for
Buddhists since independence. There is widespread prejudice against
Muslims, many of whom are ethnic Indians or Bengalis. The Government
reportedly contributed to or instigated anti-Muslim violence in
Rakhine state in 1991, in Shan state and Rangoon in 1996, in cities
throughout the country in 1997, and again during the period covered
by this report (see Section II).
A book entitled "In Fear
of Our Race Disappearing," which first appeared in print in
1997 or 1998 by an unknown author, has contributed to anti-Muslim
sentiments among Burmese Buddhists. The book describes how Muslims
will displace Buddhists in the country unless actions are taken
against them. Distribution of the book appears to have increased
during the period covered by this report, although it is not clear
who has been publishing it. The book was cited as one factor that
contributed to the rioting in early 2001 in Sittwe and Taungoo (see
Section II).
Since 1994 when the
pro-government Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) was organized,
there has been armed conflict between the DKBA and the Karen
National Union (KNU). Although the DKBA reportedly includes some
Christians, and there are many Buddhists in the KNU, the armed
conflict between the two Karen groups has had strong religious
overtones. During the mid-1990's, it reportedly was common DKBA
practice to torture Christian villagers and kill them if they
refused to convert to Buddhism; however, DKBA treatment of
Christians reportedly improved substantially after the DKBA began to
administer the regions that it had conquered.
Section
IV. U.S. Government Policy
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. The United States has discontinued bilateral aid to the
Government, suspended issuance of licenses to export arms to the
country, and suspended the generalized system of preferences and
export import bank financial services in support of U.S. exports to
the country. The U.S. Government also has suspended all Overseas
Private Investment Corporation financial services in support of U.S.
investment in the country, ended active promotion of trade with the
country, and halted issuance of visas to high government officials
and their immediate family members. It also has opposed all
assistance to the Government by international financial
institutions, and urged the governments of other countries to take
similar actions.
In November 2000, the U.S.
Government actively supported the decision of the International
Labor Organization to implement sanctions against the regime based
on the Government's continued systematic use of forced labor for a
wide range of civilian and military purposes.
The U.S. Embassy has promoted
religious freedom in the context of its overall dialog and policy of
promoting human rights. This has involved numerous contacts with
government officials, private citizens, scholars, representatives of
other governments, international media representatives, and
international business representatives. Embassy staff have met
repeatedly with leaders of Buddhist, Christian, and Islamic
religious groups, members of the faculties of schools of theology,
and other religious-affiliated organizations and NGO's as part of
their reporting and public diplomacy activities.
In September 2001, the
Secretary of State designated Burma as a "country of particular
concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act for
particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The Secretary
of State also had designated Burma a country of particular concern
in 1999 and 2000.
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