Burma’s military-controlled Supreme Court strips three Baptist pastors of marriage licenses

Mizzima

According to a 24 September press statement by the Burma Research Institute (BRI), on June 9, 2026, Burma’s military-controlled Supreme Court, in Order No. 254/2026 signed by Tha Htay, revoked the licenses of three Baptist pastors to solemnize Christian marriages.

The three pastors are: Rev. Dr. Zaw Taung (also known as Khaung Lwan) of Jerusalem Baptist Christian Church, Padesa Myothit, Pyin Oo Lwin Township, Mandalay Region; Rev. Joseph (also known as U Zay Win Lin) of Multi-Ethnic Baptist Church, Kyaukme, Shan State; and Rev. Saw Myint Tun of North Okkalapa Multi-Ethnic Baptist Church, Taungthugon Ward, Insein Township, Yangon Region.

The Burma Research Institute (BRI) obtained a copy of the court order and translated them unofficially in English. Two sources in Burma have confirmed the revocations. Two of the pastors are ethnic Kachin and Karen, and one pastor’s church is affiliated with the Myanmar Baptist Convention. The court order in Burmese is also available on the NAY THU NGEIN LAW FIRM’s Facebook page.

“The military Supreme Court’s June 9, 2026, orders are further examples of serious violations of religious freedom by the regime. The Trump Administration should immediately redesignate Burma as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended in its 2026 Annual Report, for ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom’ under the International Religious Freedom Act,” said Zo Tum Hmung, President and CEO of BRI.

Under coup leader and self-appointed president Min Aung Hlaing, the military regime’s Supreme Court cited violations of Sections 6 and 9 of the Christian Marriage Act. A Section 6 license authorizes the holder to solemnize marriages between Christians, or between a Christian and a person of another religion; a Section 9 license covers marriages between Christians who are citizens of Burma.

The rulings rest on two laws, the Myanmar Buddhist Women’s Special Marriage Law and the Religious Conversion Law, which President Thein Sein signed on August 26, 2015, following a sustained campaign by Ma Ba Tha, a nationalist Buddhist monks’ organization that pushed for legislation to “protect race and religion.”

The Myanmar Buddhist Women’s Special Marriage Law requires that a marriage between a Buddhist woman and a non-Buddhist man be solemnized only by a Township General Administration Department administrator acting as Registrar, and only after the application has been publicly posted for fourteen days without objection (Sections 11 and 13). The Religious Conversion Law requires anyone over 18 who wishes to change religion to apply to a township Registration Board, which interviews them to confirm sincere belief and free choice, sets a study period of up to 90 days (extendable to 180), and then issues a certificate that makes the conversion legally valid. The law penalizes forced, obstructed, or abusive conversions with up to two years’ imprisonment.

Both laws conflict with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees each person’s freedom to change their religion or belief. They also contradict the religious freedom standards of the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, under which Burma has repeatedly been designated as a CPC for severe religious freedom violations from 1999 to 2023. Despite the military regime’s escalating war against Christians, the Administration did not redesignate Burma as a CPC for 2024 or 2025 and has yet to do so for 2026. BRI continues to urge the Administration to redesignate Burma as a CPC at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing on FoRB Violations Against Christians Abroad in January 2026.

The court’s order against Rev. Dr. Zaw Taung cited two marriages. The court asserted that he solemnized a marriage between a Myanmar Buddhist man and a Myanmar Buddhist woman based solely on a pastor’s certification that both were Christian believers. He also solemnized the marriage of a Buddhist woman who had not converted to Christianity under the Law Relating to Religious Conversion, relying instead on her own declaration that she had converted to and professed Christianity. In both cases, the court dismissed the women’s declarations of faith.

In Rev. Joseph’s (also known as U Zay Win Lin) case, the court stated that he had solemnized marriages between Buddhist women and non-Buddhist men. The court ruled that such marriages fall under the Myanmar Buddhist Women’s Special Marriage Law, which permits only designated Marriage Registration Officers to solemnize them.

In the order against Rev. Saw Myint Tun, the court stated that he had issued a marriage certificate to a Christian man and a Buddhist woman based on her declaration that she had converted to Christianity. The court ruled her conversion invalid because it had not followed the Religious Conversion Law.

A Burmese lawyer, speaking anonymously for safety reasons, told BRI that the rulings are legally correct under the 2015 laws, which give no legal effect to a personal declaration or a pastor’s certification of faith, and that pastors should take note. However, the lawyer noted that the laws protect only Buddhist women, not women of other faiths. A former township judge agreed, warning that the laws effectively bar Buddhist women from converting and favors Buddhism over other religions.

As documented in the 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Burma, Christian marriages fall under an 1872 law and are legally recognized only if officiated by a Christian cleric registered with the Supreme Court, and only a handful of ministers and priests hold that registration. The officiating church must also submit the marriage record to the Supreme Court within three months of the ceremony, and only the Supreme Court can recognize the marriage. As a result, legal recognition of Christian marriages is nearly impossible. Moreover, the 2015 laws made it even more difficult.

Besides its recommendation to redesignate Burma as a CPC, USCIRF also recommends that the United States engage with the National Unity Government, ethnic organizations, and prodemocracy groups, as outlined in the BURMA Act of 2022, to ensure that freedom of religion or belief is part of transitional governance and post-coup nation-building.