Militia holds military ceremony inside Kachin Baptist church

A proxy militia operating under the direct supervision of the Myanmar military’s Northern Regional Command conducted a military graduation ceremony inside the worship sanctuary of Nant Mun Baptist Church in Nanmun Town, Mohnyin Township, in Myanmar’s Kachin State on 23 September.

Over 400 members of the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) participated in the graduation ceremony, with local reports confirming that militia members drank alcohol and danced inside the sanctuary during the event.

The graduation ceremony was overseen by Major General Aung Zaw Htway, Commander of the Northern Regional Command, and took place in an area from which most Kachin residents have been forcibly displaced by ongoing conflict since early 2024.

This act of desecration is part of a broader, systemic strategy by the Myanmar military and its proxy forces to weaponise religious spaces and undermine freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in ethnic minority areas. Across Chin, Kachin and Karen States, hundreds of churches and Christian institutions have been subjected to airstrikes, arson, and artillery shelling, while others have been forcibly converted into military bases, command posts, or venues for junta propaganda.

Rev. Lakang Dau Qae, General Secretary of Kachin Baptist Churches USA, said in a statement: ‘The deliberate turning of a sacred house of worship, Nant Mun Baptist Church, into a military venue is a direct attack on freedom of religion or belief and an insult to Kachin Christians. True peace cannot be built on state-sanctioned desecration and the systematic persecution of religious minorities in Myanmar. We urge the international community, especially the US State Department, to recognise these grave violations and immediately redesignate Myanmar as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).’

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘Converting a sacred house of worship into a military venue accompanied by deliberate acts of disrespect inside the sanctuary is a grave violation of freedom of religion or belief. The junta and its proxy militias consistently weaponise religious spaces to intimidate ethnic and religious minority communities. We join Kachin faith leaders in calling for immediate international accountability and targeted measures, including financial sanctions against military commanders orchestrating these abuses. We also reiterate our calls on the international community to cut off all international supplies of weapons, military hardware, and aviation fuel to the Myanmar armed forces, and to support independent evidence-gathering bodies, including the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), in documenting religious persecution and war crimes for use in international legal prosecutions.’