The junta that took control of Myanmar in February has relentlessly targeted Christian clergy and places of worship. Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Monday quoted human rights activists who said it has arrested at least nine Christian leaders, subsequently killing five.
Deputy Executive Director Salai Za Op Lin of the Chin Human Rights Group gave RFA some details of the slain clergy. Most of them hailed from four townships in Chin state:
Salai Ngwe Kyar, a Christian pastor from Thekkedaung village, in Magway’s Saetottara township, was arrested on allegations that he belonged to the anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) militia on Dec. 6 by soldiers from the local No. 20 Regiment. Locals said he died at Magway Hospital on Dec. 9 from injuries sustained during interrogation.
The military also arrested Naing Kone, a pastor from Ngalai village in Matupi township on Sept. 23. It was not until Nov. 17 that his family was informed of his death, according to residents.
Kyon Byat Hom, a clergyman who went to help put out a fire at a home in Thantlang following clashes between the military and fighters with the Chin Defense Force (CDF) militia, was shot dead on September 19.
The worst account was that of 30-year-old pastor Um Kee, arrested at his home on December 11. His brutalized body was dumped on the side of a road two days later. According to a local resident, Kee’s “abdomen was sliced open with knife wounds” and he was shot in the head.
A junta spokesman responded to RFA’s inquiries by claiming no Christians have been deliberately executed by the military or killed during interrogations, but a Christian leader was “killed in the crossfire” during a battle between the military and an insurgent group called the Chin Defense Force (CDF).
“These kinds of allegations will always be there. We want to be friends with all religions,” the junta spokesman claimed.
Chin state has witnessed a string of battles between military forces and resistance groups such as the CDF. In addition to the violence against Christian leaders, the Chin Human Rights Group said over 30 churches have been destroyed with artillery and arson, sometimes justified by the junta with claims there were rebels hiding in the church. Government forces have occupied Christian churches and religious buildings to use as military bases.
The fighting in Chin has displaced hundreds of civilians, whose representatives told RFA they face severe shortages of food and medicine because donors are afraid to bring them food, especially donors who work through the besieged Christian churches.
In an October interview with Al Jazeera, Christian Solidarity Worldwide senior analyst Benedict Rogers said Myanmar military leaders have “often used religion as a tool of repression.”
“They have sowed religious nationalism, and that has been the case for decades. Christians have certainly been targeted, both for their religion and their ethnicity,” Rogers said.
Chin state has the highest concentration of Christians in majority-Buddhist Myanmar, so Christian persecution exploded as the junta grappled with Chin resistance fighters. Al Jazeera published several harrowing accounts from Christians who said junta troops treat every church as though it harbors rebels and take every opportunity to destroy houses of worship and Christian writings as they sweep through villages. Christian volunteers also said junta soldiers “doubt us when we transport humanitarian aid,” viewing the aid deliveries as covert support for rebel fighters.
“[The military] check the contents of our prayers. We cannot practice freedom of religion in our own land; we cannot talk about peace [or] justice. We are in a living hell caused by this military junta and their mentality,” Professor Layang Seng Ja of the Kachin Theological College and Seminary told Al Jazeera.
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