BURMA - THREATS AGAINST WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS
DEFENDERS FOR OPPOSING THE DISCRIMINATORY INTERFAITH MARRIAGE
BILL
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and
Development (APWLD) supports our members, women human rights defenders and
allied movements defending women’s rights in Burma / Myanmar and consequently
opposing the Interfaith Marriage Bill[1].
According to information gathered by APWLD
members, at least four activists have received threats after including their
contact information in early May 2014 in a
public statement objecting to the Interfaith Marriage Bill. Since then,
they have received anonymous phone calls and online messages threatening them,
including death threats. One activist was forced to change her handset over
concerns about data security; while another is reluctant to connect to the
Internet on her phone due to the threatening messages. The safety of these
activists’ families are also a high concern..
If enacted, the Bill would
violate the rights and fundamental freedoms of Buddhist women. It would force
women to get permission from parents and government officials to marry
non-Buddhist men. The Bill imposes a patriarchal concept of marriage that
assumes women pass from property of the father to the husband, violating women’s
rights to freely choose their religion, cultural beliefs and practices,
partners, sexuality.This Bill has the potential to violate their freedom of
expression, association and movement.
If read in its entirety – with all
four proposed Laws – the Bill is designed to foster a nation of one religion and
one ethnicity while marginalizing or even criminalizing others. Consequently
the Bill systematically marginalizes women who belong to other religions or
ethnicities.
It is evident that the Bill is dividing the community and
inciting conflict, hatred and violence within the country. Further, the
harassment, intimidation and threats against women human rights defenders
attempting to engage in their democratic right to debate public policy violates
their rights to expression, movement and safety.
We urge the Government of Myanmar to:
1. Acknowledge and protect the legitimate work of women human rights defenders and other human rights communities opposing the Bill.
2. Immediately conduct a comprehensive investigation into any incidents of threats and intimidation against women human rights defenders targeted for their action against the proposed Bill; and take action against the perpetrators.
3. Abandon the Interfaith Marriage Bill in its entirety and protect women’s human rights including freedom of religion or belief, right to freely choose a partner, right to live free from violence, and make decisions over their own bodies and lives.
4. Amend or eliminate discriminatory laws, policies and practices as well as enact progressive laws that advance women’s human rights and fundamental freedoms with meaningful participation of women’s rights organizations and movements.
5. Respect and implement obligations as a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), UN Declaration on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and other international conventions, as well as its own Constitution.
What you can do:
We encourage fellow women human rights defenders, human rights community
and civil society organizations to support the struggle by signing the
online petition on Avaaz.org, created by Women’s League of Burma.
For more information: follow the links below:
http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/activists-face-violent-threats-opposing-interfaith-marriage-bill.html
1)APWLD is a leading network of over 180 women’s rights organizations and
activists representing groups of diverse women from 26 countries in the Asia
Pacific region.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Myanmar_President_Thein_Sein_and_Speaker_of_Pyithu_Hluttaw_Thura_Shwe_Mann_Immediately_halt_the_drafting_of_the_Interfai/?aSdXAfb
WUNRN
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