CHRO

By FELIZ SOLOMON 12 June 2014

Following the Burmese government’s invitation for public opinion on a proposed Religious Conversion Law, 81 organisations from Burma and elsewhere have recommended that it be completely discarded.

In a joint statement published on Thursday, the alliance said the legislation violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by granting authorities “sweeping powers” over choice of faith, and called for the Burmese government to “immediately scrap” the law on the grounds that it encroaches on rights and “appears to legitimize the views of those promoting hate-speech and inciting violence against Muslims and other minorities”.

The proposed Religious Conversion Law is part of a package of bills tasked to a drafting committee in March, known collectively as the Race and Religious Protection bills. The bills were originally proposed to Burma’s President Thein Sein in July 2013 by a coalition of nationalist monks affiliated with the government-appointed Maha Nayaka, or National Head Monks Committee.

The package comprises four laws that would impose new regulations on religious conversion, marriage, monogamy and childbearing. The Religious Conversion Law is the only part of the package that has yet been made public; state media published the draft in full on 27 May, soliciting public review and recommendations in the lead up to a parliamentary vote.

“The only positive aspect of this entire process has been the publication of the draft law and request for comments,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), “but we should not get fixated on an issue of procedure when the content of the proposed law is so bad.”

Upon viewing the draft, international observers immediately called foul. Sam Zarifi, Asia Regional Director of the International Commission of Jurists, told DVB that while it’s not rare for a nation to create laws requiring citizens to provide the government with details about their religion, “the draft text itself, to the extent it limits religious proselytisation and conversion, runs afoul of international standards.”

The seven-chapter conversion bill would establish township-level “registration” boards and grant them powers to examine and approve religious conversions. The draft also states that “every person has the freedom to convert”. But opponents argue that the bill creates excessive obstacles to religious choice; those wishing to change their religion must submit an application providing personal details such as family members’ names and faiths, and a reason for conversion. The registration board would then interview the applicant to determine the sincerity of their faith and assess whether the conversion is voluntary.

Those suspected of either coercing someone to convert or applying “with the intent of insulting or destroying a religion”could face up to a two-year prison term, which the rights groups argue “[raises] the prospect of arbitrary arrest and detention for those wishing to convert from Theravada Buddhism – the faith of the majority in Burma/Myanmar – to a minority religion, or no religion at all.”

Thursday’s statement, released by the Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO) and endorsed by 80 other rights groups, claims that the “broad wording of this provision may effectively outlaw proselytizing in the country.”

 “The broad wording of this provision may effectively outlaw proselytizing in the country.” While the law has been criticised as a thinly-veiled attempt to prevent Islamicisation in the context of two years of deadly ethno-religious conflict, the Conversion Law has also raised alarm for Burma’s other religious minorities, notably Christians, many of whom reside in parts of the country that are either still in direct conflict or slowly resolving conflict with the central government.

In Chin, Kachin and Karen states, all of which have large Christian populations, to impose new restrictions on freedom of faith could “seriously undermine the peace process,” said Rachel Fleming, advocacy director for CHRO. “There is a risk that people will view it simply as a continuation of the long-standing ‘Burmanisation’ policy practised under the previous military regime.”

In Chin State, said Fleming, the Conversion Law is particularly threatening because of a clause leaving the definition of “influence” widely open to interpretation. It could, in effect, subject Chin missionaries, who have historically withstood severe religious persecution by the Burmese military, to a year in prison for doing their jobs. Hence, Fleming argued, “this law could result in an increase in the number of prisoners of conscience in Burma’s jails.”

Other bills in the package have received similar scorn; in early May, a group of 97 civil society groups urged the government to abandon the proposed Marriage Law — often referred to as the Interfaith Marriage Act — on the grounds that it violates women’s freedom of choice. HRW went so far as to call it “unconstitutional”. A group of about 15 civil society leaders also met with Aung San Suu Kyi, who chairs the Rule of Law Committee, on Wednesday to register similar complaints.

In a Wednesday press briefing, a US State Department spokesperson said that approving the Marriage Law would be “inconsistent with the government’s efforts to promote tolerance and respect for human rights,” adding that, “more broadly, we continue to have serious concerns about other pending legislation that could have a detrimental effect on religious freedom.”

http://www.dvb.no/news/civic-groups-slam-proposed-faith-conversion-law-burma-myanmar/41467

By DENE-HERN CHEN AND FELIZ SOLOMON 12 June 2014  
 
An alliance of civil society organisations on Wednesday urged the Burmese and Indian governments to be more transparent in the planning and construction of the controversial Kaladan Project, a combined highway and waterway project that will traverse Arakan and Chin states into India.

Proposed by the Indian government in 2008, the project will connect a deep-sea port in Sittwe to Mizoram State in northeast India via inland waterways and highways through two of Burma’s poorest states, Arakan and Chin states. The objective is to create a more straightforward route for trade from the Kolkata seaport in eastern India.

The Kaladan Movement, a coalition of ethnic rights groups, believes that the US$214 million project – which is financed by India — will affect approximately one million people living along the Kaladan River, but very little information has been made public.

According to a statement released on Wednesday by the Kaladan Movement, the alliance submitted a “questionnaire” to Essar Projects Ltd, a Mumbai-based company overseeing the construction, and both governments, calling on them to provide details concerning the project’s timeline and how it would affect ethnic communities in the area.

“Thus far, the Kaladan Project has been implemented without an adequate community consultation process, and with no efforts made to achieve the free, prior, informed consent of affected communities,” the statement said, adding that it is important for the indigenous people living in the affected areas to be involved in the decision-making process.

Bawi Pi of the Chin Human Rights organization (CHRO) – a member of the Kaladan Movement – said in the statement that since the project broke ground four years ago, “no environmental impact assessments have ever been conducted for the project area in Burma, and no details regarding the route of the planned highway have been made public”.

The statement also said that residents around the affected areas are most concerned about compensation for their land, as well as the environmental and social impacts of dredging in Arakan State – which has been known to exacerbate soil erosion and place villagers under threat if they are not prepared.

Sam Cartmell, project manager with CHRO, told DVB in an email that since the project is classified under “development assistance” from India, the implementation must follow international best practices.

He urged Essar and the two governments to publicly release detailed information, especially regarding the construction of the highway linking Paletwa in Chin State to the India-Burma border.

“[T]here are a number of concerns about the potential for land confiscation along the highway route,” Cartmell said. “To date, local people have no information regarding the exact route of the highway, who will be building it or when construction will start.”

Rohit Chawla, an Essar representative based in Rangoon, said the project was mildly delayed because of a series of riots in Sittwe between “the Rakhine [Arakan] people and the Bangladeshi people.”

He also played down concerns of compensation, and referred these questions to the Burmese government.

“We are not concerned about the compensation given to the people affected by the project. It has been taken care of by the Myanmar [Burma] government personnel. This issue is taken up by them,” Chawla told DVB. “We are only the contractor of the project.”

He added the Essar Project has subcontracted construction out to “five to eight” local companies.

The deep-sea port in Sittwe is slated for completion by December 2014, said project director Anil Vishwakarma, while the construction of the highway from Paletwa to the India-Burma border should be completed by June 2015. He declined to provide further details.

http://www.dvb.no/news/rights-groups-call-for-transparency-in-kaladan-project-burma-myanmar/41448

By SAMANTHA MICHAELS / THE IRRAWADDY| Thursday, June 12, 2014 |

RANGOON — Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met with members of civil society groups in Naypyidaw to discuss their concerns with a package of four bills to “protect race and religion.”

Lawmakers from Parliament’s Rule of Law Committee, chaired by Suu Kyi, met on Wednesday for more than two and half hours with 10 civil society representatives who are lobbying against the bills, according to Zin Mar Aung, a human rights activist from the Rainfall Gender Studies Group, who attended the meeting.

The bills to “protect race and religion” are highly controversial in Buddhist-majority Burma. If enacted, they would restrict interfaith marriage and religious conversions, ban polygamy and put forward measures to curb population growth. Activists have received death threats in recent weeks after publicly criticizing the interfaith marriage bill as discriminatory against women and religious minorities.

“We explained our opinions, especially about the interfaith marriage bill and the [religious] conversion bill. Some of us have been threatened by extremist groups, which is totally outside the rule of law. So we discussed how to take steps to promote rule of law,” Zin Mar Aung told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

“She also sees problems—she mostly agreed with us,” the activist said of Suu Kyi’s response to their concerns about the bills, adding that the opposition leader emphasized the need to ensure that lawmakers consider only proposed legislation that would benefit communities.

Suu Kyi said the Rule of Law Committee only had the authority to make suggestions to Parliament, and would likely follow up after the meeting by submitting a report with recommendations.

On Thursday, 81 civil society groups also urged the Burmese government to scrap one of the four bills that restricts religious conversions. They said the bill, if enacted, would “violate fundamental human rights and could lead to further violence against Muslims and other religious minorities.”

“This new piece of draft legislation appears to legitimize the views of those promoting hate-speech and inciting violence against Muslims and other minorities, and if adopted, will further institutionalize discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities,” the groups wrote in a statement, one day after a US government body said “such a law has no place in the 21st century.”

Drafted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and published in state media last month, the religious conversion bill requires government authorities to approve applications for religious conversions, including by questioning applicants to ensure that they truly believe in the new faith. Anyone deemed to be converting “with the intent of insulting or destroying religion” could face up to two years in prison. Those found to have pressured others to convert could be imprisoned for one year.

Burma’s 2008 Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs says the bill is intended to protect this freedom by preventing forced conversions.

But the proposed legislation follows a surge of anti-Muslim violence in recent years, and comes amid calls by nationalist Buddhist monks to shun Muslim businesses. The monks, part of a movement known as 969, have warned that the Muslim population is increasing and threatens to destroy the country’s Buddhist culture.

Some critics worry the bills to protect race and religion, which were first proposed by the monks, are specifically intended to prevent Buddhists from converting to Islam.

Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Sint declined to comment on Thursday when asked by The Irrawaddy about the meeting with Suu Kyi and calls to drop the religious conversion bill.

In a list of objectives on its official website, his ministry says it aims to “allow freedom of faith,” but also to promote the “purification, perpetuation, promotion and propagation of the Theravada Buddhist Sasana [teachings].”

The ministry says it supports religious minorities by settling disputes between faiths, making arrangements for non-Buddhists to travel abroad for pilgrimages or religious seminars, and allowing national radio broadcasts of Christian, Islamic and Hindu talks on religious holidays.

The 81 civil society groups—a mix of local groups including the Chin Human Rights Organization and the Kachin Peace Network, as well as international rights groups including Fortify Rights and Physicians for Human Rights—urged the Burmese government to not only scrap the religious conversion bill, but also to abolish the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

“Replace it with an independent and impartial religious affairs commission with a mandate to eliminate all forms of religious discrimination,” they said in the statement.

Lawi Weng contributed to this report.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/suu-kyi-meets-critics-protection-race-religion-bills.html?PageSpeed=noscript

June 12, 2014

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has voiced serious concerns about proposals to criminalize interfaith marriage in Myanmar, while rights groups warned Thursday that passage of such discriminatory legislation could spark more violence against Muslims.

Nationalist Buddhist monks are pushing legislation to “protect and preserve race and religion” in the Southeast Asian nation, which has seen bouts of violence against minority Muslims in the past two years that have killed more than 200 people and displaced tens of thousands.

President Thein Sein has directed parliament to draft four pieces of legislation that would also restrict religious conversion, ban polygamy and enact population control measures — widely viewed as steps directed against Muslims.

The proposed legislation raises questions about the direction of Myanmar’s democratic reforms as it shifts from decades of military rule.

The Obama administration has been a staunch supporter of Thein Sein, helping his government to escape pariah status. But nationalist sentiments appear on the rise in the country also known as Burma ahead of pivotal national elections in 2015.

“The United States opposes any measure that would criminalize interfaith marriages. Such a step would be inconsistent with the government’s efforts to promote tolerance and respect for human rights,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in written response to a question posed at a press briefing Wednesday.

Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, said he spoke to women activists who reported receiving death threats for opposing the marriage bill.

In a statement Thursday, a coalition of 80 civil society groups said the draft religious conversion law, published May 27 and currently open for public comment, would unlawfully restrict the right to choose a religion freely.

The bill “appears to legitimize the views of those promoting hate-speech and inciting violence against Muslims and other minorities and if adopted, will further institutionalize discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities,” the coalition, including the British-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said.

Robert George, chairman of the Commission on International Religious Freedom, said the conversion legislation would contravene Myanmar’s international commitments to protect freedom of religion or belief.

“Such a law has no place in the 21st century, and we urge that it be withdrawn,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Joseph Crowley, a leading voice in Congress on Myanmar policy, said it was most disappointing that Thein Sein’s office was pushing the efforts to “institutionalize discrimination.”

“On top of the fact that he still hasn’t released all political prisoners, attacks are continuing against ethnic groups, and he has not supported constitutional reform. I’m seriously concerned about the overall situation,” the Democratic lawmaker said.

 http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/06/12/us-serious-concerns-over-myanmar-marriage-bill

Written by Mizzima

More than 80 civil society groups throughout the world have called on the Myanmar government to scrap a proposed law on religious conversion, warning that if adopted it would violate fundamental human rights and could lead to further communal violence.

The call, in a statement issued on behalf of the 81 groups by the Chin Human Rights Organization on June 12, follows the publication of a draft religious conversion law in Myanmar’s state-run media on May 27.

The draft law outlines a rigorous process for those seeking to convert from one religion to another and provides for a prison term of up to two years for anyone applying for conversion “with the intent of insulting or destroying a religion”.

The statement said this raised the prospect of arbitrary arrest and detention for those wishing to convert from Theravada Buddhism, the faith of most Myanmar, to a minority religion or no religion at all.

The draft law also provides for a one-year jail term for anyone found to have used “undue influence or pressure” to compel someone to convert to another religion, and the statement said the broad wording of this provision may effectively outlaw proselytising in Myanmar.

“This new piece of draft legislation appears to legitimize the views of those promoting hate-speech and inciting violence against Muslims and other minorities, and if adopted, will further institutionalise discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities” in Myanmar, the statement said.

In a related development, the chairman of a US government agency said the draft law in religious conversions had “no place in the 21st century” and should be withdrawn, Reuters newsagency reported from Washington on June 11.

The chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Robert George, called the draft law “irreparably flawed” and said it would contravene Myanmar’s international commitments to protect freedom of religion or belief.

“Such a law has no place in the 21st century and we urge that it be withdrawn,” Mr George said.

http://mizzima.com/mizzima-news/myanmar/item/11454-80-groups-worldwide-urge-scrapping-of-proposed-religious-conversion-law

April 12, 2014, Karen News   
         
Chin refugees in India fleeing persecution in Burma are left to fend for themselves as the UNHCR and local organisations tasked with protecting them fall prey to a “culture of denial and victim-blaming,” says the Chin Human Rights Organisation.

The Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO), a non-governmental human rights watchdog founded in 1995, has warned that hundreds of Chin refugee women and girls are becoming the victims of rape in the Indian city of New Delhi, with UNHCR and the Indian government failing to protect them.

Bill O’Toole  |  Monday, 07 April 2014  |  The Myanmar Times

Criticism of Myanmar’s census hit fever pitch last week when residents of Rakhine State were not allowed to self-identify according to their wishes, with even the United Nations appearing to turn on the government for its apparent back-flip.

But experts say the census was “doomed from the start”, and that donors and the UN had more than enough warning of the likely problems but did little to act on them. In particular, a risk assessment commissioned by donors “clearly warned” of many of the problems facing the program now, including flawed data and the inflaming of ethnic tensions, a person familiar with the report told The Myanmar Times.

BBC Burmese, April 4, 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/burmese/multimedia/2014/04/140403_women_peace.shtml