By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
“Burma’s military regime has once again shown its intolerance toward different political viewpoints by arresting journalists who were doing nothing more than reporting news and opinions,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
The Burmese government arrested two journalists Thet Zin and Sein Win Aung of Myanmar Nation magazine. Both journalists were taken after police and intelligence officers carried out a four-hour search of the publication office, and confiscated many documents which included a copy of Human Rights Report on Burma by Paulo Sergio Pinherio, videos of last September’s anti-government protests and hand-written poems. It was unclear under what specific charges the two journalists were being held.
Thet Zin’s wife Khin Swe Myint said that the journal is “published officially after clearance from the Censorship Board.” According to Aung Din, Director of the Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma, Thet Zin told his wife Khin Swe Myint in a visit that he will be transferred to Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison soon. Thet Zin did not tell his wife the nature of the charges he is facing, but he told her the prison term could amount to 10 years.
The editor, Thet Zin, has been an anti-government activist and critic. He was arrested and tortured in 1988 for his participation in pro-democracy student protests during which the government killed as many as 3,000 protestors. Throughout the 1990s, Thet Zin was occasionally detained and interrogated by officials.
Four days after the arrest, and interrogating the two reporters, the authorities raided the publication office again, and confiscated more documents. Later, the censorship board, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, instructed the publisher to stop publishing the weekly journal. According to Human Rights Watch reports, Burma’s government continues to sharply restrict media freedoms by requiring all domestic copy to be approved by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division of the Ministry of Information. Journalists are routinely banned from publishing any material that contains criticism of the current government or positive towards the political opposition.
According to The Associated Press, the country’s ruling junta surprisingly announced last week that a new draft constitution to replace the one scrapped in 1988 is ready for submission to a national referendum. The new charter is supposed to lead to a general election in 2010. It was the first time the military government had set dates to carry out what it calls its road map to democracy. However, “The arrests of journalists and repression of access to information deny the Burmese people any real opportunity to debate the proposed new constitution,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
For more information, please see:
Asian Tribune – Burma’s Media completely under military dictatorship – 20 February 2008
The Committee to Protect Journalists – BURMA:Two journalists arrested by military junta – 19 February 2008
Human Rights Watch – Burma: Arrest of Journalists Highlights Junta’s Intolerance – 19 February 2008