Updated: May 02, 2023 08:57 AM GMT
Myanmar's Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (center) stands in a vehicle as he attends a ceremony to mark the country's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on March 27. (Photo: AFP)
On Good Friday, as Christians around the world commemorated the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, one of Myanmar’s most prominent, outspoken and courageous Christian leaders was sentenced to six years in prison.
Reverend Dr. Hkalam Samson, former president of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), was convicted of three charges — unlawful association, defaming the state and terrorism. This heartbreaking, poignant and outrageous injustice against a brave, non-violent religious leader who simply speaks out for human rights and peace is, to use a seasonal metaphor, yet another nail in the cross which the people of Myanmar, and Christians in particular, are currently forced to carry.
Reverend Samson is a friend of mine. Internationally renowned, he served until his arrest as chairman of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, a group of religious and political leaders established to foster communication between the main resistance group, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), and the local community.
He had previously served as the most senior Baptist pastor among the Kachin, first as general secretary of the KBC for two terms, from 2010-2018, and then as president from 2018-2022.
The overwhelming majority of the approximately one million ethnic Kachins are Christians, with some estimating the proportion to be as high as 90 percent or more. Among the Christian population, the majority are Baptists, and so the KBC has an extremely significant role to play in the community, including providing many social services, humanitarian assistance and advocacy.
Arrested at Mandalay International Airport on Dec. 5, 2022, as he attempted to travel to Bangkok, Reverend Samson has been held in prison for the past four months, and now faces a further six years behind bars.
"His ‘crimes’ are simply that he criticized the military’s brutal repression and bombardment of his people"
A court in Myitkyina has convicted him under Section 17 (1) of the Unlawful Association Act, Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code, and Section 52 (a) of the Terrorism Act. In essence, his ‘crimes’ are simply that he criticized the military’s brutal repression and bombardment of his people, met with people and groups that the military does not like and called for prayers for freedom in Myanmar.
The charge of terrorism is especially ludicrous. This man is a Baptist pastor who preaches peace, justice, truth, reconciliation and forgiveness. But in a strange irony, to an illegal, criminal and barbaric regime like the military junta in Myanmar, which seized power in a coup overthrowing a democratically elected civilian government, these words are an anathema — indeed, they sow fear and terror in the hearts and minds of the generals in Naypyidaw.
Only in that sense — that speaking the truth ‘terrorizes’ the criminal gang currently ruling Myanmar — can he be said to be engaging in terrorism.
In April 2021, two months after the military coup which overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government, Reverend Samson, together with his successor as general secretary of the KBC, Reverend Hpauyawng Tu Mai, issued an appeal to Christians around the world to pray for Myanmar.
“It has been two months since the military coup on February 1, 2021,” they wrote. “Consequently, the unarmed citizens of Burma/Myanmar [sic] are suffering greatly nationwide under threat of being killed or arrested either in the street or at home. Fear, gunshots, blood, threats, tears, death, etc., are the citizens’ daily lives in Burma/Myanmar.”
That description of life in Myanmar is, tragically, even more true today. But expressing that truth is what has landed Reverend Samson in jail.
The imprisonment of Reverend Samson shows that no one is safe in Myanmar today. International reputation or status as a senior religious leader no longer offers protection. And his imprisonment is symbolic of the far wider, deeper and even more serious persecution of religious and ethnic minorities in the country, particularly Muslims and Christians.
For decades religious minorities have faced discrimination, repression and — in the case of Muslims — intense religious hatred which has led to severe violence and, for the Rohingya, genocide.
"Any return to 'normalcy' is impossible when key political, religious, or civil society leaders are in prison"
The Kachin and the country’s other ethnic nationalities — the Karen, Karenni, Shan, Mon, Chin, and Rakhine, as well as dozens of other smaller groups — have endured almost 75 years of civil war, military offensives involving rape as a weapon of war, forced labor, the bombardment of villages, the displacement of people, the killing of civilians and other atrocity crimes. For decades successive military regimes have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to the United Nations, at least 1.5 million people are internally displaced in Myanmar today.
But since the coup of Feb. 1, 2021, Christians have been targeted with a ferocity seldom seen before. Hundreds of churches have been bombed, burned, raided, occupied, desecrated and destroyed, and Christian priests and pastors arrested, attacked and in some cases killed.
In January this year, the three Catholic Archbishops of Myanmar — Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, Archbishop Marco Tin Win of Mandalay, and Archbishop Basilio Athai of Taunggyi — urged the country to begin a “new pilgrimage of peace”.
In their joint statement, they noted that: “Increasingly the places of worship and monasteries, where communities sought peace and reconciliation, are themselves under attack and carnage. International instruments like the Hague Convention call for the protection of places of worship, places of learning, and places of healing.” They asked, “with pain and anguish … why these sacred places are attacked and destroyed?” Places of worship, they added, promote the interdependence and sense of interrelatedness that are necessary for the nation to heal. “When they are mercilessly burnt, returning to normalcy becomes a great challenge.”
And any return to “normalcy” is impossible when key political, religious, or civil society leaders are in prison. Jailing Reverend Samson is an appalling travesty of justice.
The international community — including churches worldwide, civil society and governments — must speak and work to secure his release.
Governments must intensify pressure on Myanmar’s illegal military regime, by applying targeted sanctions against the military and its enterprises until all political prisoners are freed, the military ceases all attacks on civilians and Myanmar is placed on a path of genuine federal democracy.
The world must cut the lifelines that keep the illegal junta in power, and at the same time provide a lifeline of aid, assistance, advocacy and hope to the people of Myanmar. And we must not allow Myanmar — or Reverend Samson — to be forgotten.
A little over 24 hours after Catholics around the world, and Christians of all traditions, remembered the death of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary, his crucifixion on Golgatha, we gathered at the Easter Vigil for the lighting of the Paschal Candle and chanted the words “Lumen Christi!” (“The Light of Christ”) ushering in the celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection.
My prayer as we complete the Easter Triduum and move into a new life with the Risen Christ is that the light of Christ fills Myanmar and overcomes the darkness in which that beautiful nation currently finds itself.
Myanmar today is carrying its cross, and indeed enduring a crucifixion, but history shows that dictatorships do not last forever, prison bars can be broken and the miracle of resurrection can happen.
As we reflect on the Easter story of the empty tomb and the risen Lord, I pray for Myanmar’s resurrection. And as we recall all the stories throughout the Bible and Christian history of chains being broken, prison doors being flung open and prisoners being set free, I pray for the release of my friend Reverend Samson — and all political prisoners in Myanmar. I hope we will all work and pray until Myanmar is free. And when that day comes, we will be able to respond to the chant of “Lumen Christi” with a “Deo Gracias” (“Thanks Be to God”) for Myanmar.
*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.
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