Making a Difference in Burma

 We have all read articles and seen newscasts about the military coup in Burma, which overthrew a democratically elected government.  We have been made aware of the suffering of the people of Burma, in particular the minority ethnic groups.  In our Region we have a number of churches comprised of people from Burmese ethnic groups who had to flee Burma due to government violence and repression.  They have family and friends back in Burma and grieve the atrocities their homeland is undergoing.  These people are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  You are likely aware that it was an American Baptist missionary couple, the Judsons, who first took the Gospel to Burma.

So what can we do?  Last week you received from the Region prayer litanies, sample letter and other martials you can use.  Below you will another sample letter written by a man in the Utica Karen Baptist Church.  Please look it over and consider adapting it and send it to your representative and senator.

Jim Kelsey--Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of New York State

The Honorable ???

U.S. Representative of New York’s ??? Congressional District

1410 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC  20515

 Dear Congresswoman/man ???,

 We are writing to you on behalf of the Burmese Diaspora churches of the American Baptist Churches of New York State/or the ??? Baptist Church of (your city). These churches represent ethnic minority groups from Burma. They are grateful for the sanctuary they have been given in this country. However, the root causes of why they had to flee their homes and country—attacks and human rights violations by the Burmese military—have still not been addressed.

 The military has just staged a new coup against the democratically elected civilian government led by Aung San Sue Kyi. The new military government has shut down communication channels such as the internet, phone and social media in an attempt to stop peaceful demonstrators and prevent the world from seeing what is happening in the country. The military has also announced martial law in part of the country where peaceful demonstration and civil disobedience movement has grown and has threatened to clamp down on peaceful demonstrators.

And while the world attention has turned to the military coup, right villagers, including many children, are hiding in the jungle following attacks by the Burmese military. The indiscriminate targeting of civilians and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance are war crimes under the Geneva Conventions.

 

We request that you condemn the coup, make a public call for the military to peacefully return power to democratically elected government led by Aung San Sue Kyi, and for the Burmese military to halt its attacks on ethnic minorities and to lift all humanitarian aid restrictions. We also request that you support the passing of legislation to impose sanctions that will ensure no American company can do any form of business with military owned companies.

We also would like you to consider the following points when deciding your future approach to our country. The U.S government needs to review the support it is giving to the peace process and impose strict economic sanctions on the military-owned companies and all foreign and domestic companies associated with the military in Burma. We believe that the peace process and reforms in Burma, a creation of the military, were never designed to bring genuine peace. The intention was to use ceasefires to weaken ethnic armed organizations and gain access to contested areas, including natural resources. The peace process and reforms were also used as part of efforts to persuade the US and EU to lift economic sanctions.

 

The current peace process in our country has failed. Since it began, conflict and human rights violations in Burma have significantly increased. There has been increased conflict in Rakhine State, Kachin State, Shan State and Chin State. Now even in Karen State, hailed by some as one of the few places where the local populations have seen some benefits from ceasefires, people are once again fleeing for their lives.

 As a member of the Joint Peace Fund, as well as a key political backer of the peace process, the US has a leading role to play. We believe that international financial and political support, including from the Joint Peace Fund, is helping to keep alive a failed process. By keeping this failed process alive, the support the US and others are giving has now become an obstacle to achieving peace, rather than supporting it. It is preventing major reform or replacement of the current process. Each new problem is met with more committees, more processes, and more expense as those involved appear to have expended too much money and political capital to be willing to accept it has not worked.

 If a peace process results in more conflict, it is time for a rethink.  We request that you support our call for the US to suspend financial support for the Peace Process and reinstate sanctions in Burma until substantial changes are made to the current process and the military relinquish power.

 

Communities from conflict zones across Burma are quite clear in what they want to see as first steps. They want to see the withdrawal of the Burmese military from contested areas, and they want to see restrictions on humanitarian access lifted. These should be preconditions before the US and Joint Peace Fund provide any more support to the peace process. This should be the key US priority in its approach to supporting peace in our country.

 There has been welcome attention on the need for justice and accountability regarding the Rohingya. We believe that one of the reasons that the military believed it could get away with its military offensives and human rights violations in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017 is because the international community has allowed it to enjoy impunity for its military offensives and human rights violations against ethnic people for decades. Nothing that was done to the Rohingya by the military had not already been done to the Karen, Kachin and other ethnic groups. The difference was the scale and timeframe, not the type of human rights violations. There cannot be accountability for crimes against the Rohingya but no accountability for the same human rights violations against other ethnic groups.

 We request that you support justice and accountability for all crimes committed by the Burmese military against all ethnic and religious groups and ask the Biden Administration to work with international partners to ensure justice and accountability.

 The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar investigated human rights violations in Shan and Kachin State as well as Rakhine State. It made recommendations to address human rights violations across the country. We are deeply disappointed that the US and other countries have not taken any significant steps to implement these recommendations. We request that support implementing these recommendations is a center point for the US response to human rights violations by the military. This should include imposing sanctions on military companies, building international support for a global arms embargo (doing so ad hoc with willing countries if progress cannot be made at the UN Security Council), and supporting international justice initiatives.

 

Nationally, the number of political prisoners is increasing, including community leaders, such as Naw Ohn Hla. Almost all military era repressive laws are still in place and being used against human rights activists and peaceful protestors.

 We request that you make a public call for the release of all political prisoners in Burma and for the repeal of all repressive laws. In the past, the US played a leading role in mobilizing international pressure on the Burmese military to end human rights violations. As our friends in Burma are once again hiding in fear in the jungle, the people of Burma need US leadership again. 

 We hope that you will support us in their struggle for freedom and we look forward to your response.  We would also welcome the opportunity to meet with you.

 
Sincerely,