Courtesy of Dr. Habib Siddiqui

The country 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. 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. 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, particularly among members of the minority ethnic groups.

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. The U.S. Government has a wide array of economic sanctions in place against the country for its violations of human rights.

The country has been ruled since 1962 by highly authoritarian military regimes. The current military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has governed without a constitution or legislature since 1988. Most adherents of religions that are registered with the authorities generally enjoy the right to worship as they choose; however, the Government has imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and frequently has abused the right to religious freedom.

Since independence in 1948, many of the ethnic minority areas have been bases for armed resistance against the Government. Although the Government has negotiated cease-fire agreements with most armed ethnic groups since 1989, active Shan, Karen, and Karenni insurgencies continued during the period covered by this report. Peace talks continued intermittently between the Government and the leading Karen insurgent group, the Karen National Union (KNU). However, there was periodic fighting between the army and the KNU and multiple army attacks on Karen villages. Successive civilian and military governments have tended to view religious freedom in the context of whether it threatens national unity.

Virtually all organizations, religious or otherwise, 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; these requirements lead most religious organizations to register. Religious organizations register with the Ministry of Home Affairs with the endorsement of the Ministry for Religious Affairs. The Government provides some utility services, such as electricity, at preferential rates to recognized religious organizations and some economic benefits to the leaders of these groups. Leaders of minority recognized groups are also given more freedom to travel then leaders of unrecognized organizations and members of their congregation.

The Government made some nominal efforts to promote mutual understanding among practitioners of different religions.

The Government continued to show preference for Theravada Buddhism while controlling the organization and restricting the activities and expression of the monkhood (”sangha”), although some monks have resisted such control. Based on the 1990 Sangha Organization Law, the Government banned any organization of Buddhist monks other than the nine state-recognized monastic orders. These nine orders submit to the authority of the SMNC, which is elected indirectly by monks. Violations of this law are punishable by immediate, public defrocking, and often criminal penalties. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners estimated that as of January 2004, there were 300 monks in prison for various offenses.

Most recently, authorities defrocked and arrested a group of 26 monks in December 2003 and sentenced them in February 2004 to jail terms of 7 years (18 years for the leader) for refusing to accept government donations of robes and other items.

The Department for the Perpetuation and Propagation of the Sasana handles the Government’s relations with Buddhist monks and Buddhist schools. The government-funded International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University (ITBMU) in Rangoon, which opened in 1998, has as its stated purpose “to share Burma’s knowledge of Buddhism with the people of the world.” The main language of instruction is English. There are reports that the ITBMU, while in principle open to the public, accepts only candidates approved by military intelligence officials or recommended by a senior, pro-government abbot.

The junta infiltrated or monitored the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations. Religious activities and organizations of all faiths also were subject to broad government restrictions on freedom of expression and association. The Government subjected all media, including religious publications and sermons, to control and censorship.

In 1995, the Government prohibited any political party member from being ordained.

The Government continued to discriminate against members of minority religions, restricting their educational, proselytizing, and church-building activities.

Government authorities continued to prohibit Christian clergy from proselytizing in some areas. Christian groups reported that several times during the period covered by this report, local authorities denied applications for residency permits of known Christian ministers attempting to move into a new township. The groups indicated this was not a widespread practice but depended on the individual community and authority. Despite this, Christian groups reported that church membership was growing, even in strongly Buddhist parts of the country.

In general, the Government has not allowed permanent foreign religious missions to operate in the country since the mid‑1960s, 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. Religious groups, including Catholics, Protestants, and other Christians, have brought in foreign clergy and religious workers as tourists, but they have been careful to ensure that their activities have not been perceived by the Government as proselytizing. Some Christian theological seminaries also continued to operate as did several bible schools and madrassahs. The Government has allowed some foreign religious groups, such as the Mormons, to come to the country to offer humanitarian assistance or English language training to government officials. Some of these groups, not registered with the Myanmar Council of Churches, offered religious services without government interference.

Christian groups continued to experience difficulties in obtaining permission to buy land or build new churches in most regions. In some areas, permission to repair existing places of worship was easier to acquire. Muslims reported that they essentially were banned from constructing new mosques anywhere in the country, and they had great difficulty in obtaining permission to repair or expand existing structures. Some authorities reportedly destroy informal houses of worship or unauthorized religious construction they discover.

State censorship authorities continued to enforce special restrictions on the local publication of the Bible, the Qur’an, and Christian and Muslim publications in general. The most onerous restriction was a list of over 100 prohibited words that the censors would not allow in Christian or Islamic 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 religious texts were appealing these restrictions.

Military forces have killed religious figures on some occasions. In 2002, troops killed 10 ethnic Karen, including a pastor, a day after being ambushed by fighters from a Karen resistance group. However, during the period covered by this report, there were no reports of such killings.

Local civilian and military authorities continued to take actions against Christian groups: arresting clergy, closing home churches, and prohibiting religious services. During the period covered by this report, authorities in the Rangoon area closed several house churches because they did not have proper authorization to hold religious meetings. Other Rangoon home churches remained operational only after paying bribes to local officials. At the same time, the authorities made it difficult, although not impossible, to obtain approval for the construction of “authorized” churches. In September 2004, a court sentenced an ethnic Chin evangelist to a month in prison for interfering with local authorities’ efforts to shut his home church in Rangoon. Evangelists in South Dagon and Hlaing Thayar townships near Rangoon were accused of proselytizing and were threatened in 2002 and 2003 with arrest if they opened house churches and kindergartens.

In early 2005, local authorities in the Chin State capital of Haka notified Baptist leaders that they would be forced to relocate an active, historic cemetery from church property to a remote location outside of town.

Authorities have attempted to prevent Chin Christians from practicing their religion. In January 2005, the military commander in Matupi Township, Chin State, ordered the destruction of a 30-foot cross, raised on a hillside with government permission in 1999. Reportedly a more senior military official subsequently told local church authorities that they could get permission to reconstruct the cross. However, the local pastors have thus far refused to ask for such authorization.

The Government continued to prevent Buddhist monks, along with all other segments of society, from calling for democracy and political dialogue with pro-democracy forces. During the period covered by this report, government efforts to control these monks included travel restrictions (notably an overnight curfew for monasteries) forbidding pro-democracy monks from delivering sermons, and a prohibition on certain monasteries from receiving political party members as overnight guests, although monasteries regularly do by calling the party members “honored donors.”

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) estimated that as of January 2004, there were 300 Buddhist monks in prison for various offenses. The number of non-Buddhist religious figures in prison or those imprisoned for their religious beliefs was unknown. The AAPP estimate could not be verified nor could a complete listing of those imprisoned be obtained. Monks serving sentences of life in prison reportedly included the Venerable U Thondara of Myingyan (arrested during the 1988 anti-government demonstrations).

There continued to be credible reports from diverse regions of the country that government officials compelled persons, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, especially in rural areas, to contribute money, food, or materials to state-sponsored projects. The Government denied that it used coercion and called these contributions “voluntary donations”.

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), has been in prison or house arrest since forces allied with the Government attacked her and her convoy, which included several NLD-allied monks, while traveling in Sagaing Division in the northwestern region of the country in 2003. The Government reportedly used criminals dressed in monks’ robes in the ambush.

[Excerpts from US State Dept.’s International Religious Freedom Report 2005]