Myanmar journalist hit with terrorism charges for interviewing insurgents

By AFP

MANDALAY — A Myanmar journalist faces up to life in prison for publishing an interview with an ethnic armed group operating in the country’s restive Rakhine State, a week after the insurgents were classified as a terrorist organisation.

The western region has long been a tinderbox of conflict between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA), a group demanding greater autonomy for the state’s ethnic Rakhine people.

Clashes have left scores of civilians killed, hundreds injured and about 150,000 displaced since January last year, and both sides have traded allegations of abuse.

A March 27 interview with a top-ranking AA representative published by the Mandalay-based Voice of Myanmar landed editor-in-chief Ko Nay Myo Lin in court on terrorism charges Tuesday.

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His report on the encounter was published after the government declared on March 23 that the insurgents had been classified as a “terrorist group”.

“I was accused under two charges of the counter-terrorism law,” he told reporters after leaving the court in Mandalay.

The charges, which cover violations including allowing terrorist groups to spread fear, gather or hide, were filed by Special Branch, Myanmar’s intelligence arm, he said.

They carry penalties ranging from three years to life in prison.

“This is disturbing for press freedom,” said the journalist, who previously worked for the BBC’s Burmese-language news service.

His wife Ma Zarni Mann, a reporter with independent local news outlet The Irrawaddy, said her husband’s laptop was seized.

She decried the use of counter-terrorism laws against journalists.

Myanmar has come under fire in the past for the high-profile jailing of two Reuters journalists who were convicted in 2018 of breaching a law on state secrets after revealing a massacre of Rohingya Muslims.

The pair were eventually freed by presidential pardon after spending more than a year in jail.

Myanmar is ranked 138 out of 180 countries for press freedom by campaign group Reporters Without Borders.

Frontier Myanmar

Suppressiong the Truth in Thailand : October 1976 Massacre

What happened on 6 October 1976 in Bangkok, Thailand? The massacre has left legacies of political violence that continues to haunt contemporary Thai politics. However, its history remains untold and heavily censored from the public. This is the time to speak out. The micro-video of #TransitionalJustice in Asia is produced by 🇹🇭CrCF and AJAR to commemorate the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.

 

What is the situation of political prisoners in Myanmar after their release?

Political prisoners were arbitrarily arrested and tortured brutally under the military dictatorship in Myanmar. The State have to recognize political prisoners, promote their dignity and provide reparations for political prisoners. The micro-video of #TransitionalJustice in Asia is produced by 🇲🇲ND-Burma, 🇲🇲AAPP and AJAR to commemorate the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.

ND-BURMA:Latest Report Details Human Rights Violations in Burma Committed with Institutionalized Impunity

27 March 2020

The latest report by the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) details testimonies and analysis on the decline of civilian safety
in Burma. Throughout the reporting period of July to December 2019, ND-Burma members documented 174 human rights violations with an alarming number of clashes in Rakhine and northern Shan States, as well as a notable decline in basic rights and freedoms. ND-Burma has concluded that the delays to a successful transition to a free, fair and democratic Burma are compromised by the Burma Army’s reluctance to give up power.

Rising tensions between the Burma Army and Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) has contributed to a growing fabric of misjustice and engrained impunity from the country’s state actors. Ceasefires have been agreed upon and violated against the backdrop of faltering peace negotiations. Additionally, hostilities have been heightened by a combination of new alliances and a lack of accountability for the injustices that have taken place. Warfare was particularly active in northern Rakhine and Shan State townships with the main perpetrators of rights abuses being the Burma Army. Civilians sustained serious injuries and in many cases death from landmines, inhuman treatment while being detained and arbitrarily arrested as well as indiscriminate shelling and gunfire in civilian areas. These abuses are all exacerbated by an unstable security situation.

Not only is an urgent end to the conflict in Burma long overdue, but so are reforms to the law. In our latest report, ND-Burma makes recommendations for strengthened accountability mechanisms to hold perpetrators of injustices accountable.

Media Contact

Lway Poe Jay, Ta’ang Students and Youth Union Ph No: 09264162229 (Burmese & English)

Ko Ting Oo, All Arakan Students’ & Youths’ Congress Ph No.: 66 81-595-6138 (Burmese & English)

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Human Rights Situation in Burma (July to December 2019)

ND-Burma is extremely grateful to all interviewees for their courage in speaking the truth. ND-Burma is also grateful to its member organisations and their fieldworkers who continue to gather invaluable testimonies at their own great personal risk.
This report would not be possible without the work of ND-Burma members and their coordinated efforts to collect evidence of human rights abuses at the expense of their safety and security. We are reminded through the voices of civilians in this report that there is still a long way to go for peace in Burma, but are nonetheless motivated by their resilience to continue to speak truth to power against forces undermining prospects for change.

Chin Woman Recovering in Hospital after Artillery Shell Detonates in Village in Rakhine State

Ann Township, Rakhine State – 6th March 2020)On 2nd March 2020, Ma Soe Soe Ye was rushed to hospital in Ann Township, after an explosion took place in Kyaik Chaung Village. 18-year-old Ma Soe Soe Ye underwent surgery to extract shrapnel from the right side of her stomach, injuries sustained from the blast. The incident took place at approximately 5 p.m. as Ma Soe Soe Ye was cooking food;

“We are not sure who fired the heavy weaponry. There is no military post near to the village but we have seen troops [Tatmadaw] coming from the Ann Town side [East] and doing security patrols quite regularly. We have been hearing the sound of guns and fighting not far from the village but no fighting has happened inside our village,” said one local community member who spoke to CHRO.

Ma Soe Soe Ye is recovering in Ann Town General Hospital. Kyeik Chaung village, located in Zu Kiang Village Tract is approximately 28 miles away from Ann Town in Rakhine State and has a mostly Chin population of around  200 households.

For media inquiries please contact:
Salai Terah, 09255934177 (Burmese)
Salai Lian, 09450687296 (English/Burmese)