By Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST and ASSIST News Service
HAKHA TOWN, CHIN STATE, BURMA (ANS – January 28, 2015)
-- An ethnic Chin elder was due to appear in court today (Wednesday,
January 28, 2015) on “trumped-up charges” which Christian Solidarity
Worldwide (CSW) believes are connected with his involvement in the
planting of a cross on a hill in Hakha town, Chin State, in April last
year.
The
Chin State government has ordered the 54 foot-high cross, which it
argues has been erected illegally to be removed on January 30th.
The Chin Human Rights
Organization (CHRO) reports that the elder, Tial Cem, has been accused
of cutting down pine trees without official permission, in breach of
article 42 (b) of the 1992 Forest Law. To date, he has reportedly been
summoned to Hakha Township Court six times, and is due to appear in
court again today.
If found guilty, he could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison.
“According to Tial Cem, the
charges refer to land situated adjacent to where the cross has been
planted and owned by J.P. Biak Tin Sang,” explained a spokesperson for
CSW. “An order to remove the cross, issued by the Chin State government,
states that failure to dismantle and remove the cross would result in
action being taken against J.P. Biak Tin Sang, who was also involved in
planting the cross.
“The
order stipulates that the cross must be dismantled and removed from
Caarcaang Hill in Hakha by January 30th on the basis that it was
constructed without permission.”
He went on to say, “Tial Cem
told CHRO that they did not seek official permission for the cross as
they did not believe it would be granted. Chin Christian organizations
face discriminatory restrictions which make it virtually impossible to
secure such official permission for religious monuments and buildings.”
According to CHRO’s 2012
report, “Threats to Our Existence: Persecution of Ethnic Chin Christians
in Burma”, outlines these restrictions in detail and documents the
destruction of 13 Christian crosses in Chin State, four of which were
destroyed under the current government.
CSW detailed violations of
freedom of religion in its 2007 report, “Carrying the Cross: The
military regime’s campaign of restrictions, discrimination, and
persecution against Christians in Burma”.
Local people in Hakha have
received written permission from the Hakha Township police force to hold
demonstrations protesting the government order to remove the cross on
February 2 and 3, 2015. Protest organizers have been informed by Chin
State Chief Minister Hung Ngai that the cross was planted without
seeking official permission from the government, and was therefore
illegal, but that the matter would be discussed further at a meeting of
the Chin State cabinet, which is likely to take place the week beginning
February 2nd.
Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive
of CSW, said: “The destruction of Christian crosses in Chin State has
long been a policy of the Burmese authorities, often accompanied by
forcing Chin Christian villagers to build Buddhist pagodas in their
place. If Burma is to proceed down a genuine path of reform, it must
protect the most basic human right of freedom of religion, and allow
Christians in Chin State to construct symbols of their religion in
appropriate ways.
“The order to destroy this
cross, and the prosecution of the Chin elder, illustrate once again that
freedom of religion continues to be violated in Burma. We call on the
authorities in Chin State to rescind the order to destroy the cross and
to drop the charges against Tial Cem.”
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
(CSW) is a Christian organization working for religious freedom through
advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.
For further information or to
arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at
Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332
9663, e-mail kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.
Note: Burma, officially the
Republic of the Union of Myanmar, commonly shortened to Myanmar, is a
sovereign state in Southeast Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China,
Laos and Thailand.
Photo captions:
1) A young refugee from Burma's ethnic Chin minority, holds a placard on World Refugee Day (Photo: Reuters/Parivartan Sharma)
2) Prayer site on Calvary Mountain, Hakha (Photo: CHRO)
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