Burma Media Watch 2008: July

Meanwhile, a monk in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan state in western Burma, was briefly summoned and questioned by authorities after joining about 100 Buddhist monks marching in heavy rain on Saturday in protest against the military government, according to another monk in Sittwe.

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29.09.2008: SEAPA/IFEX - Capsule Report - Burma

On first anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, despite U Win Tin's release, press freedom and democracy remain imprisoned in Burma

The release on 24 September 2008 of journalist U Win Tin after 19 years of captivity came on the week of the first anniversary of what has come to be known as the Saffron Revolution. A year ago, the Burmese people, supported by thousands of Buddhist monks, took to the streets to denounce the junta's excesses. On 26 September 2007, the so-called "Saffron Revolution" came to a violent end as once again the junta conducted a ruthless campaign to still democratic voices.

U Win Tin - the longest serving political prisoner in Burma - has vowed to continue fighting for democracy as he walked out of the gates of the notorious Insein prison. Indeed, his release ironically merely underscores how the rest of Burma's media remains severely repressed.

U Win Tin was jailed in 1989 in the crackdown that followed the so-called 8888 Uprising the year before. He had been an editor and later on founded the National League for Democracy (NLD). An estimated 3,000 people were killed, thousands more were exiled and hundreds were jailed. U Win Tin was among those arrested.

When U Win Tin first entered jail 19 years ago, the Burmese media was already operating under harsh laws imposed by the junta. Two decades later, the environment for journalists and Burmese society in general has failed to improve.

Burma remains one of the worst places in the world to be a journalist. There are no independent daily newspapers in the country. All broadcasting networks are state-controlled. The Internet is monitored and filtered.

Burma actually had a long and proud tradition of a free press. Burma's rapid media development in the 19th and 20th centuries flowed from its strong tradition of literacy and education. The country's first newspaper, the English-language "Maulmain Chronicle", appeared in 1836. In 1873, King Mindon enacted what is believed to have been Southeast Asia's first indigenous law guaranteeing freedom of the press. He gave journalists freedom to report any wrongdoings by the royal family, judges and mayors.

In fact, by the time it gained independence from Britain in 1942, Burma had 39 newspapers: 21 in Burmese, seven in English, five in Chinese, two in Hindi, and one each in Gujarati, Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu. Burma expert Bertile Lintner notes: "By political affiliation they were of three types: pro-government, opposition leaning to the right, and opposition leaning to the left. The government and the parliament were dominated by one party, and in the absence of any real political opposition, the newspapers functioned as public watchdogs."

On March 2, 1962, army chief Gen. Ne Win seized power and the Burmese military has been consolidating power ever since. The 1962 Printers' and Publishers' Act required that all publications be approved by a censors board. This law is still in force. In 1966, the authorities banned all private newspapers and stopped registering Chinese- and Indian-language newspapers. Printing from then on has only been authorized for Burmese and English. Meanwhile, the 1975 "Memorandum to all Printers and Publishers Concerning the Submission of Manuscripts for Scrutiny" banned the publication of virtually any article that criticized the government:

After the uprising of August 8, 1988, thousands of dissidents fled across the borders, primarily to Thailand but also India, China and Bangladesh. Inside the country, the military arrested journalists including U Win Tin, and introduced:

* Martial Law Order 8/88 (1988), which bans any "activity, literature or speeches aimed at dividing the armed forces."

* Martial Law Order 3/89 (1989), which makes it a criminal offense to publish any document without prior registration with the Home and Religious Affairs Ministry.

* The Television and Video Act of July 31, 1996, which compells owners of TV sets, videocassette recorders and satellite dishes to obtain a license from the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs. It also requires that permission be obtained for public showing of imported videos (and now DVDs).

* The Computer Science Development Law of September 20, 1996, which required permission from the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs before any computer equipment or fax machines could be bought, imported or utilized. Violators face up to 15 years imprisonment. Rules on Internet use and access further control peoples' access to cyberspace, and chill users and providers alike in distributing and accessing news and information independent of what is sanctioned by government.

In the aftermath of 8888, there are now basically three types of media catering to the Burmese people: the heavily censored media inside the country; the media in exile that is aimed at the exiles and people living in border areas; and the foreign broadcasting stations, which are the only outside media able to reach deep inside Burma.

Inside the country - and mostly only in the former capital of Rangoon - there are some 400 newspapers, journals and magazines. Save for the five owned by the State, all these private publications struggle to survive economically and politically. They must navigate an uncompromising and tedious censorship regime while scrounging for advertising in a stifled and politically sensitive market. Outside Burma, exiles have set up news agencies, sending out updates though newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations, and web-based media, in both Burmese, English, and the ethnic languages the junta has since banned from mass media.

Most people rely on the Burmese-language services of foreign broadcasters like the British Broadcasting Corp., the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. Also broadcasting in Burmese are All-India Radio, Radio Thailand, China Radio International, the Voice of Malaysia, NHK Radio Japan, and a Christian radio station based in the Philippines.

The Democratic Voice of Burma broadcasts in Burmese and in seven ethnic minority languages. In May 2005, DVB launched a TV station telecasting via satellite into the country. It remains the only Burmese-operated broadcasting operation that beams television signals straight into the country.

Taking advantage of thousands of satellite dishes set up by both legal and black market operators in Rangoon, and even of a one-percent Internet penetration rate among the Burmese people, these foreign and exiled news groups exploit an inevitability in the flow of information in the digital age, but still underscore the desperation of Burma for news unfettered by government controls.

The prevalence of new media was witnessed during and after the Saffron Revolution. Despite attempts by the military regime to hinder the operations of the traditional media like television and radio, hundreds of Burmese civilians used the Internet and even their cellphone cameras to record the event and transmit information and images to the outside world.

This was repeated in May this year after cyclone Nargis devastated the country. Notwithstanding the junta-imposed news blackout, the world was afforded a glimpse of the extent of destruction and the seeming indifference of the junta to the people's suffering.

The junta is trying to catch up with the digital age, however. The websites of the news agencies run by exiled Burmese occasionally come under attack from government hackers; Internet cafes are raided, their owners told to register their computers and servers.

Censorship continues, with publishers torn between following the draconian laws of the junta and surviving the harsh competition between the numerous publications. Reporters regularly get arrested for overstepping the lines set by the military authorities.

This is the state of the Burmese media that greeted U Win Tin when he emerged from his decades-long incarceration. His freedom, as SEAPA notes, only highlights the continuing imprisonment of Burmese democracy.

U Win Tin was not only referring to himself, but also to the countless journalists, imprisoned or not, in exile or working underground, when he declared, on the eve of the first anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, "I will keep fighting until the emergence of democracy in this country."

For further information on U Win Tin's release, see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/97199

For further information on a recent attack on websites of news agencies in exile, see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/97090

For further information, contact Roby Alampay, Executive Director, SEAPA,
538/1 Samsen Road, Dusit, Bangkok, 10300 Thailand, tel: +662 243 5579, fax:
+662 244 8749, e-mail: seapa@seapabkk.org, Internet:
http://www.seapabkk.org

The information contained in this capsule report is the sole responsibility of SEAPA. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit SEAPA.

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26.09.2008: AI - Released prisoner rearrested in Myanmar

Amnesty International confirmed on Friday that one of the seven prisoners of conscience freed this week, U Win Htein, was re-arrested a few hours after his release. He was released from Kathar prison in Sagaing Division in north-western Myanmar on Tuesday.

U Win Htein was picked up by police officers in a guest house in the town of Kathar where he was staying for the night before catching a boat to Mandalay the following morning to meet his wife.

U Win Htein is now back in Kathar prison. It is not known why he was re-arrested or how much longer he will remain imprisoned.

Amnesty International has said that the re-arrest of U Win Htein illustrates that there is no policy change by the Myanmar government to free political prisoners.

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24.09.2008: AFP - Freed Myanmar dissident calls for more releases

PARIS, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - Freed Myanmar dissident Win Tin said Wednesday two decades of torture and isolation in jail had not dented his determination to fight on for the political prisoners held by his country's military regime.

Asked whether he thought Myanmar was ready for democratic reform, he said he would attempt to play a role, but warned: "I'm rather pessimistic because the army is so big in every structure of Burmese life."

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24.09.2008: AP - UN chief welcomes release of Myanmar prisoners

UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday welcomed the release of Myanmar's longest-held political prisoner and several others and called again for all political prisoners to be freed by the country's military government.

Ban's statement noted that the release of political prisoners, including several of those released Tuesday, was one focus of discussions between Gambari and the government during his recent visit.

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24.09.2008: AFP - UN chief hails release of political prisoners in Myanmar

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday hailed the release seven political prisoners in Myanmar as part of an amnesty for more than 9,000 inmates but insisted that all politial detainees must be freed.

Human rights groups estimate that about 2,000 political prisoners are locked away in Myanmar and the opposition National League for Democracy spokesman vowed the party would appeal this week to the junta for the release of party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

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24.09.2008: SEAPA - U Win Tin's freedom reminds that Burmese democracy remains imprisoned

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is elated by news of Burmese journalist U Win Tin's release from Burma's notorious Insein prison.

Emerging from 19 years of incarceration -- the longest for any political prisoner in military-ruled Burma -- the 79-year-old journalist and dissident on 24 September 2008 immediately rededicated himself to the Burmese people's struggle for democracy.

SEAPA -- a coalition of press freedom organizations from the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia -- reasserts its solidarity with U Win Tin, with the Burmese journalists, writers, and artists struggling for free expression, and with the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people.

U Win Tin's commitment to democracy -- unbroken despite two decades behind bars -- is testament to the strength of the human spirit as well as the rightness of the cause of freedom.

As we celebrate the freedom of U Win Tin, however, SEAPA reminds that more than 2000 people remain imprisoned in Burma for their political beliefs. At least eight of these prisoners of conscience are journalists and writers. The world must continue to push for their unconditional release as well.

The fact is that Burma remains one of the worst places in the world to be a journalist, to be anybody speaking his or her mind. Publications are so thoroughly censored in Yangon that there are no independent daily newspapers in the country. All broadcasting networks are state-controlled. The Internet is monitored and filtered, not to mention economically inaccessible to 99 percent of the population, and the junta's determination to control the flow of information in the country is so paranoid that even fax machines and modems must be registered with the state.

In this environment, the freedom of U Win Tin is as unexpected as it is hopeful, but it is also no indication that things are necessarily going to be better for the Burmese media any time soon.

Until all imprisoned Burmese journalists and dissidents are freed, U Win Tin will remain a symbol of words and thoughts imprisoned in Burma. SEAPA joins the international community in rallying around the democratic fight he vows to continue.

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24.09.2008: Irrawaddy - Win Tin Says He Refused Offers of Early Release

"I once read your publication while I was in prison," said newly-released Win Tin, Burma's longest-serving political prisoner, in a telephone interview on Wednesday with The Irrawaddy.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomes the release of writer and editor U Win Tin after 19 years’ detention in a jail in Burma, but deplores the military regime’s continuing detention of other writers and political prisoners.

U Win Tin’s release comes almost a year to the day after Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai was shot dead by a Burmese soldier as he reported on anti-government demonstrations in Rangoon on September 27, 2007.

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23.09.2008: WAN - WAN Welcomes Release of Burmese Journalist

The World Association of Newspapers today (23 September) welcomed the release from prison of U Win Tin, the longest serving political prisoner in Burma and the 2001 laureate of WAN¹s Golden Pen of Freedom prize.

"We are delighted that the Burmese authorities have finally released U Win Tin from prison, even though his release is long overdue," said Timothy Balding, the CEO of the Paris-based WAN. "We now call on the authorities to free all other journalists and human rights activists who are being unjustly held for their views."

The ailing 79-year-old journalist and founding member of the National League of Democracy spent 19 years in prison. An Agence France-Presse reporter witnessed him leaving the notorious Insein prison on Tuesday.

U Win Tin was among 9,000 prisoners reportedly ordered released ahead of elections promised in 2010. Only a few of them are believed to be political prisoners.

Burma, ruled by a military dictatorship that refused to recognise a victory by the National League of Democracy in 1990, is one of the world¹s worst violators of the basic human right of freedom of expression. The country has no independent press and at least six Burmese journalists are currently in prison, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists: Maung Maung Lay Ngwe, imprisoned in 1990; Aung Htun, imprisoned in 1998; Ne Min, imprisoned in 2004; Thaung Sein, imprisoned in 2006; Kyaw Thwin, imprisoned in 2006; and Win Saing, imprisoned in 2007.

WAN, along with other press freedom groups and the United Nations, had for years been waging a campaign for U Win Tin's release.

U Win Tin and another Burmese journalist, San San Nweh, were awarded the 2001 Golden Pen of Freedom for their services to the cause of press freedom in Burma. San San Nweh served seven years in prison before being released in 2001.

U Win Tin is the former chief editor of the newspaper Hanthawathi, author of many articles criticising the regime, a close advisor of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and a member of the Central Executive Committee of the National League for Democracy.

He was sentenced to three years imprisonment in 1989, another ten years in June 1992 and an additional seven years in March 1996, making a total of 20 years. On the third occasion, he was convicted of "secretly publishing anti-government propaganda" from inside the prison. He suffered two heart attacks while in prison.

More about his case can be found at http://www.wan-press.org/article4494.html

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.

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23.09.2008: Amnesty International - Freedom for U Win Tin but 2,100 political prisoners remain behind bars

Amnesty International welcomes the release of at least seven prisoners of conscience in Myanmar, including U Win Tin who had been imprisoned for 19 years and was one of the longest-serving prisoners of conscience in the country. The fate of the other estimated 2,100 political prisoners who are still behind bars in Myanmar remains, however, a cause for concern, said Amnesty International today.

“While the release of U Win Tin and his fellow prisoners is certainly the best news to come out of Myanmar for a long time, unfortunately they don’t even represent one percent of the political prisoners there,” said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher. “These seven people should never have been imprisoned in the first place, and there are many, many more who should also be released.”

Amnesty International notes unconfirmed reports that the government of Myanmar may grant “amnesty” to as many as 9,000 prisoners in the run-up to planned elections in 2010. However, it remains unclear whether this figure includes political prisoners.

U Win Tin refused to accept an amnesty by the government, as to do so would have implied that the reason for his imprisonment was legitimate. Reports indicate that there were no conditions on his release.

“Prisoners of conscience, like those released today, are exactly what the term says: people sent to prison simply because of what they believe, and the peaceful actions they take because of those beliefs,” added Benjamin Zawacki. “They have done nothing wrong and we call for their immediate and unconditional release.”

U Win Tin is a 78 year old journalist, prominent dissident and senior official in the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The other six prisoners of conscience released are also NLD members and four are MPs-elect from the 1990 elections in which the NLD was victorious.

* Dr. Daw May Win Myint (female), 58, an MP-elect, and Dr. Than Nyein (male), also an MP-elect, 71, were imprisoned in 1997 for organizing an NLD meeting. Their original sentences had been repeatedly extended since 2004 and they suffer from poor health.

* Win Htein (male), 66, a senior assistant to NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was imprisoned in 1996 for, among other offences, organizing farmers and NLD members to collect agricultural statistics. He had been held in solitary confinement and suffers from numerous health problems, including hypertension and heart disease.

* Aung Soe Myint Oo (male), an NLD MP-elect, was sentenced in August 2003 to seven years, for ‘having a motorcycle without a license’ but was widely believed to have been targeted for his political activities.

* U Khin Maung Swe, (male) 66, an NLD MP-elect, was sentenced in August 1994 to seven years in prison.

* U Than Naing (male), a member of the NLD.

“The release of these seven political prisoners is most welcome. But this is not -- and cannot be seen as -- an end in itself, only the beginning,” said Benjamin Zawacki.

Background
Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action to its supporters about U Win Tin in July this year. He had been in Yangon’s Insein Prison, often in solitary confinement, for much of the past 19 years and had not received the medical treatment he needed.

U Win Tin was arrested on 4 July 1989, during a crackdown on opposition political party members. He was sentenced three times to a total of 21 years' imprisonment. U Win Tin was most recently sentenced in March 1996 to an additional seven years' imprisonment for writing to the United Nations about prison conditions and for writing and circulating anti-government pamphlets/leaflets in prison. The authorities characterized this as "secretly publishing propaganda to incite riots in jail."

U Win Tin had written a document for the UN which he called The testimonials of prisoners of conscience from Insein Prison who have been unjustly imprisoned; demands and requests regarding human hights violations in Burmain which he described torture and lack of medical treatment in prison. While the authorities were investigating the writing of this letter, U Win Tin was held in a cell designed for military dogs, without bedding. He was deprived of food and water, and family visits, for long periods.

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23.09.2008: CPJ - U Win Tin, Burma’s longest held journalist, released

New York, September 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of U Win Tin, the longest serving political prisoner in Burma, and one of the world’s longest-jailed journalists. The 79-year-old former editor had at least two heart attacks and suffered from high blood pressure, a degenerative spine condition, and diabetes since his 1989 internment related to involvement in the opposition National League of Democracy.

The periodic release of a journalist as part of a larger amnesty is not unheard of in Burma. In January 2007, CPJ Press Freedom Award winner Thaung Tun was set free as part of a New Year amnesty for nearly 3,000 prisoners. U Win Tin has been eligible for early release since July 2006. Exile sources told CPJ that a jail warden told him he was not entitled to early release because he had not performed hard labor—a message he was given on the day he expected to be set free along with documentary filmmaker Aung Pwint and freelance journalist Sein Hla Oo and more than 240 other prisoners.

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23.09.2008: AFP - UN rights expert hails Myanmar prisoner release

GENEVA, Sept 23, 2008 (AFP) - The United Nations independent human rights expert on Myanmar on Tuesday welcomed as a "positive sign of cooperation" the release of seven veteran political prisoners by the ruling junta.

Human rights groups estimate that about 2,000 political prisoners are locked away in Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military in 1962.

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23.09.2008: AFP - US welcomes release of political prisoner in Myanmar

WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2008 (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday welcomed the release of Myanmar's longest serving political prisoner but said it would press for the freedom of all jailed dissidents.

"We continue to call on the Burmese regime to release all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi and to move the country down the path towards democracy."

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23.09.2008: AFP - Media watchdogs hail release of Myanmar political prisoner

BANGKOK, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - Press watchdogs on Wednesday said they were "immensely relieved" by the release of Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner as part of an amnesty for more than 9,000 inmates

Upon his release Tuesday Win Tin, still dressed in a blue prison-issue outfit, vowed to journalists that he would continue to fight the ruling generals. His release was also hailed by the US and the UN.

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23.09.2008: Irrawaddy - Regime Frees Longest-serving Political Prisoner, Win Tin

Burma’s longest-serving political prisoner, 79-year-old journalist Win Tin, was freed on Tuesday after 19 years behind bars.

In a political development, the NLD called on Monday for a review of the new constitution by a committee formed of candidates elected in the 1990 general election, representatives of the regime and ethnic groups and constitutional experts.

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23.09.2008: RTR - Myanmar frees longest-serving political prisoner

YANGON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner, journalist Win Tin, was freed on Tuesday after 19 years in prison and immediately vowed to continue his struggle against 46 years of military rule.

"I will keep fighting until the emergence of democracy in this country," he told reporters outside a friend's house in the former Burma's main city, Yangon. He was still wearing his light-blue prison clothes.

The ailing 79-year old was arrested in 1989 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for giving shelter to a girl thought to have received an illegal abortion, and for distributing anti-government propaganda.

He was released on the same day that 9,002 prisoners were set free, but said he had complained to prison officials about being lumped in as part of a nationwide amnesty for mainly ordinary criminals getting out on good behaviour.

"I did not accept their terms for the amnesty. I refused to be one of 9,002," he said, adding that no conditions had been attached to his release.

"Far from it. They should have released me five years ago. They owe me a few years," he said.

He also played down worries about his health, which many human rights groups had feared was in severe decline.

"I am quite OK. I am quite all right," he said.

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23.09.2008: AP - Longest-held political prisoner freed in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner was freed Tuesday after 19 years behind bars, along with more than 9,000 other prisoners across the country, just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the junta's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.

The amnesty came just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the military junta's brutal crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks. The U.N. estimated at least 31 people were killed when the army fired on peaceful protesters in the Sept. 26-27, 2007, crackdown, sparking global outrage.

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23.09.2008: AFP - Myanmar frees longest-serving political prisoner

YANGON, Sept 23, 2008 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta on Tuesday freed 79-year-old journalist and activist Win Tin, the longest-serving political prisoner in the military-ruled nation, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

The most prominent is Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained for most of the last 19 years, and the United Nations has repeatedly called on the junta to release her and all other political prisoners.

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23.09.2008: RSF/BMA - Joy at U Win Tin's release after 19 years in prison

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association are overjoyed by today's release of leading Burmese journalist U Win Tin after 19 years in detention. He emerged from Insein prison still dressed in prisoner clothes after benefiting from an amnesty announced by the military government for thousands of detainees ahead of elections promised for 2010.

Arrested on 4 July 1989, U Win Tin was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison on various charges including anti-government propaganda. He had been the editor of the daily Hanthawaddy and vice-president of the Burma Writers Association as well as Aung San Suu Kyi's political mentor.

He was mistreated on various occasions during his two decades in prison. One of these was in 1996, after the authorities discovered he had provided the United Nations with information about prison conditions. But the fact that he is well known internationally resulted in his being given a special cell and access to hospital treatment.

Aung San Suu Kyi said this about U Win Tin: "It was natural that those who believed in intellectual freedom and justice were the first to get involved in the 1988 democracy movement. From the outset, Win Tin played an active role in the Union of Writers that emerged during the movement's first weeks. His undeniable skills and the strength of his convictions made him a priority target for those opposing the democratic cause."

Eight journalists are still in prison in Burma. They include Zaw Thet Htwe, who is currently being tried inside Insein prison.

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23.09.2008: AP - Prominent political prisoner freed in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ One of Myanmar's most prominent political prisoners has been released after 19 years behind bars.

Relatives say Win Tin's release on Tuesday came as part of an amnesty granted to more than 9,000 prisoners in military-ruled Myanmar.

The 78-year-old Win Tin was a well-known journalist when he was imprisoned in 1989.

Family members who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was in ``good health'' after his release.

The United Nations and rights groups have repeatedly called for the release of Win Tin and referred to him as the longest-serving political prisoner in Myanmar.

State-controlled media had announced the release of 9,002 prisoners around the country who had exhibited good ``moral behavior.''

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23.09.2008: RTR - "Loving" Myanmar junta frees 9,002 prisoners

YANGON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta is releasing 9,002 prisoners as a gesture of "loving kindness and goodwill", official media said on Tuesday, although political detainees are unlikely to be on the list.

"We haven't heard of any political prisoners being freed," said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), whose leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for the last five years.

"I do hope they will be released, but I don't think it will happen."

Myanmar, or Burma as it used to be called, has more than 2,000 people behind bars on account of their political or religious beliefs, human rights groups say.

The junta, which has ruled unchecked since 1962, denies the existence of any political prisoners, saying all detainees have committed crimes.

Official newspapers said the prisoners were being released for the "social consideration of their families" and to take part in elections scheduled for 2010, part of a seven-step "roadmap to democracy". Western governments dismiss the roadmap as a charade.

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23.09.2008: AFP - Myanmar man arrested for Japan media extortion: police

TOKYO, Sept 23, 2008 (AFP) - Japanese police said Tuesday they had arrested a Myanmar man for allegedly trying to extort cash from a Tokyo news agency that had hired a journalist who was later shot dead.

The Tokyo police on Monday arrested Win Min Htun, 31, who had allegedly threatened a journalist from the Tokyo-based video news service APF News to pay cash in exchange for missing belongings of the late journalist.

Kenji Nagai, 50, was killed in Yangon on September 27 last year while covering a military crackdown on mass anti-government protests.

Myanmar leaders, who told Japan that the fatal shooting was an accident, have refused to return the tape and the video camera that Nagai clutched in his hand as he was shot and fell to the ground.

The suspect knew APF News was investigating the case and offered to get the camera and tape back for money, a police spokesman said.

"As soon as the company refused to take the offer, he allegedly threatened to do harm," he added.

Win Min Htun demanded one million yen (about 9,500 US dollars) for the cost of travelling to Myanmar to get Nagai's missing camera and tape back, according to APF News.

The news service, which specialises in reports from dangerous areas, denounced the suspect for taking advantage of Nagai's plight.

"We didn't think his offer was credible enough and rejected the demands," said APF employee Hiroshi Koyama. "He then said we would be at risk if we don't even pay him 500,000 yen."

Myanmar's junta faced strong international condemnation for crushing the protests, led by Buddhist monks and in response to a sharp hike in fuel costs.

The UN estimates 31 people were killed and thousands arrested.

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23.09.2008: Irrawaddy - Web Sites Back Online, but Fears of Further Attacks Remain

By Min Lwin

The online version of The Irrawaddy and other Web sites run by Burmese exiles are back in operation after being hit last Tuesday by “distributed denial-of-service,” or DDoS, attacks that jammed the sites with fake traffic.

Attacks on the Irrawaddy Web site stopped on Friday evening, according to office manager Win Thu, who supervised efforts to restore service. A mirror site, www.irrawaddymedia.com, has been available since Saturday evening, and the main site, www.irrawaddy.org, went back online on Monday. He added that additional mirror sites would be created as a measure to deal with any future attacks.

“I am not sure if another attack will hit our site or not,” he said. “If the Burmese military government has well-trained computer technicians, the exiled media may be targeted again, because it doesn’t cost very much to carry out such attacks.”

At least two other exiled media Web sites were affected by last week’s attacks. The Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma and Khit Pyaing (The New Era Journal), based in Bangkok, have both been restored to full service.

This is the second time that The Irrawaddy’s Web site has been hit by a cyber attack since it was established in 2000.

The first time occurred almost exactly one year ago, when a Trojan virus infected the site at the height of monk-led protests against military rule in Burma in September 2007. The Irrawaddy Web site reported extensively on the demonstrations and posted numerous images and videos provided by so-called “citizen journalists” inside the country.

Like last year’s attack, the latest attempt to shut down exiled media Web sites was accompanied by a slowdown of Internet service inside Burma.

According to Internet café owners and users in Rangoon, Internet speeds have slowed down considerably since last week, making it impossible to upload large files such as photos or videos. There were also reports of connections stopping and restarting every ten minutes or so on Friday and Saturday.

Sources in Rangoon have also reported increased surveillance of Internet cafes. The owner of one Internet café in downtown Rangoon said that local authorities and police intelligence officers had issued orders to provide Internet users’ ID information.

“The authorities ordered us to register user ID numbers, addresses and phone numbers,” he said.

Internet cafes are also required to send each user’s Web history to the state-run Internet service provider (ISP) Myanmar Info-tech every two weeks. They are also instructed to automatically capture screenshots showing users’ online activities every five minutes.

Despite the tightening of restrictions on access to the Internet, the Burmese regime has recently moved to expand Internet service in the country.

Hanthawaddy National Gateway, Burma’s newest ISP, was launched in July and is expected to become the largest in the country, according to a senior member of the Myanmar Computer Professionals Association.

The new ISP will provide access to subscribers in every state and division except Rangoon Division, but at present is only available to military officials, he added.

Hanthawaddy National Gateway received technical assistance from Alcatel Shanghai Bell Company, which is represented in Burma by Tay Za, one of the country’s wealthiest businessmen and a close associate of senior leaders of the ruling junta.

The source said that Hanthawaddy National Gateway is to be linked to the Yadanabon teleport in Mandalay and also to a regional ISP in Hong Kong.

Burma currently has three ISPs—the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), which operates Myanmar Info-tech; the semi-government-owned Myanmar Teleport (formerly Bagan Net); and Hanthawaddy National Gateway.

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19.09.2008: RTR - Myanmar junta takes out critical websites-dissidents

By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military junta has launched a series of crippling cyberspace attacks on dissident websites on the first anniversary of major protest marches by Buddhist monks, the sites said on Friday.

The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based weekly journal and website (www.irrawaddy.org) covering the former Burma, described the online assault as persistent and "very sophisticated".

In a posting on a temporary site hosted on a back-up server, it also made a direct connection between the start of the cyber-attack on Wednesday and the monk-led protests that began in Yangon on Sept. 18 last year.

"Burma's military authorities obviously did not want any similar sentiments this year and, once again, shot down their enemies," Irrawaddy editor Aung Zaw said.

There were similar outages at the Burmese-language New Era Journal and the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) (www.dvb.no), an Olso-based news outlet that aired footage and images of the 2007 protests and the ensuing crackdown, in which at least 31 people were killed.

Irrawaddy said Thai web host I-NET had confirmed on Wednesday its site had been under "distributed denial-of-service" assault.

In "denial-of-service" attacks a website is bombarded with so much traffic it grinds to a halt.

DVB's Thailand bureau chief, Toe Zaw Latt, said the agency's website was only a small part of its reporting operations, and its radio and satellite television stations, both major sources of news inside Myanmar, remained up and running.

"They can't block our short-wave radio and satellite signals," he told Reuters.

The DVB attacks, which also started on Wednesday, appeared to come from sites in Russia and China, Toe Zaw Latt said, corroborating reports of the junta getting Internet training from Beijing and Moscow, its main diplomatic backers.

The Internet inside Myanmar had also been running even slower than its normal snail's pace this week and Internet cafes had come under unusually tight surveillance, the Irrawaddy said, suggesting junta unease at the protest anniversary.

Security was also tight on the streets of Yangon, with some vehicle checkpoints, one diplomat said.

The protests started in August 2007 with small demonstrations against declining living standards, but soon sucked in the revered Buddhist monkhood and snowballed into the biggest challenge to military rule since a 1988 uprising.

Most the organisers of the initial marches, members of the "88 Generation Students" who survived the brutally crushed 1988 revolt, were arrested a year ago and have been behind bars ever since.

As such, any repeat outbreak of dissent looks extremely unlikely. Other underground democracy activists were keeping their powder dry for a general election slated for 2010 and could not afford to get arrested, Toe Zaw Latt said.

"They have to keep their strength for bigger events," he said.

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18-09-2008: UPI Asia Online - Rangoon rent-a-witness

Awzar Thi
Column: Rule of Lords, UPI Asia Online [ http://www.upiasiaonline.com ]
HONG KONG, China, September 18, 2008

Win Maw was always running a risk by sending news from the protests in Rangoon to an overseas radio station last year. But when the police caught up with him in November, they had a problem. He hadn't actually done anything illegal.

As it is not an offense for someone in Burma to contact a foreign broadcaster, the investigating officer in Win Maw's case had to stretch the law quite some distance to come up with an alleged crime. In the end, he chose a highly malleable section of the criminal code on upsetting public tranquility, one that has been used against many people in Burma since last year and one that can be stretched very far indeed.

But this decision should have introduced some new problems. The section on public tranquility requires the police to show that the accused either intended to or did in fact upset public tranquility through his behavior. It is not enough for them to merely prove that Win Maw was sending news abroad. They have to demonstrate that he did so with a specific intent or desired result.

In March, the Special Branch officer handling the case, Police Major Ye Nyunt, submitted his complaint to the court. In it, he claimed that Win Maw had upset public tranquility specifically by sending false news overseas that would alarm the public. So it follows that this is what would need to be proven in court, through evidence revealing the contents of what he sent and its conceivable consequences.

Or so it would be if Burma had a sane legal system. That it does not is apparent from what was brought to the court in lieu of the requisite proof.

First, there was the material evidence, or rather, the lack of it. Among the items seized from Win Maw were some legally-published books, some pictures of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, which are also legal, and a computer hard drive.

The hard drive should have helped the police case, right? After all, if Win Maw was to have committed an offense of the sort with which he was accused, then surely there would be some evidence of it in the contents of the computer drive. But no, the police have not yet submitted the hard drive's contents to the court, just the drive itself.

Then there were 18 suspicious-sounding “political” texts. What were these? Diabolical tracts urging overthrow of the state? Draft federal constitutions? Again the answer is no. When pressed in court, the police admitted that they were nothing other than English-language learners from the American Center, where the accused had in the past gone to study.

So much for the material evidence. Secondly, there were the prosecution witnesses. Eight were listed, of which six were police. That leaves two witnesses who were ordinary civilians. Who were these people and what was their part in the case against Win Maw?

In fact, they were procedural witnesses, required by law to verify that they had seen the police search Win Maw's house and seize the items that they recorded.

The purpose of having two persons witness a search is so that if there are inconsistencies or uncertainties in the police account, then they can later be called to testify and verify what was or was not done.

But in the inferior criminal justice system operating in Burma today, this purpose has either been completely misunderstood or has been reduced to a point of mere formality and irrelevance, at least for Police Major Ye Nyunt.

That's because he has apparently decided to dispense with the difficulty of finding witnesses in the vicinity of a search at the time it is undertaken, which is what the law envisages, and instead just brought his own people along with him.

The two listed as witnesses of the search of Win Maw's house are, it seems, rent-a-witnesses whose names appear on the lists in cases against other people that the same officer has been responsible for investigating: different cases, different suburbs, different dates and sometimes even different charges, but always the same two witnesses.

The concept of an independent judiciary has long since been erased from Burma's courts, and with it has gone the hope of any other sort of independence. Even an independent witness, let alone a witness that actually has anything to say, is too much to expect. The police officer bringing the case has also lost all sense of what evidence consists; either that or he has lost all respect for it. In either event, the outcome is the same.

Burma's justice system was not built upon fine sentiments or noble ideals. It was, from the start, a device for strict control; before 1948, it was used by a foreign regime, now it is being use by an indigenous one. But whereas it has never stood for lofty principles, in the past it at least recommended itself through some minimum procedural safeguards for human security.

It is the stripping of these measures from the system that has caused the greatest harm and made the lives of people all around the country more uncertain than at any other time in modern history. More than in any oppressive law, it is in the easy capacity of a policeman to rent his witnesses that the defeat of the system of justice is most pronounced.

(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights and the rule of law in Thailand and Burma. His Rule of Lords blog can be read at http://ratchasima.net)

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17.09.2008: Mizzima News - Websites of three Burmese news agencies in exile under attack

Zarni

Chiang Mai - The websites of three Burmese news agencies in exile – the Democratic Voice of Burma, The Irrawaddy and the New Era Journal – almost simultaneously have come under persistent and severe Distributed Denial of Services attack, leading to the websites becoming inaccessible since Wednesday afternoon.

DDoS attacks flooded the communication channel of web servers with data to an extent that the sites could no longer handle it. The attack is a blatant attempt to disable websites, by overwhelming the sites with information requests so that it cannot respond to regular traffic.

Surfers said the websites of the three Burmese news agencies had failed to respond to their request since Wednesday afternoon.

"It is pretty certain that we are under attack. We have been attacked at about 11 a.m. today," Toe Zaw Latt, chief of DVB Thailand bureau told Mizzima.

Similarly, the Chiang Mai based 'The Irrawaddy' said its website has been facing problems since Tuesday evening.

"But technically, we could confirm it only today that we are being attacked," Aung Zaw, Editor-In-chief of 'The Irrawaddy' told Mizzima.

The Bangkok based 'New Era Journal' also confirmed that its website had been facing an attack where surfers were unable to access the site.

The attack is the second for the Oslo based DVB in the past three months, after its website was down for several days due to a similar attack in July.

In July the Burmese website of Mizzima News, another Burmese news agency based in New Delhi, India, also suffered a similar DDoS attack.

The webmaster of the DVB said, it is difficult to determine the level of the attack and it is also difficult to predict when the sites will be accessible again.

"Though we do not know who is behind the attack, it is certain that the attacks are targeted," Toe Zaw Latt said.

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16.09.2008: Mizzima News - Censor Board tightens screw

Rangoon – Local journalists are up in arms over censorship but can do little but unanimously voice that they are facing severe censorship at a time when the Chief of the Censor Board is on tour.

Journalists attached to periodicals said that censorship has became more severe while the director of the notorious 'Press Scrutiny Board' popularly known as 'Literary Kempetai', Maj. Tint Swe, is out of station. A monthly magazine editor said the Deputy-Director Maj. Aung Kyaw Oo imposed stricter restrictions on magazines and journals to avoid unnecessary mistakes which can put him in trouble.

"He censors many more news and articles whenever Maj. Tint Swe is on official tour. We are pained when we see these censored manuscripts. He seems not to want to take responsibility and tries to avoid trouble," he said. He also requested not to quote him in reporting news arguing that the junta is watching domestic journalists and imposing tighter restrictions on them. The print media in Burma is incurring heavy losses due to the overcautious and stricter censorship.

The publishers of print media in Burma have to submit their draft printed copy to the censor board. They have to remove the censored articles, news and re-typeset it again for the final copy and have to submit it for final approval. Only after these stages have been crossed the publishers can distribute their papers and magazines in the market. Mizzima learnt that the Censor Board wanted removed about half of the 80 domestic news items from a weekly journal at the draft copy stage.

"The Director could be approached for reconsideration of censored news and articles after slight modifications. We cannot do this with the new person," a weekly journal editor said. In news censorship, a directive was issued to delete all news covering government ministries and departments without interviewing the responsible person of the departments concerned.

"He's been in this office for about four months. He is tough. He has no literary or journalistic background. But Maj. Tint Swe has a background in journalism. He behaves sympathetically and has some attachment with journalists," a magazine editor said.

The censorship chief is a writer of junta's propaganda material and he is known to use the pen name Ye Yint Tint Swe. Maj. Tint Swe is still in Naypyitaw (the new capital) attending the departmental monthly coordination meeting at the Information Ministry even after the press conference has been held.

The domestic journalists are facing these difficulties for a week after he left to attend the press conference. Literary magazines such as Mahaythi, Cherry, Ahtwe Ahmyin, Nwe Ni, Sabephyu are severely hit by the strict censorship.

The circulation of these monthly magazines has declined significantly. A monthly magazine which had a previous circulation of over 10,000 copies is now selling 7,000 copies and a magazine with an earlier circulation of 3,000 copies is now selling at just below 1,000 copies.

"The censor board badly cuts and deletes widely read popular articles and it is hardly readable with so many deletions and omissions. On the other hand, the people cannot afford to buy these magazines as the prices are rising, in an already bad economic situation," a veteran magazine editor who wished not to be named said. As the market for the monthly literary magazines shrink they are relying more on advertisement revenue to cover production costs.

"Future magazines might rely on advertisement revenue which will be an alternative source of income. The market is shrinking in Burma day by day for magazines with only literary content," he said. In this competitive and difficult situation faced by the Burmese journalistic fraternity, the authorities are imposing stricter restrictions, monitoring journalists and there are less news and official prees releases.

(Rangoon based Mizzima undercover reporter wrote this news with additional inputs by Nam Davies)

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06.09.2008: Irrawaddy - Arrest the Criminals, Not Journalists

By Yeni

It’s outrageous to learn that Saw Myint Than, the chief reporter of the Rangoon-based weekly the Flower News Journal, was arrested on Monday for reporting on a murder that should have been a wake-up call to the city’s police force.

According to journalists in Rangoon, Saw Myint Than was summoned by police on August 26 and rebuked for a story he and another reporter wrote about the murder of a couple in Thingangyun Township. He was threatened with arrest and the possible closure of his newspaper.

In fact, the murder story had passed the military regime’s censorship board, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division office, and was also published in other journals.

After Burmese exiled media, including The Irrawaddy, reported on Saw Myint’s interrogation, he was accused of spreading rumors and charged with at least three offences, including an infringement of a section of the Electronics Act which bans contacts with "unlawful organizations."

Editors of at least six Rangoon publications, including Flower News Journal, were then visited by the authorities and warned to avoid contacts with the Burmese media in exile and international news organizations.

This is a ridiculous state of affairs. Besides intimidating responsible journalists and seeking to suppress their freedom of expression and professionalism, the police seem to be trying to hide their failure to expose and arrest the criminals who committed the murders in Rangoon.

In March, five people living near the home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi were shot by unknown gunmen in an execution-style killing. On Friday, The Irrawaddy received a report of a further murder, this time of a customs officer who lived in an apartment on 37th Street in downtown Rangoon.

Journalists seeking to report on these acts of violence encounter red tape and an aggressive refusal by the police to cooperate in shedding light on the murders.

Instead of being recognized as professional journalists in search of the truth, these newsmen and women are regarded by Burma’s military authorities as whistle-blowers who threaten to expose their mismanagement and poor governance.

The authorities should be arresting the criminals, not journalists—whose protection is in the public interest and a necessary condition for the propagation of the truth.

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05.09.2008: Mizzima - Burmese media dare not cover Thai protests

Nem Davies

New Delhi – In fear of objections by the censorship, Weekly journals in Rangoon has deliberately turned a blind-eye to the political turmoil in neighboring Thailand.

While months of political tensions in Thailand has turn out into days of violent demonstrations in Bangkok, the Burmese media in fear of inviting the wrath of the censor board, has remained silent despite their yearning to run stories on the unfolding events in neighboring country.

"Under the current circumstances, we cannot cover on the situations in Thailand in our journal because most such news is being censored. We are also worried about being misunderstood by the censor board," an editor of a news journal said on condition of anonymity.

However, a few journals including the 'Rangoon Times' have reportedly carried stories on the ongoing protests in Bangkok after being severely self-censored in order to avoid censor board's wrath.

On the back page of this week's issue 'Myanmar Times' Vol. 19, No. 378, the journal reported the situation in Thailand with the headline, 'State of emergency declared in Bangkok', quoting AFP. A photograph of Prime Minister of Thailand Samak Sundaravej appeared on page three.

"We found the news only in 'Myanmar Times'. Sometimes it happens so. Some news supposed to be censored appears in some media. We don't know who it depends on," an editor of a weekly journal said.

A veteran magazine editor, who wished not to be named, speculated that the reporting of Thai protests is being tightly controlled in apprehension, lest it inspire similar protests in Burma.

"I think the government is worried about another popular uprising occurring in Burma. The protests in Thailand demanding the ouster of the PM is likely to spark the imagination of the people here," he added.

Burma's state-run media - radio, TV and newspapers - like the rest of the privately run journals, has totally ignored the incidents in Thailand.

In Thailand, opposition People's Alliance for Democracy has led days of mass protests demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and used his office compound as a protest venue since August 26.

Clashes between anti-government groups and government supporters had left a person to die on September 2. And following the death, Samak declared a state of emergency.

Meanwhile, chancellors of universities in Bangkok had joined the protestors by demanding the dissolution of the lower house and protestors have warned that it will cut electricity while airlines staff have threatened to disrupt services to mount pressure on the Thai government.

But with the anniversary of the September 2007 protests coming up, security has been beefed up in various towns and cities across the country including Rangoon, Pakokku, Mandalay and Sittwe, places where anti-junta protests have started last year.

Sources said, authorities kept tight vigilance over key monasteries in these towns

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05.09.2008: Mizzima/IFEX - "Flower News" journalist charged by police...