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| File Photo of Muslims are praying |
Moves restricting
right to pray are an 'outrage' that should be urgently overruled, says Human
Rights Watch
By Kyaw Ye Lynn (AA)
YANGON, Myanmar
05.06.2017
A leading human
rights group on Monday called on Myanmar to move immediately to protect Muslims
facing threats to their rights to free exercise of religion.
Police are charging
three Muslim men who last week organized a street prayer in Myanmar’s largest
city, Yangon, to protest the closure of two religious schools, reducing the
number of places of worship for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. Local
administrative authorities also warned Muslims not to hold such prayers,
claiming they threaten stability and the rule of law.
On Monday, Human
Rights Watch in a statement called these moves “further evidence of the
government's failure to protect religious freedoms of minority groups in
Myanmar.”
“These actions by
local officials are an outrage that should be urgently overruled by senior
leaders in the General Administration Department, or failing that, the Minister
of Home Affairs,” said Phil Robertson, Asia director of the New York-based
group.
He added that Aung
San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, should step in to protect freedom of
conscience and religion if the military-controlled Home Affairs Ministry fails
to do so.
“Religious believers
should not be threatened or criminally charged simply for exercising their
fundamental right to observe and practice their religion,” he said.
Muslim residents of
Meikhtila, a small town in the central Mandalay region which saw anti-Muslim
violence in 2013, are facing similar challenges, local media reported on
Sunday.
According the Voice
newspaper, local authorities have barred Muslims from holding Ramadan prayer in
three places in the Thiri Mingalar quarter, saying gathering in such
non-religious buildings such as houses is illegal and could cause problems.
Four years on, only
five of 13 mosques closed by authorities in 2013 have been reopened, the paper
said.
HRW urged the
government to revoke discriminatory laws that are frequently applied to
minority religious communities.
“Obscure,
discriminatory regulations used to prevent the construction or repair of
religious structures, such as mosques and Christian churches, should be
rescinded immediately,” said Robertson.
“Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi and the NLD-led government should realize the world is watching how they
handle this extremely worrisome situation, and will not accept excuses or
inaction.”