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US report blasts Burma's record on religious freedom

Irrawaddy - April 29, 2010

Lalit K. Jha, Washington – A bipartisan US federal body has recommended the Washington administration to keep Burma on its list of "countries of particular concern" (CPC) because of their suppression of religious freedom.

Burma has been on a US State Department CPC list since 1999. The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that it stays there.

In its annual report, the USCIRF – which was created by an act of Congress in 1998 – says Burma's governing State Peace and Development Council has one of the world's worst human rights records.

"In the past year, religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate, as they have since the violent suppression of peacefully demonstrating Buddhist monks in September 2007," the report says.

In a statement accompanying the report, USCIRF Chairman Leonard Leo said it offered "new and important policy solutions to improve conditions where foreign policy, national security, and international standards for the protection of freedom of religion can and should intersect."

The report's conclusion was clear, Leo said – "the Administration must do more."

The USCIRF report alleges that Burma's military regime continues a policy of severely restricting religious practice, monitoring the activity of all religious organizations and perpetuating or tolerating violence against religious leaders and their communities.

"The government launched a massive and violent crackdown, including the killing, arrest, torture, and disappearances of monks and others who participated in large scale, non-violent demonstrations calling for the release of political prisoners and greater democracy in late September 2007," it says.

The report also accuses the junta of continuing to target monasteries viewed as epicenters of the protests, severely restricting religious practice and detaining monks who commemorate the demonstration.

"The SPDC has taken steps to legally ban unregistered Protestant activity and continues to destroy religious sites and forcibly promote conversion to Buddhism in ethnic minority areas," the report says.

"The SPDC's campaign to create 'Muslim Free Zones' in parts of Burma has created an estimated 300,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees in Southeast Asia," it charges. "Both Bangladesh and Thailand have repatriated or forcibly removed Rohingya Muslims in the past year."

While using engagement with the Burmese regime to "ensure a peaceful and complete transition to democracy," the US administration should maintain targeted sanctions until the generals take active steps to meet benchmarks established in UN resolutions and US law, the report says. It recommends the administration to seek the support of regional allies, particularly the democracies of Southeast Asia and South Asia.

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