VOA新闻杂志2024--New Study Finds Myanmar Religious Buildings Damaged

New Study Finds Myanmar Religious Buildings Damaged

New research provides evidence that attacks by Myanmar's military government have damaged religious centers in the country.

Religious leaders and human rights workers say the reported attacks are part of a wider campaign to attack religious communities across the nation.

A civil war broke out in Myanmar after the military seized power from the elected government of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

Human rights agencies and United Nations investigators¹ say they have found evidence of Myanmar security forces targeting civilians². The evidence includes details about bomb attacks, mass executions and detentions³ and the burning of private homes.

One group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, accuses security forces in Myanmar of killing⁴ at least 4,416 people since the 2021 military takeover.

The Myanmar Witness project completed the new report on the destruction of religious centers. The project is part of the Britain-based Centre for Information Resilience.

Myanmar Witness examined claims of five airstrikes that caused major damage to religious centers over several months in 2023. The attacks happened in Myanmar's western Chin state.

Religious buildings are given special protection under international law.

Another group, the Chin Human Rights Organization, reported that the military has destroyed at least 107 religious buildings in Chin state since 2021. Those included attacks against 67 churches and five Buddhist⁵ monasteries⁶, the group said.

A 2023 report by the International Commission of Jurists said 94 Buddhist religious centers and 87 Christian⁷ ones had been destroyed or damaged nationwide.

The Myanmar Witness group collects evidence including pictures, video and witness accounts found on social media services. The group compares this evidence with satellite images or other methods to confirm human rights abuses.

Matt Lawrence is director of Myanmar Witness. He said the main goal of the project is to give evidence of "atrocities⁸" to international groups for further investigation⁹.

Many human rights activists¹⁰ have accused the military of aiming for religious buildings.

"Bombing churches is much more than just collateral¹¹ damage," wrote Benedict Rogers. He is a former East Asia team leader for the human rights organization Christian Solidarity¹² Worldwide. He wrote in an email to The Associated Press, "Targeting them is part of a deliberate strategy."

Rogers said the military government discriminates¹³ against non-Burmese ethnic¹⁴ minorities and non-Buddhist religious minorities.

In 2017, the military carried out a counterinsurgency campaign in Rakhine state. The campaign drove almost 740,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority to flee to Bangladesh.

The military government offered no immediate¹⁵ comment on the new report.

But in the past, military leaders have repeatedly stated that security forces only attack permissible¹⁶ targets of war.

Words in This Story

church – n. a building where Christians¹⁷ go to worship

monastery¹⁸ – n. a building where people live as part of a specific religious group

atrocity¹⁹ – n. an extremely violent and shocking attack

collateral damage – n. unintentional deaths, injuries and destruction caused during a war to non-military members

deliberate – adj. intentional²⁰ or planned

strategy – n. a careful plan to complete something or achieve a goal over a period of time

counterinsurgency – n. a military action taken by a government to prevent attacks by small groups of soldiers or fighters that are opposed to it

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

6 monasteries   

修道院( monastery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In ancient China, there were lots of monasteries. 在古时候，中国有许多寺院。
• The Negev became a religious center with many monasteries and churches. 内格夫成为许多庙宇和教堂的宗教中心。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

12 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

13 discriminates   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的第三人称单数 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• The new law discriminates against lower-paid workers. 这条新法律歧视低工资的工人。
• One test governs state legislation that discriminates against interstate commerce. 一个检验约束歧视州际商业的州立法。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

14 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

15 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

16 permissible   

adj.可允许的，许可的

参考例句：

• Is smoking permissible in the theatre?在剧院里允许吸烟吗？
• Delay is not permissible,even for a single day.不得延误，即使一日亦不可。

17 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

18 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

19 atrocity   

n.残暴，暴行

参考例句：

• These people are guilty of acts of great atrocity.这些人犯有令人发指的暴行。
• I am shocked by the atrocity of this man's crimes.这个人行凶手段残忍狠毒使我震惊。

20 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。