Myanmar junta maintains tight grip on religious activity ( AFP ) October 8, 2002


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Myanmar junta maintains tight grip on religious activity

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (AFP)

Myanmar's ruling junta maintains a tight grip on religious activity, fearful of the Buddhist clergy's support of democracy while discriminating against Muslims and Christians, the United States said.

In its annual report on religious freedom worldwide released Monday, the US State Department gave a generally positive picture on neighbouring Thailand, saying its citizens were free to practice their faiths.

The survey said that despite the right to religious freedom enshrined in Myanmar's constitution, successive military regimes over the past four decades have routinely imposed restrictions on religious activities.

"It systematically has restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom... and in some ethnic minority areas, has coercively promoted Buddhism over other religions," it said.

"Through its pervasive internal security apparatus, the government generally infiltrated or monitored the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations."

While a sharp increase in violence against the Muslim minority reported in 2001 had abated, there were accounts that restrictions on Muslim travel and worship countrywide had increased, it said.

"The government continued to discriminate against members of minority religions, restricting the educational, proselytizing, and building activities of minority religious groups."

Ethnic minority groups including the Karen and the Kachin, who are predominantly Christian, were particular targets.

The report said the junta continued to control and restrict the activities of the Buddhist clergy, and added that more than 100 monks were imprisoned during the 1990s for supporting democracy and human rights.

"Since the early 1990s, the government increasingly has made special efforts to link itself with Buddhism as a means of boosting its own legitimacy," it said.

In Thailand, the State Department report said the government generally respected the right to freedom of religion in the Buddhist majority nation, which has a five-10 percent Muslim minority.However, it raised alarm over a January 2002 immigration "blacklist" which included the names of at least 10 Falungong practitioners, all believed to be overseas residents arrested elsewhere for Falungong-related activities.

"The government gave no reason for its decision to place these names on the list, and has refused to release information about the individuals placed on the list."

In February 2001, it added, Thai Falungong members voluntarily decided not to proceed with plans to organize an international meeting in Bangkok, in part because of the government's opposition to such a meeting."There were reports that the government of China had exerted significant economic pressure on the government in connection with this issue," it said.Beijing has outlawed the spiritual movement as an "evil cult."

Cambodia was given the all-clear on the religious rights front, however government officials were cited as saying they were concerned foreign groups used the guise of religion to become involved in illegal or political affairs.

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