Clergymen missing in Burma May Have Been Killed

Clergymen missing in Burma May Have Been Killed

Two assistant priests missing for more than two weeks

By Michael Ireland, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)

YANGON, BURMA (ANS, January 10, 2017) -- Villagers in Shan state, Burma (Myanmar) are increasingly concerned over indications that two assistant priests in Burma have been killed, according to Morning Star News (www.morningstarnews.org).

Sources told Morning Star News that the Burma army arrested Dom Dawng Nawng and La Jaw Gam Hseng on Dec. 24 after the two assistant priests helped journalists report on a bombed Catholic church building in Mong Ko.

Sources, who requested anonymity, told Morning Star News Burma Correspondent the clergymen were arrested after they went to the Byuha Gon military base to secure the release of a married couple who had complained to the Burma army about the destruction of their house. “They went to negotiate for the couple’s release,” one said. “The Burma army released the couple but detained the priests. I strongly believe that they got killed.”

Morning Star News reported that military officials were said to be upset the clergymen had assisted reporters from Yangon-based news organizations who traveled to war-torn Mong Ko, where Burma forces reportedly bombed the Catholic church building in early December.

The two assistant priests were said to have taken journalists to visit a damaged school and a house in Mong Ko, along with the bombed church building.

Morning Star News stated that as the Burma army normally questions and quickly releases arrested civilians, the failure of the clergymen to re-appear after more than two weeks is one indication that they have been killed, sources told the news agency, adding that military officials at the base have been known to kill those arrested who are not soon released and burn the bodies.

In addition, sources said, the Burma army customarily responds to negative media reports with propaganda, but military officials have remained silent about the clergymen even after widespread local media coverage of their disappearance.

When media reported on the Burma jet bombing of the church building, for example, the state-run newspaper promptly published counter-reporting asserting that the army had rebuilt the damaged structure. The state-run newspaper, The Global New Light of Myanmar, has not published stories in response to reports of the missing assistant priests, the sources went on to say.

A journalist who traveled with the two assistant priests while covering the conflict strongly suspects they have been killed. Reliable sources told the reporter that if the assistant priests were still alive, media coverage of their disappearance would have prompted their release by now. In several other cases of civilians arrested by the Burma military, they are either still missing or were later found dead, the journalist said.

“It is almost certain that they got killed,” the reporter said, adding that no evidence is likely to surface as civilians are not allowed on the military base, and area people are afraid to speak about any knowledge of the cases they might have.

Two corpses have been found in a septic tank in Mong Ko, and officials from the Kachin Baptist Convention said they suspect the bodies are those of the missing clergymen, Yangon-based newspaper recently The Irrawaddy reported. An investigation is underway.

According to local sources, local administrative authorities are under pressure not to speak publically about the clergymen’s disappearance and the bombed church building, and Burma army troops are searching for anyone who may have spoken to journalists. Under pressure from army officials, the Mong Ko administrator has asked journalists not to publish photos of the damaged church building and has requested they delete published online photos.

There have been no further reports on the two bodies found in the septic tank, they said, and both relatives and colleagues of the assistant priests filed missing person reports to police in Mong Ko on Thursday (Jan. 5).

The news outlet explained that fighting between Burma armed force and ethnic separatist organizations broke out in the area in November, forcing over 50,000 refugees to flee to northern Shan state and the China border area. The Burma army officials reportedly said they took control of Mong Ko in mid-December and urged displaced residents to return home.

The agency added that after more than five years of intensified conflict since Burma violated a 17-year cease-fire in 2011, many Kachin face protracted displacement and are desperate to return home, according to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Burma is about 80 percent Buddhist and 9 percent Christian. The government has recognized the special status of Buddhism in Burma and promoted it as a means to consolidate support.

Photo captions: 1) Bombed Catholic church. 2) Map showing conflict areas. 3) Michael Ireland

About the Writer: Michael Ireland is a volunteer internet journalist serving as Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well as an Ordained Minister who has served with ASSIST Ministries and written for ANS since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. Please consider helping Michael cover his expenses in bringing news of the Persecuted Church, by logging-on to: https://actintl.givingfuel.com/ireland-michael.

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