By Sarah Page
Burmese soldiers are systematically using forced labor, torture and rape to persecute the Christian inhabitants of the Christian-dominated Chin State in western Burma, according to a report released on January 19. The report, compiled by Physicians for Human Rights and titled "Life under the Junta: Testimonies of Crimes against Humanity in Burma's Chin State", documents "extraordinary levels of state violence" against the ethnic population of Chin. The population of Chin is estimated to be 90 % Christian, and the study indicates that it is therefore difficult to separate religious attacks from ethnic and other human rights abuses.
Persecution of Christians is reportedly part of a wider campaign by the Burmese junta to create a uniform society where the only accepted religion is Buddhism - according to a 2007 government memo circulating in Karen State with instructions on how to expel Christians from the state. Respondents who were specifically attacked for their Christian faith and ethnicity said soldiers had threatened to destroy their homes or villages and threatened to harm or kill family members. A total of 71 households from 13 out of 90 villages/towns surveyed also said government authorities had destroyed their local church buildings.
The most brutal attacks included forced conscription, abduction or murder of children under 15, and rape of men, women and children. Burmese soldiers were responsible for 94.2 % of all ethnic and religious specific incidents in the survey. When asked directly why the Burmese army acted the way it did, 15 % of respondents answered: "Because we are Christians." Another 23 % replied: "For persecuting us," and another 23 % said: "Because we are from Chin."
Source: Compass Direct News
