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Uncertain future for Kachin Baptists held by Myanmar military

Arrest appears to be retaliation for their help in exposing wartime abuses, says rights group
Uncertain future for Kachin Baptists held by Myanmar military

Dumdaw Nawng Lat, assistant pastor from the Kachin Baptist Convention in Mong Ko town, northern Shan State. Kachin Baptist leaders have denied accusations made by Myanmar's military that the 65-year-old has assisted the Kachin Independence Army. (Photo supplied)

Published: February 03, 2017 08:06 AM GMT
Updated: February 03, 2017 08:26 AM GMT

Two ethnic Kachin Baptist leaders, Dumdaw Nawng Lat and his cousin Langjaw Gam Seng, were not expecting to be detained on Christmas Eve in Mong Ko, a conflict-stricken region in northern Shan State.

Dumdaw Nawng Lat, 65, left a message for his sister that he and Langjaw Gam Seng were planning to meet with military personnel on the evening of Dec. 24. After that the two men went missing.

It wasn't until Jan. 19 that relatives and church leaders from the Kachin Baptist Convention learned of their whereabouts after the military announced via Facebook that they had arrested them.

The military accused Dumdaw Nawng Lat of working as "informers, rumor-mongers, financial supporters and recruiters" for the ethnic armed group the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) which is fighting the military in Kachin and Shan states.

Langjaw Gam Seng is accused of giving "information about the Tatmadaw to KIA insurgents, recruiting new members and transporting fuel to insurgents during battle."

Kachin Baptist Convention leaders and their relatives deny the accusations and insist the men are not linked to any armed group.

The military sent the two men to a police station in Muse township, a border trade town, on Jan. 20 and charged them under the 1908 Unlawful Association Act for providing support to the rebel Kachin Independence Army, according to a Radio Free Asia report.

The Unlawful Association Act was used during military rule to detain people linked with rebel groups. Despite transitioning to democracy, the act is still being used to jail people in Kachin State.

 

'In good health'

Zau Ra, a Kachin Baptist Convention official from Muse township, said that the two church leaders were in good health and family members would have a chance to visit.

"The court hearing will be on Feb. 7 and we are discussing with our lawyers how to make legal representation," said Zau Ra, who met with the two leaders on Jan. 22.

Dumdaw Nawng Lat, an ethnic Kachin and Mong Ko native, has been an assistant pastor in the Kachin Baptist Convention for more than 10 years. Before that, he was a member of the Mongko Defense Army, a militia group, until it was dissolved in 2001.

"He is very actively involved in social and religious affairs and has a good relationship with all people including local authorities and everybody in the town knows him very well," said the Rev. Zau Hkam, secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Mong Ko.

Langjaw Gam Seng, 35, has been a youth leader with the Kachin Baptist Convention for 10 years.

 

Langjaw Gam Seng, a youth leader from Kachin Baptist Convention in Mong Ko town, northern Shan State. (Photo supplied)

 

Catholic Bishop Philip Lazap Za Hawng of Lashio said he could not understand the military's action. "It is not appropriate to detain two church leaders for so long," said the Kachin bishop who visited Mong Ko Dec. 28-29.

Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights have called on the government to ensure the safety and security of both men and allow access by lawyers and families.

"The government needs to act now to ensure that these men are urgently transferred out of the darkness of military detention where they're highly vulnerable to abuse," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Local activists and rights groups see the military's detention of two church leaders being linked to their helping local journalists investigate unlawful military airstrikes.

"The arrest of the two Kachin Baptist leaders appears to be retaliation for their help in exposing wartime abuses," Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of Fortify Rights, said in a statement on Jan. 24.

St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Mong Ko was hit by military airstrikes on Dec. 3, the feast day of St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of missionaries.

State media reported that the church was destroyed due to an explosion caused by ammunition stored there by armed groups.

However, Bishop Za Hawng released a statement on Dec. 22, saying that the claim the church was an ammunition storehouse was a fabrication.

Bishop Za Hawng also said the military painted the church and repaired its roof in time for the Dec. 25 Christmas celebrations.

"But the altar, chairs, tables and the carpet in the church were all burnt. And we need to repair the nuns' house and the parish hall which have damaged roofs," said the bishop.

 

Scene of intense fighting

Mong Ko, a town in northern Shan State near the Chinese border, was the scene of intense fighting after violence resumed on Nov. 20 between the military and four ethnic groups known collectively as the Northern Alliance, which includes the Kachin Independence Army.

Military airstrikes and heavy bombardment led to more than 15,000 people fleeing to China. Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights said Chinese security forces reportedly forcibly returned some 4,000 of those Kachin civilians back into Myanmar on Jan. 11.

People have come back to Mong Ko from China since Dec. 20 as fighting has halted in the region but the situation remains tense.

The military conducts regular patrols in Mong Ko and all residents must carry a temporary registration card wherever they go, said Zau Hkam from the Kachin Baptist Church.

The area is predominately Kachin Christian apart from some Buddhists from the ethnic Shan and Palaung tribes.

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