Zarganar Blog, Human rights in Burma - Tag - Religions
Zarganar is the most famous artist of Burma, and a former political prisoner.
2013-04-22T12:08:22+02:00
Amnesty International Paris Jaures
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Dotclear
Pourquoi la Birmanie tue ses musulmans
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2013-04-03T20:41:00+02:00
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EN FRANCAIS
EthnicsNGOsReligions
<p>Les musulmans, une minorité,, qui représente 4 % des 55 millions de Birmans, est de nouveau victime de véritables pogroms perpétrés par la population bouddhiste.</p>
<p>"Ces groupes de civils bouddhistes ont été fanatisés par une minorité de moines extrémistes", explique Maël Raynaud, "Ces religieux tirent parti du profond racisme existant au sein de la société birmane". Un chercheur évoque "des autocollants représentant le nombre 969, distribués à des responsables de magasin et à des taxis, afin qu'ils l'apposent sur leur commerce et garantissent ainsi leur caractère bouddhiste". Cette campagne ouvertement raciste et anti-musulmane a tourné à l'invitation au meurtre. Elle est principalement le fait des moines bamars, l'ethnie majoritaire d'un pays qui en compte 135.</p>
<p>Principale cible de cette politique discriminatoire, la communauté des Rohingyas. Ces musulmans d'origine bengalie, dont 800 000 peuplent l'État de l'Arakan, au nord-ouest du pays, ont été déchus de la citoyenneté en 1982.</p>
<p>Extorsion de leurs terres, difficultés à se marier ou interdiction d'étudier, les Rohingyas sont, d'après l'ONU, la "minorité la plus persécutée au monde". Si elle fait tout pour les forcer à quitter la Birmanie, quitte à les placer dans des camps aux conditions de vie misérables, la junte militaire va en parallèle attiser chez les habitants de l'Arakan (les Arakanais) une véritable haine anti-Rohingyas. "Il s'est développé chez eux une réelle peur par méconnaissance de l'islam", raconte Alexandra de Mersan. "Les Arakanais ont notamment été très choqués par la destruction par les talibans des Bouddhas de Bâmiyân, en mars 2001 en Afghanistan, mais aussi par le 11 Septembre, dont les images ont été allègrement diffusées par la télévision birmane."</p>
<p>Le départ de la junte du pouvoir et la démocratisation du pays ne pouvaient donc qu'exacerber ce ressentiment. "Les haines, retenues par des chapes de plomb, se sont alors exprimées au grand jour", résume l'analyste Maël Raynaud. "Pour les Arkanais, la démocratie signifiait dès lors que tout était permis".</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lepoint.fr/monde/pourquoi-la-birmanie-tue-ses-musulmans-29-03-2013-1647348_24.php">2013.03.29 Le Point.fr</a></p>
300 Buddhists attacked a Muslim school near Rangoon
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2013-02-23T12:41:00+01:00
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Conflicts & refugees
Religions
<p>A local Burmese community has been left terrified after an angry mob of 300 Buddhists attacked a Muslim school and several businesses in a suburb outside Rangoon.</p>
<p>It follows news that hundreds of Buddhist nationalists launched a violent assault on a religious school in Thaketa township on Sunday, after it applied for permission to have its roof repaired. Reports suggest that the mob believed the building was being developed into a mosque.</p>
<p>On Monday, the mob returned to ransack businesses and homes, including hurling bricks and abuse at petrified locals. The violence has spread fear and confusion among local Muslims, who say they have never before had any problems with their Buddhist neighbours. Most of the people DVB interviewed did not believe that the vandals had come from the local community.</p>
<p>Many local families are still too afraid to sleep in their homes and don’t understand why their community was attacked. Over 20 families reportedly fled the area, even though riot police were quickly deployed on the ground.</p>
<p>Police confirmed that four people were detained after the violence – none of which were identified as locals – but were released on Thursday. But Wunna Shwe insisted that both residents and outsiders were likely involved in the violence, which has the potential to trigger further religious tensions in the capital.</p>
<p>Reports suggest that local media, as well as prominent public personalities, played a role in stirring the hostilities. In an article published on 17 December, The Voice Weekly published accusations that a mosque was being developed and quoted inflammatory remarks by the controversial monk Wirathu, who has repeatedly spearheaded Islamophobic campaigns in Burma.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dvb.no/news/religious-attack-in-rangoon-wreaks-havoc-on-local-community/26541">2013.02.21 religious-attack-in-rangoon</a></p>
Satellite imagery shows widespread destruction of Rohingya homes
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2012-10-27T20:20:00+02:00
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Conflicts & refugees
EthnicsReligions
<p>New satellite imagery obtained by Human Rights Watch shows extensive destruction of homes and other property in a predominantly Rohingya Muslim area of the coastal town of Kyauk Pyu – one of several areas of new violence and displacement.</p>
<p>Human Rights Watch identified 811 destroyed structures on the eastern coastal edge of Kyauk Pyu following arson attacks reportedly conducted on October 24, 2012, less than 24 hours before the satellite images were captured. The area of destruction measures 35 acres and includes 633 buildings and 178 houseboats and floating barges adjacent on the water, all of which were razed. There are no indications of fire damage to the immediate west and east of this zone of destruction. Media accounts and local officials said that many Rohingya in the town fled by sea toward Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, 200 kilometers to the north.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/26/burma-new-violence-arakan-state">2012.10.27Human Rights Watch</a></p>
Zarganar : I knew I would be criticized
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2012-10-20T15:37:00+02:00
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PRISONERS of conscience
EthnicsReligionsZarganar
<p>Zarganar, a popular comedian and former political prisoner who is part of the commission, said that months after the violence, community members “from all sides” in Rakhine had been refusing to cooperate, and that the inquiry might not be completed by next month’s deadline.</p>
<p>Zarganar said that the commission had completed a preliminary report based on its investigation and interviews, but was continuing to update it as new information became available.
“Sometimes we think we have the people we need to answer our questions, and they don't show up (for interviews). Other times we ask for documents they have said they are in possession of, but then later they say they are lost,” he said. “We just don't know how to follow through."</p>
<p>But he said that the team was nowhere near making a conclusion about the root cause of the ethnic unrest because of the complex nature of the crisis, as well as a host of administrative problems.</p>
<p>The comedian also addressed concerns over the scope of the investigation and allegations of bias from supporters of Burma’s Buddhist and Muslim communities. “I knew from the beginning that I would be criticized from both sides, and it is happening now,” he said. “But I have decided to do my best for the good of the country and I will not back down. I will continue.”</p>
<p><em>The commission was formed on Aug. 17. to probe ethnic violence in western Burma’s Rakhine state</em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/burma/report-10172012135744.html">2012.10.17 radio free asia Report Unlikely by Deadline</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8246-burmese-investigative-commission-blocked-locally-zarganar.html">2012.10.18 Mizzima investigative commission ‘blocked’ locally</a></p>
Rohingya : 75000 ethnic group are displaced
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2012-10-06T23:34:00+02:00
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Conflicts & refugees
EthnicsReligions
<p>As of 25 September, the government estimated some 72,000 from the (mainly Muslim) Rohingya ethnic group and almost 3,000 people from the (mainly Buddhist) Rakhine ethnic group are displaced in the region,</p>
<p>They are staying in 40 camps and temporary sites in Sittwe and Kyauktaw townships, from where they are still able to access schools and work,
Immediately after the outbreak of violence in June, aid agencies visited areas in four affected townships and identified sanitation and clean water as major needs. At the time, only about 30 % of the surveyed displaced persons had access to clean water, while six out of 10 people did not have any way to store it even if they secured some,</p>
<p>Many young and elderly Rohingya in the temporary camps along the road leading west out of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, are falling ill due to poor living conditions.</p>
<p>Many of the staff of the NGOs are local workers and are afraid to go to the Muslim camps – if the Rakhine Buddhists see that they are assisting the Muslims, they will be attacked by their own community.”</p>
<p>Humanitarian partners remain concerned that access is still limited to some affected areas and townships outside of Sittwe,” which includes aid groups working with Rohingya before the most recent bloodshed, which have now been forced to discontinue their services. International aid workers report being unable to get travel authorization to work in affected northern townships in Rakhine State, including Maungdaw, which borders on Bangladesh and where almost 500 homes were burnt down in the violence,</p>
<p>A multi-agency Rakhine Response Plan estimated it will take some $32.5 million to cover basic emergency needs until the end of the year for an estimated 80,000 displaced.
“Most people in the camps believe they will never be able to go back to the town, even though the government says the camps are only temporary,” Arakan Project's Lewa said.</p>
<p>According to the UN database, which records international humanitarian aid, the Financial Tracking Service, and not-yet-recorded recent donor announcements, some $11 million has been pledged or contributed to humanitarian assistance in Rakhine State this year.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8174-aid-workers-in-rakhine-state-say-access-limited-in-some-areas.html">2012.10.05 Mizzima aid-workers-in-rakhine</a></p>
Buddhism : de-facto state religion
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2012-09-05T18:22:00+02:00
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ARTISTS and Freedom of EXPRESSION
EthnicsReligions
<p>The report entitled “‘Threats to Our Existence’: Persecution of Ethnic Chin Christians in Burma” exposes a decades-long pattern of religious freedom violations and documents other serious human rights abuses such as forced labour, torture, and other cruel and inhuman treatment, forcing thousands of Chin to flee their homeland.</p>
<p>The discriminatory state institutions and ministries of previous military regimes continue to operate in the same way today, including coercion to convert to Buddhism and the destruction of Christian crosses in Chin State.
Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs imposes discriminatory regulations on constructing and renovating Christian infrastructure.</p>
<p>Chin students are prevented from practising Christianity while at the schools and have been coerced to convert to Buddhism, primarily via the threat of military conscription. Students are often forced to shave their heads and wear monks’ or nuns’ robes, CHRO said. “These schools are designed to facilitate a forced assimilation policy under the guise of development. The schools appear to offer a way out of poverty but there is a high price to pay for Chin students. They are given a stark choice between abandoning their identity and converting to Buddhism, or joining the military to comply with the authorities’ vision of a ‘patriotic citizen’. ”</p>
<p>CHRO urged the government to abolish the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the militarycontrolled Education and Training Department under the Ministry for Border Affairs. CHRO also called on the government to reallocate those resources to education and to include ethnic minority languages in the national curriculum.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.chro.ca/">2012.09.05 Chin Human Rights Organization</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/13339">2012.09.05 The Irrawaddy - Christian Chin Coerced to Buddhism</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.dvb.no/news/christians-face-systematic-discrimination-in-chin-state/23620">2012.09.05 DVB christians-face-systematic-discrimination</a></p>
Nay Phone Latt et Zarganar contre l'islamophobie
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2012-08-19T11:29:00+02:00
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EN FRANCAIS
ReligionsZarganar
<p>Il y a peu, Nay Phone Latt était un combattant de la liberté face à l'ancien régime militaire birman. Mais le blogueur est désormais la cible de virulentes critiques : il ose s'élever contre l'islamophobie qui s'exprime ouvertement dans son pays.</p>
<p>La voix du jeune homme de 32 ans, qui a passé quatre ans derrière les barreaux, est l'une des rares à émerger dans le concert des discours haineux ayant proliféré après les violences meurtrières entre bouddhistes et musulmans dans l'Etat Rakhine (nord-ouest). "La plupart des (usagers de) Facebook critiquent ma neutralité, ils veulent que je prenne le parti des Rakhines", principalement bouddhistes, explique à l'AFP celui qui a récemment dénoncé le risque de "génocide" en Birmanie.</p>
<p>Pour Nyi Lynn Seck, blogueur lui aussi, la désinformation alimente dangereusement cette colère. "Certains propagent intentionnellement de fausses nouvelles", regrette-t-il, plaidant pour une "surveillance" des sites internet.</p>
<p><strong>L'humoriste et ex-détenu politique Zarganar a le premier plaidé pour des droits égaux pour tous les habitants de ce pays majoritairement bouddhiste, "quelles que soient leur religion ou leur appartenance ethnique".</strong></p>
<p>Mais d'autres militants pour la démocratie ont d'abord relevé que les Rohingyas ne faisaient pas partie des minorités officielles. Et même le chef de l'opposition Aung San Suu Kyi n'a pas véritablement pris la défense de ceux que l'ONU considère comme l'une des minorités les plus persécutées de la planète. Aye Lwin, responsable du Centre islamique de Birmanie, est malgré tout satisfait que le prix Nobel de la paix ait appelé à une distribution équitable de l'aide entre bouddhistes et musulmans. Une position tranchée en faveur des Rohingyas aurait été "pour elle un coup fatal sur le plan politique", admet-il. Reste à promouvoir, sur la durée, un vrai dialogue. "Mais ça va prendre du temps. Beaucoup de mal a été fait".</p>
<p><a href="http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/societe/20120817.AFP5984/birmanie-des-voix-s-elevent-pour-denoncer-l-islamophobie-ordinaire.html">2012.08.17 Le Nouvel Obs - Des-voix-s-elevent-pour-denoncer-l-islamophobie-ordinaire</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.dvb.no/uncategorized/moderate-voices-speak-out-against-islamophobia/23357">2012.08.17 DVB moderate-voices-speak-out-against-islamophobia</a></p>
Rohingya : the Government could have stopped this
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2012-08-01T12:03:00+02:00
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Conflicts & refugees
NGOsReligions
<p>Burmese security forces committed killings, rape, and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims after failing to protect both them and Arakan Buddhists during deadly sectarian violence in western Burma in June 2012. Government restrictions on humanitarian access to the Rohingya community have left many of the over 100,000 people displaced and in dire need of food, shelter, and medical care.</p>
<p>The 56-page report, “‘The Government Could Have Stopped This’: Sectarian Violence and Ensuing Abuses in Burma’s Arakan State,” describes how the Burmese authorities failed to take adequate measures to stem rising tensions and the outbreak of sectarian violence in Arakan State. Though the army eventually contained the mob violence in the state capital, Sittwe, both Arakan and Rohingya witnesses told Human Rights Watch that government forces stood by while members from each community attacked the other, razing villages and committing an unknown number of killings.</p>
<p>With little to no government security present to stop the violence, people armed themselves with swords, spears, sticks, iron rods, knives, and other basic weaponry. Inflammatory anti-Muslim media accounts and local propaganda fanned the violence.
The international community appears to be blinded by a romantic narrative of sweeping change in Burma, signing new trade deals and lifting sanctions even while the abuses continue</p>
<p><a href="Burma: Government Forces Targeting Rohingya Muslims">2012.08.01 Human Rights Watch - Government Forces Targeting Rohingya Muslims </a></p>
Rohingyas are the Roma of Asia
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2012-06-23T15:00:00+02:00
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Conflicts & refugees
EthnicsNGOsReligions
<p>The 800,000-strong Rohingya are pariahs: they are stateless, and pejoratively called “Bengalis” by the Burmese, who consider them to be refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh. But those who have tried to flee by boat to Bangladesh, where they are equally despised, have been turned back.</p>
<p>“The Rohingya are the Roma of Asia, nobody respects their human rights,” David Camroux told FRANCE 24.In a country where 89% of the population embraces Buddhism and only 4% Islam, anti-Muslim sentiment is rampant.
“British colonisation left its mark on Burma. Britain’s strategy was to divide and conquer, pitting the various ethnic groups against each other. After independence (in 1948) the Burmese became more nationalist, and nowadays xenophobia is common,” said David Camroux.</p>
<p>The Rohingya, who were stripped of their Burmese citizenship in 1982 by military dictator Ne Win, are not represented in parliament, whereas other ethnic minorities such as the Karen, the Shan and the Kachin are. The Burmese government, which has renamed the country Myanmar, officially recognises 135 distinct ethnic groups – but the Rohingya are among them.
“They have no political leader and they live in poverty,” said David Camroux. “The Rohingya have been forgotten by the international community.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the situation on the ground remains unclear, especially as much of northern Rakhine state is a no-go area for journalists and independent observers, making it difficult to verify conflicting versions of events. While local authorities say calm has returned to the area, a statement on Thursday by the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organizations Malaysia (Merhrom) said the situation was becoming “worse day by day”.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20120622-burma-rohingya-ethnic-violence-muslim-buddhist-rahkine-aung-san-suu-kyi">2012.06.22 France24 Rohingya minority are the Roma of Asia</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/12/bangladesh-open-borders-refugees-fleeing-burma">2012.06.12 Human Rights Watch. Bangladesh should open Borders for Refugees Fleeing Burma </a></p>
Clashes between Buddhists and a Muslim minority
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2012-06-16T16:35:00+02:00
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Conflicts & refugees
Religions
<p><em>France 24 exclusive report : Our Burmese Observers describe clashes between Buddhists and a Muslim minority</em></p>
<p>This past week, the Rohingya have increasingly been denounced as “illegal immigrants”, “invaders” and “terrorists”, both online and across Burma. In the largest city, Yangon, hundreds of Rakhine held a protest on Monday asking for an end to the violence and for the “removal of Bengali terrorists.” Meanwhile, the New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper, has appealed for calm and unity.</p>
<p>"At this point, I believe the goal of the local Rhakine people, backed by the authorities, is to either chase us out, or kill us" said a man living in Maungdaw.</p>
<p>"I think this conflict was started by a few Rohingya people, and that not all are to blame. Those who are peaceful should be allowed to stay, and maybe even get citizenship – but not those who are attacking local residents. The Burmese government should consider taking action on illegal migrants, because there are so many Rohingya here in Rakhine state, and they have not assimilated. Most of them cannot even speak the local language or Burmese" told a reporter.</p>
<p><a href="http://observers.france24.com/content/20120612-violent-clashes-buddhists-muslim-sittwe-maungdaw-rakhine-arakan-state-rohingya-bengali-burma-myanmar">2012.06.16 France24 Violent-clashes </a></p>
Rohingyas : largely unwanted
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2012-06-15T22:45:00+02:00
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Conflicts & refugees
Religions
<p>Asia’s more than one million ethnic Rohingya Muslims are considered by rights groups to be among the most persecuted people on Earth. Most live in an anachronistic purgatory without passports, unable to travel freely or call any place home.</p>
<p>The Burmese government regards Rohingyas mostly as illegal migrants from Bangladesh, even though many of their families have lived in Burma for generations. Bangladesh rejects them just as stridently.
“In Burma they’re told they’re illegals who should go back to Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, they’re told they’re Burmese who should go back home,” Lewa said. “Unfortunately, they’re just caught in the middle. They have been persecuted for decades, and it’s only getting worse.”</p>
<p>That was made painfully clear this week as Bangladeshi coast guard units turned back boatload after boatload of terrified Rohingya refugees trying to escape the violence in Burma’s Arakan State. The clashes between Rohingyas and ethnic Arakanese Buddhists have taken a roughly equal toll on both communities, though each blames the other for the violence.</p>
<p>The boats were filled with women and children, and Bangladesh defied international calls to accept them, saying the impoverished country’s resources are already too strained.The grudges go back far. Bitterness against the Rohingya in Burma has roots in a complex web of issues—the fear that Muslims are encroaching illegally on scarce land in a predominantly Buddhist country; the fact that the Rohingya look different than other Burmese; an effort by the former junta to portray them as foreigners.</p>
<p>Across the border in Bangladesh, civilians—not the government—are more tolerant. But even there, Rohingyas are largely unwanted because their presence in the overpopulated country only adds to competition for scarce resources and jobs.</p>
<p>Burma’s government has the largest Rohingya population in the world—800,000 according to the United Nations. Another 250,000 are in Bangladesh, and hundreds of thousands more are scattered around the world, primarily the Middle East. Human Rights Watch and other independent advocacy groups say Rohingyas face discriminated routinely. In Burma, they are subjected to forced labor by the army, a humiliation not usually applied to ethnic Arakanese in the same area, Lewa said.</p>
<p>Rohingyas must get government permission to travel outside their own villages and to marry. Apparently concerned about population growth, authorities have barred Rohingyas from having more than two children.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.irrawaddy.org/?slide=arakan-conflict-spurs-hatred-for-asias-outcasts">2012.06.15 Irrawaddy - arakan-conflict</a></p>
Un Birman peut-il être musulman ?
urn:md5:5252f124aa14024b9190fbc4e5dcf0b1
2012-06-07T08:33:00+02:00
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EN FRANCAIS
Religions
<p>En Birmanie, où il est souvent admis que ne pas être bouddhiste revient à ne pas être birman, les musulmans sont parfois vus comme des "envahisseurs". Une situation explosive, comme en témoignent les violences de dimanche qui ont fait dix morts.</p>
<p>"Les relations au jour le jour avec les bouddhistes sont bonnes aussi longtemps que vous connaissez votre place et que vous ne dépassez pas cette limite", explique Ko Aung Aung, de l'Association des musulmans de Birmanie (BMA), installé en Europe. "Pour n'importe qui, un crime est crime, mais si (son auteur) est (...) musulman, ça peut devenir une bonne raison de provoquer des émeutes".</p>
<p>Les tensions latentes entre bouddhistes et musulmans ont conduit à plusieurs séries d'émeutes meurtrières ces quinze dernières années, souvent à la suite de rumeurs accusant un musulman.</p>
<p>Un scénario qui s'est répété dimanche à Taunggote, dans l'Etat Rakhine, frontalier du Bangladesh. Une foule de la minorité ethnique rakhine, essentiellement bouddhiste, s'en est pris à des musulmans accusés d'avoir violé et tué une jeune fille Rakhine. Dix musulmans ont été battus à mort.</p>
<p>Son parti, sans élu, représente les 750.000 Rohingyas, des musulmans apatrides confinés dans le Nord de l'Etat Rakhine et considérés par l'ONU comme une des minorités les plus persécutées au monde.
La communauté musulmane est plus large, originaire du sous-continent indien ou de Chine, et représente officiellement 4% des quelque 60 millions de Birmans.</p>
<p><a href="http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/societe/20120606.AFP8381/en-birmanie-bouddhiste-les-musulmans-victimes-du-racisme-ordinaire.html">2012.06.06 Le Nouvel Obs</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.rfi.fr/asie-pacifique/20120604-birmanie-lynchage-musulmans-ravive-tensions-religieuses-etat-rakhine-bouddhistes">2012.06.04 Radiio France Internationale</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.saphirnews.com/En-Birmanie-bouddhiste-dix-musulmans-lynches-a-mort-les-conflits-interreligieux-ravives_a14590.html">2012.06.06 Spahir News</a></p>
Tensions religieuses dans l'Etat Rakhine
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2012-06-05T00:24:00+02:00
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EN FRANCAIS
Religions
<p>A l'origine des tensions inter-religieuses : une rumeur. Une jeune fille rakhine, bouddhiste, aurait été violée puis tuée samedi dernier par un membre de la minorité musulmane des Rohingyas, provoquant des manifestations de plusieurs centaines de personnes dans la ville de Sittwe.</p>
<p>Dans un deuxième incident ce dimanche, des Rohingyas en pèlerinage ont été violemment pris à partie par une foule en colère. Dix d'entre eux ont été battus à mort.</p>
<p>Pour David Mathieson, chercheur spécialiste de la Birmanie pour Human Rights Watch, « on observe une augmentation des restrictions des libertés fondamentales » envers les Rohingyas.</p>
<p>« Des entraves à la circulation, des restrictions au mariage, l'interdiction d'avoir plus d'un enfant, énumère-t-il, tout cela a été mis en place de manière officielle pour rendre la vie des Rohingyas encore plus difficile, et pour les chasser du pays vers le Bangladesh ou la Malaisie. Ensuite, ils subissent des harcèlements quotidiens de la part de la majorité Rahkine qui les méprise parce qu'ils sont musulmans, parce qu'ils sont apatrides, et parce qu'ils veulent aussi les voir quitter le pays ».</p>
<p>Les Rohingyas sont la seule minorité, sur les 135 existantes en Birmanie, à ne pas être officiellement reconnue par les autorités de Naypidaw.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rfi.fr/asie-pacifique/20120604-birmanie-lynchage-musulmans-ravive-tensions-religieuses-etat-rakhine-bouddhistes">2012.06.04 RFI lynchage-musulmans</a></p>
Quatre religions ensemble pour une clinique
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2012-03-24T22:49:00+01:00
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Development & capacity building
DevelopmentNGOsReligions
<p>En Birmanie, les gens ne meurent pas de faim, mais le pays souffre de deux maux principaux : la faiblesse du système éducatif et des failles béantes dans le système de santé.</p>
<p>Un « Groupe caritatif interreligieux », réunissant des bouddhistes, des protestants, des catholiques et des musulmans s'est constitué.
« C’est ainsi que nous avons appris à nous connaître et à nous apprécier. Un moine m’a confié qu’auparavant, à la vue d’un crucifix ou d’une église chrétienne, il avait envie de jeter des pierres, mais que, dorénavant, il savait qu’il avait là des amis », explique le Père John, né en 1959 à Mandalay. Le prêtre catholique avait envie de « faire quelque chose » pour les habitants de sa ville natale. Si on trouve bien des hôpitaux publics et des cliniques privées à Mandalay, les premiers sont débordés et minés par la corruption et les secondes hors de prix. « Il fallait faire quelque chose pour soigner les pauvres. J’ai pensé à un centre de soins mais je n’avais pas de terrain. Je me suis ouvert de mon projet à l’un des moines qui participaient à notre groupe caritatif interreligieux et c’est lui qui nous a trouvé une maison dans l’enceinte d’une pagode bouddhique, idéalement située à proximité immédiate du fleuve Irrawaddy »,</p>
<p>Ouverte au début de ce mois de mars, la clinique s’appuie sur une équipe de quinze médecins et de plusieurs infirmières, tous bénévoles, et accueille en moyenne de 50 à 60 patients par jour.</p>
<p>Parmi les personnes récemment soignées se trouve un moine bouddhiste porteur du virus HIV. Ce moine lui a confié avoir été contaminé avant de devenir moine et avoir choisi de revêtir la robe safran précisément pour être nourri et logé gratuitement en dépit de sa maladie, mais que jamais il n’aurait imaginé être soigné gratuitement dans une clinique ouverte par des catholiques.</p>
<p>D’un point de vue financier, le prêtre précise qu’au fil des années, il s’est constitué un réseau de bienfaiteurs qui lui font passer de l’argent et des médicaments par des touristes de passage (le réseau bancaire étant inepte en Birmanie, les transferts internationaux sont impossibles).</p>
<p>Selon le Vénérable Seinnita, la clinique répond à un besoin « vital » des habitants de Mandalay, ajoutant qu’il était fier que « les religions aient pu travailler ensemble à la réalisation » d’un tel projet.</p>
<p><a href="http://eglasie.mepasie.org/asie-du-sud-est/birmanie-myanmar/a-mandalay-un-pretre-catholique-ouvre-une-clinique-grace-a-l2019aide-d2019un-moine-bouddhiste">2012.03.15 Eglise d'Asie</a></p>
Praying for political prisoners release
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2012-03-24T19:58:00+01:00
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PRISONERS of conscience
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<p>Around 500 people, including the relatives of political prisoners, gathered at Mandalay's Pagoda on Thursday to pray for the unconditional release of jailed activists and others behind bars for political reasons.</p>
<p>“Prisons are not a place for people who have committed no crime. We will continue our campaign until they are released, or until they put me in prison to stay with them.”
Although the protest did not receive official permission, many who took part in it openly held up signboards with messages calling for the release of all remaining political prisoners.
Monks who delivered Buddhist sermons at the event warned those attended that they should be prepared to suffer if the authorities take action against them.</p>
<p>The precise number of political prisoners still being held in Burma is not clear, although the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) puts the figure at around 800. It says, however, that it only has complete details for 413. Last week, the Rangoon-based Former Political Prisoners Group handed over a list of 619 names to the US special envoy for Burma, Derek Mitchell.</p>
<p>Many of those still being detained were convicted for crimes such as high treason, murder and unlawful association.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=23269">2012.03.23 The Irrawaddy Protest Held in Mandalay for Political Prisoners</a></p>
AHRC calling for the release of religious leader
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2012-03-22T20:01:00+01:00
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ARTISTS and Freedom of EXPRESSION
NGOsReligions
<p>Asian Human Rights Commission is calling for the immediate release of religious leader Shin Nyarna.</p>
<p>The monk was sentenced to 20 years in prison for ‘defiling the Buddhist religion’ after he criticised the country’s ruling officials for preventing religious freedom.
Authorities arrested the 72-year-old religious official on 12 February 2010. The former Theravada Buddhist monk started his own religion sect and had previously been imprisoned for the three years during the 1980s. Legal expert Aung Thein said charging an individual with the exact same crime twice should not be allowed.</p>
<p>The monk’s devotees have sent letters appealing the imprisonment to President Thein Sein and the National Human Rights Commission.
The current government and former ruling junta’s aggressive embrace of Theravada Buddhism as the official state religion has continually driven a wedge between followers and members of other religions in the multi-cultural country.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dvb.no/news/rights-group-calls-for-religious-leaders-release/21006">2012.03.22 DVB calls-for-religious-leaders-release </a></p>
Monk Gambira expressed his “strong condemnation”
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2012-02-24T07:17:00+01:00
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ARTISTS and Freedom of EXPRESSION
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<p>While the Burmese authorities seem to being reaching out to opposition political groups including pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, renewed tensions have surfaced between Naypyidaw and dissident monks in the country.</p>
<p>On Sunday, the state-run media reported fresh legal charges were underway against influential Buddhist monk Ashin Gambira. The 33-year-old was only recently released from prison as part of a major amnesty after being jailed for his prominent role in the monk-led “Saffron Revolution” democracy protests in 2007.</p>
<p>The outspoken dissident is accused of breaking laws concerned with re-entering the monkhood without formal authorization after his release last month, and for breaking into three monasteries in Rangoon and squatting in one—all were previously sealed by the government during their crackdown on insurrection hotbeds in 2007.</p>
<p>The state-run media said that Gambira ignored three separate calls by the Sangha Maha Nayaka, the state-backed monk council, to present himself for formal admonition regarding these charges.</p>
<p>Gambira responded to the monk council on Feb. 8 by urging the senior Buddhist clergy to handle these cases in accordance with rules set out for monks and to resist any sort of influence by civilian authorities in the process, according to a letter obtained by The Irrawaddy.</p>
<p>He wrote that the sealed monasteries in Rangoon were shut down in a 2007 government raid, which he described as like a military attack against a rebel base. Gambira re-opened these monasteries, he said, because Buddhist monks and nuns like himself who were recently freed from incarceration had no proper accommodation and were staying in civilian residential quarters.</p>
<p>Gambira wrote that he strongly objected to allegations—mentioned in the summons by the council—that opening these monasteries broke the law. He also complained about the council's recent ruling to evict Ashin Pyinna Thiha, another prominent Buddhist monk in Rangoon, from his monastery for giving a talk at a party office of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.</p>
<p>In the letter, <strong>Gambira also expressed his “strong condemnation” to the council for taking no action whatsoever regarding the continued incarceration of 43 Buddhist monks for political reasons.</strong></p>
<p>Tuesday's state-run media report said that such usage of “objection” and “condemnation” has made it impossible for the Sangha Council to deal with Gambira through normal clergy channels. Therefore, punitive actions will be taken against the dissident monk who was described as being “under a complete political spell.”</p>
<p>The United States expressed concern when the Burmese authorities briefly detained Gambira on Feb. 10 in order to force him to meet with the Sangha Council.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Gambira joined hundreds of people, including recently freed 88 Generation Students dissidents, who accompanied Ashin Pyinna Thiha from Sadhu Pariyatti Monastery to another monastery on the outskirts of Rangoon following his eviction by the council.</p>
<p>Currently, details of how the authorities will bring Gambira to trial are still unclear. But any legal proceedings would undoubtedly undermine the otherwise positive political atmosphere in the run-up to the parliamentary by-elections in April, in which Suu Kyi is contesting a seat.</p>
<p>The relationship between Buddhist monks and successive military regimes in Burma has always been frosty, and this situation does not seem to have improved since the nominally-civilian government took office last year.</p>
<p>A confrontation between a group of monks and the Burmese authorities in Pakokku Town of Upper Burma in 2007 led to the largest anti-government nationwide demonstrations since the failed democracy uprising of 1988.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=23066">2012.02.20 The Irrawaddy War Between Monks and Govt</a></p>
U Gambira to trial : face the charges of squatting
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2012-02-19T13:22:00+01:00
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PRISONERS of conscience
Religions
<p><img src="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Pictures/.2012.02.19_copyright_AFP_s.jpg" alt="MYANMAR-POLITICS-MONK-OPPOSITION" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="MYANMAR-POLITICS-MONK-OPPOSITION" /></p>
<p>The authorities concerned are taking legal steps to bring U Gambhira to trial. U Gambhira who was released from the prison on 13 January by amnesty and rejoined the religious order the same day without request will have to face the charges of squatting in Magin Monastery in Thingangyun Township which is sealed by the government in accordance with laws without permission, and forcing the locks of Sasana Theikpan Monastery and Sasana Gonyi Monastery in Kyaukhetgyi Pagoda in Bahan Township.</p>
<p>Concerning the abovementioned cases, Sayadaws of State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee summoned U Gambhira for three times in vain and thus Yangon Region Police Force took him to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee on Kaba Aye Hill in Mayangon Township on 10 February. SSMNC Chairman Dr Bhaddanta Kumara Bhivamsa ordered U Gambhira to follow the admonition of the SSMNC Sayadaws and U Gambhira gave a written guarantee of following the Sayadaws’ advice to the letter, agreeing to receive punitive actions either by Sangha organization law or existing laws in case of violation of his assurance.</p>
<p>U Gambhira though gave the guarantee requested the Sayadaws to let him present 10-point letter to the SSMNC on behalf of the whole Sangha members. In his letter, U Gambhira revealed his objection to the phrase“committing offences without permission” in the notice of the SSMNC to him, to ordering Shwenyawa monk U Pinnya Sila to leave Sadhu Buddha Tekkatho Monastery within one month, and denouncing of SSMNC for doing nothing for release of 43 monks included in 415 prisoners.</p>
<p>Moreover, although SSMNC Syadaws asked him to rejoin religious order in line with code of conduct for Buddhist monks, U Gambhira replied that it has no concern with a monk like him and he wouldn’t request to let him rejoin the religious order.</p>
<p>His response was seen as a slap in the face of the SSMNC Sayadaws, offensively blackening their reputation. His actions are an insult to educational prestige, moral prestige and probity prestige of the SSMNC, disrupting code of conduct for members of Sangha. Furthermore, neglecting of his words such as “objection, denouncement” to the national-level Sangha organization constituted with 47 venerable monks will make monks and person with dark attitude to be too daring to commit the similar cases.</p>
<p>So, the SSMNC Sayadaws felt heartaches and wished for legal actions as Dhamma actions is no more possible.</p>
<p>Punitive actions will be taken against U Gambhira (a) Candobhasa (a) Nyi Nyi Lwin, 33 who, under complete political spell, has repeatedly broken Buddhist monks code of conduct and laws that every citizen need to abide by, in consideration of religion, Sasana and purity of Sasana.</p>
<p>Picture ©AFP</p>
<p><a href="http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/index.html">2012.02.18 New Light of Myanmar</a></p>
Gambira poursuivi pour occupation illégale d'un monastère
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2012-02-19T13:13:00+01:00
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<p><img src="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Pictures/.2012.02.19_copyright_AFP_s.jpg" alt="MYANMAR-POLITICS-MONK-OPPOSITION" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="MYANMAR-POLITICS-MONK-OPPOSITION" /> ©AFP</p>
<p>Le célèbre moine birman Shin Gambira , un des leaders de la "révolte safran" de 2007 qui avait été récemment amnistié, va être jugé pour être entré de force dans des monastères fermés par les autorités, rapporte, dimanche 19 février, le quotidien officiel News Light of Myanmar.</p>
<p>Gambira "va être poursuivi pour occupation illégale" d'un monastère à Rangoun et pour être entré de force dans deux autres, des infractions pour lesquelles il avait été interpellé puis libéré, le 10 février, au terme d'une journée de détention. Les autorités "ont entrepris des démarches légales pour qu'il soit jugé", selon le journal.</p>
<p>Gambira, condamné à 68 ans de prison pour sa participation à la "révolte safran", a fait partie des centaines de prisonniers politiques libérés en janvier. Les manifestations de 2007, au départ contre le coût de la vie, avaient attiré jusqu'à 100 000 personnes dans les rues de Rangoun, constituant le plus sérieux défi aux généraux depuis le soulèvement populaire de 1988. Le mouvement avait été écrasé par la junte alors au pouvoir, faisant au moins 31 morts.</p>
<p>L'arrestation du moine est intervenue alors que le régime birman multiplie les gestes d'ouverture depuis plusieurs mois dans l'espoir d'obtenir de sortir de son isolement. Elle a provoqué la réaction immédiate de Washington, qui a exhorté le gouvernement à libérer le moine "immédiatement et sans conditions et à apporter des explications quant à ce qui a motivé son arrestation".</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2012/02/19/le-pouvoir-birman-va-poursuivre-un-moine-entre-illegalement-dans-un-monastere_1645423_3216.html">2012.02.19 Le Monde le-pouvoir-birman-va-poursuivre-un-moine</a></p>
<p>À peine libéré, le moine Gambira, un des leaders de la révolte safran, risque à nouveau la prison.</p>
<p>Il a le courage tranquille de ceux qui acceptent de se mettre en péril pour ce à quoi ils croient. Ashin Gambira, ce moine birman qui avait mené en 2007 la «révolution safran» en Birmanie, une contestation populaire réprimée dans le sang, «n'accorde aucun crédit» à la «démocratie florissante et disciplinée» promise par le pouvoir militaire.</p>
<p>Le nouveau gouvernement, qui l'avait amnistié il y a à peine un mois pour prouver la sincérité de sa politique d'ouverture, a apparemment peu goûté les déclarations du trublion. On apprenait dimanche qu'il serait jugé pour être entré de force dans des monastères fermés par les autorités. Embarqué dans une rafle nocturne par dix hommes, Gambira, 33 ans, avait été détenu pour interrogatoire la semaine dernière.</p>
<p>«Bol retourné»
Enrôlé de force dans les forces armées à l'âge de 12 ans, torturé et humilié dans des geôles infâmes, Gambira continue de défier le régime. Il n'a pas oublié qu'en 2007, les moines bouddhistes étaient attrapés au lasso, ligotés à des arbres et roués de coups de pied, que les monastères étaient mis à sac et les statues du Bouddha, décapitées pour récupérer les pierres précieuses dont elles sont incrustées. Pour tout cela, Gambira a l'impudence de réclamer des excuses. Pis, il rappelle que le mot d'ordre du «bol retourné» s'applique toujours aux généraux birmans. Cette excommunication est lourde de conséquences pour un bouddhiste: s'il ne sacrifie pas à l'aumône, il perd toutes ses chances d'accéder au nirvana.</p>
<p>S'il s'est lancé dans de surprenantes réformes, le régime sait que les monastères birmans ont toujours joué un rôle politique central. Une vingtaine de pagodes, qualifiées de «foyers d'activistes», sont cadenassées et récemment une cérémonie d'ordination d'une quarantaine de moines libérés en janvier a été interdite.</p>
<p>Plus de 800 prisonniers politiques croupissent encore en prison, selon l'association d'assistance aux prisonniers politiques basée en Thaïlande. Et «ceux qui ont été libérés sont en laisse. À la moindre incartade, ils retourneront purger la totalité de leur peine», expliquait récemment Gambira, qui avait été condamné à 68 ans de prison en novembre 2007.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2012/02/19/01003-20120219ARTFIG00150-courte-amnistie-pour-un-birman-dissident.php">2012.02.19 Le Figaro</a></p>
Popular abbot banned from preaching
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2012-02-15T20:01:00+01:00
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ARTISTS and Freedom of EXPRESSION
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<p>The ban on Ashin Pyinnyar Thiha follows a one-year ban in 2011. The order was from the State Sangha Committee. “Someone gave me a copy of the letter that says they banned me until 2013,” he said.</p>
<p>During the first year of the ban, on December 12 the Region Sangha Committee sent the abbot a letter to calling him a ‘disobedient monk’ and ordering him to leave the Sardu Pariyatti Monastery complex for delivering speech at the Mandalay Region National League for Democracy office in September. The letter also ordered the monastery to halt all religious training conducted in the monastery, which trained hundreds of monks.</p>
<p>He was ordered to sign a letter confirming that he would leave from the monastery no later than February 19. “I signed the pledge. I did as they told me. What else can I do not to be a ‘disobedient monk,’ what else can I do?” he told Mizzima.
On February 15, 16 and 17, he said he would visit Kyimyindaing and Kamayut townships to meet with supporters and receive donations.
He said he would leave Thadu Monastery on Sunday. “I’ll leave... No need to feel sorry. When the time comes, all of us have to abandon everything.”</p>
<p>Observes note that the current government still seems to be especially sensitive to two areas of Burmese society: the sangha and the media.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6585-abbot-banned-from-preaching-one-more-year.html">2012.02.14 Mizzima - abbot-banned-from-preaching</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.mizzima.com/edop/analysis/6586-gambiras-rapid-release-a-sign-of-greater-scrutiny.html">2012.02.14 Mizzima -gambiras-rapid-release</a></p>