In a
July 9 statement, Human Rights Watch called on Burma's President Thein Sein to refuse to sign the Myanmar Buddhist Women’s Special Marriage Law. The law was passed by Burma's Parliament in a joint session on July 7 by a vote of 524 to 44, with 8 abstentions. The final version of the bill has not been made public, but an
English translation of a 2014 draft of the bill is available online. According to Human Rights Watch:
The bill targets Buddhist women who marry – or seek to marry – non-Buddhist men and introduces vaguely defined acts against Buddhism as grounds for divorce, forfeiture of custody and matrimonial property, and potential criminal penalties....
The law permits the township (district level) registrar to publicly display a couple’s application for marriage for 14 days, and permits any objections to the marriage to be taken to local court....
The law also requires a non-Buddhist husband to respect the free practice of his spouse’s Buddhist religion, including displaying Buddhist imagery and statues, and engaging in Buddhist ceremonies. He must refrain from “committing deliberate and malicious acts, such as writing, or speaking, or behaving or gesturing with intent to outrage feelings of Buddhists.” Violations of these provisions are grounds for divorce, and in such a case the non-Buddhist husband would be forced to give up his share of jointly owned property, owe his wife compensation, and be denied custody of the children.
