Burma Media Watch 2003: April

Burma Media Watch 2003: April - December

Go to >> [ 2008: Jan-Mar | Apr-Jun | Jul-Sep | Oct-Dec ]

06.12.2003: BBC online news - Burma death sentence slammed
05.12.2003: Letter of WAN to Gen. Khin Nyunt over death sentence passed on sports magazine chief editor
04.12.2003: CPJ - Journallist in Burma sentenced to death
04.12.2003: AP - Myanmar court sentences nine to death for treason
04.12.2003: Reuters - Media watchdog condemns Myanmar death sentences
04.12.2003: AFP - Media groups outraged over death sentences against nine in Myanmar
03.12.2003: RSF-BMA Press release: Outrage over death sentence passed on sports magazine chief editor
28,11.2003: BMA - Chief editor of First Eleven sport journal sentenced to death
08.11.2003: AP - U.N. envoy blasts junta for jailing old dissidents
29.11.2003: RSF - Second World Press Freedom Ranking
16.08.2003: Amnesty International - Behind bars for wielding a pen
22.07.2003:Irrawaddy - Journal Office Raided, Editors Arrested
01.05.2003: AFP - Media watchdog says press freedom took sharp downturn in 2002
30.04.2003: Irrawaddy - Political Prisoners Released, Now Mentally Ill

06.12.2003: BBC online news - Burma death sentence slammed

Journalists' groups have condemned the death sentences imposed on a magazine editor and eight others accused of plotting to overthrow Burma's military government.

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association expressed their criticism in a letter to the Burmese prime minister, Khin Nyunt.

"Your government has once again shown its criminal attitude towards journalists who refuse to comply with orders," they said.

The journalist accused is Zaw Thet Htwe, the editor of the First Eleven sports magazine. He and the eight others who have received the death sentence were arrested in July after the journal published a story alleging misuse of an international grant.

The group is reported to also include a lawyer and a member of the opposition party. Three others were detained at the same time, but their fate is unknown.

Activist Aung Zaw, editor of the Bangkok-based Burmese dissident magazine Irrawaddy, told the BBC that Zaw Thet Htwe had been involved in politics in the past - he was previously a senior member of the oppositon Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS).

The Burmese military accused the group of planting bombs around Rangoon, and of working with the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) to stir up unrest.

"We challenge you to provide the evidence of this journalist's implication in a coup attempt," the two groups said.

Aung Zaw said the government frequently makes such accusations against people it wants to keep in detention. "There is no clear evidence to back up the claims by the government," he told the BBC's East Asia Today programme. "What is disturbing is the sentence is quite heavy-handed," he said.

Aung Zaw said that since clashes in May between government followers and NLD supporters, the junta had been "very paranoid". He said that in central Rangoon, Burma's capital, troops were checking citizens around the clock.

International criticism of Burma has increased since leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention.

She has refused to be released from house arrest until fellow members of the NLD are released. Amnesty visit A team from the human rights organisation Amnesty International is currently in the country to examine the situation there.

Its two members have asked to meet Aung San Suu Kyi. It was also announced on Thursday that Thailand will host a meeting later this month to discuss the Burmese Government-proposed "roadmap" towards democratic reform.

A report in Thailand's Nation newspaper said representatives from 10 countries would attend the talks on 15 December.

To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)

From: World Association of Newspapers (WAN), peterawhitehead@yahoo.co.uk

Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt

Rangoon, Myanmar

C/o HE Ambassador to Italy

Email: meroma@tiscalinet.it

5 December 2003

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 100 countries, to express our grave concern at the sentencing to death of journalist Zaw Thet Htway with

eight other people.

According to reports, on 28 November Zaw Thet Htway, editor-in-chief of First Eleven Sports Journal, and eight others were convicted and sentenced to death by a Rangoon military court under Article 122/1 of the Law on High Treason for allegedly trying to murder leaders of the State Peace and Development Council. The trial took place inside Insein prison, where the accused were being held.

The nine accused were arrested on 17 July by military intelligence personnel. Zaw Thet Htway was arrested at the Rangoon offices of First Eleven Sports Journal, the country's most widely-read sports magazine. Four other journalists who work for the magazine were also detained for several days. The accused were suspected of planning a series of bombings and of having contacts with political organisations in exile.

We are seriously concerned at reports that the arrest of Zaw Thet Htway, who served a four-year prison sentence in the early 1990s for his pro-democracy activities, was in fact prompted by an article in his magazine that raised questions about the use of an international donation of US$4 million to promote football in your country.

We respectfully call on you to ensure that the conviction of Zaw Thet Htway is immediately set aside. We ask that he be given the right to a free and fair trial and that the judicial procedures employed by the Burmese authorities fully comply with international standards of criminal procedure and the rules of natural justice. If no compelling evidence of high treason is shown, we ask you to ensure the release of Thet Htway at the earliest opportunity.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Seok Hyun Hong

President

World Association of Newspapers

Gloria Brown Anderson

President

World Editors Forum

cc : Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations

Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General, UNESCO

New York - Zaw Thet Htway, editor of the Burmese sports magazine First Eleven, has been sentenced to death for high treason.Although death sentences are rarely carried out in Burma, exiled Burmese journalists call the sentence "disturbing."

According to international press reports, Zaw Thet Htway and eight other individuals, including a lawyer and a member of an opposition party, received death sentences on November 28 at a special court in Insein Jail near the capital, Rangoon.

Zaw Thet Htway has been detained since July 17, when military intelligence officers raided the magazine's offices and arrested him and four other First Eleven journalists, who were soon released. According to exile groups, the officers beat Zaw Thet Htway during the arrest.

The eight other defendants who received the death penalty were also arrested in mid-July. According to The Associated Press (AP), the government accused all nine of plotting to overthrow Burma's ruling junta, and of being involved with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party.

In June, First Eleven had received a government warning after it published an article that month questioning how grant money from the international community for the development of soccer in the country had been spent, according to The Irrawaddy, a Bangkok-based news magazine run by exiled Burmese journalists.

In a statement released soon after the arrests, the government denied that Htway was arrested because of his work as a journalist and said he was detained "on a totally different subject" but did not provide further details, according to the AP.

Htway spent several years in jail in the 1990s because of his work with the Democratic Party for a New Society, a banned political party now operating in exile. Family members told Agence France-Presse that he has also been accused of remaining in contact with "unlawful elements" in the party. The AP reported that his wife, Khine Cho, was not allowed in the court for the sentencing, but that she plans to appeal.

Burma has one of the most restrictive media climates in Asia.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ A Myanmar court has sentenced nine people to death for high treason, including the editor of a sports magazine, legal community sources said Wednesday.

A special court held inside Insein prison, on the outskirts of Myanmar's capital, issued the sentences last Friday, said the sources, who insisted on anonymity. Myanmar exile media groups also reported the sentences.

The government did not reply to questions about the trial Wednesday. Shortly after the arrests in July, the government said the suspects were accused of plotting to overthrow Myanmar's military junta through bombings and assassinations.

It has denied the arrests concerned the journalism of Zaw Thet Htwe, 37, editor of the magazine ``First Eleven.''

The junta has been under widespread international criticism for human rights violations since it seized power in 1988 and refused to yield to a pro-democracy party that won elections in 1990.

Pro-democracy leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has for years been detained or kept under house arrest. She is currently confined to her home in Yangon.

The nine people sentenced were among 12 arrested in mid-July. The fate of the other three was not immediately known.

It was not clear if the trial was open to the public, but political cases in Myanmar are often prosecuted unannounced _ making them, in practical terms, closed sessions.

Khine Cho, the editor's wife, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she was not allowed into the court when the judgment was issued Friday. She said she will appeal.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, rarely carries out death sentences.

Another of the 12 defendants was Zar Naing Tun, the nephew of one of the hijackers of a Myanmar airliner that was diverted to Thailand during a domestic flight in October 1989.

A report by the Norway-based opposition radio station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, said he was among those sentenced to death.

The convictions were made under the same law used as the basis for death sentences last year against four relatives of former dictator Ne Win who were accused of plotting a coup.

The government claimed the suspects planned to create a mass movement in collusion with members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. There was no evidence of NLD involvement in any plot.

The international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, which had suggested that Zaw Thet Htwe's arrest was linked to a report in his magazine raising questions of official corruption, expressed outrage at the death sentences.

``Your government has once again shown its criminal attitude towards journalists who refuse to comply with orders,'' said the Paris-based group in a letter to Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt.

In the letter, issued jointly with the Burma Media Association, an organization of exiled Myanmar journalists, the group said ``We challenge you to provide the evidence of this journalist's implication in a coup attempt.''

YANGON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Media watchdogs on Thursday condemned death sentences for a Myanmar magazine editor and eight others accused of plotting to overthrow the military government.

They were among a dozen people arrested in July over accusations of planting a series of deadly bombs and hatching a plot to assassinate members of the junta.

A special court held inside Yangon's Insein Prison on November 28 found Zaw Thet Htwe, editor of the sports journal "First Eleven", and the others guilty of high treason and sentenced them to death, legal sources told Reuters.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association expressed outrage in a letter to Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt.

"Your government has once again shown its criminal attitude towards journalists who refuse to comply with orders," the two groups said. "We challenge you to provide the evidence of this journalist's implication in a coup attempt."

Government officials have not commented on the case and the fate of the three others accused was not known. Family members were not allowed to attend the trial, the legal sources said.

Zaw Thet Htwe, 37, served four years in prison in the early 1990s for his activities as a member of the Democratic Party for a New Society, the media groups said.

He also took part in the bloody 1988 democracy uprising as a leading member of the All Burma Students Front.

The other eight sentenced to death include a lawyer and a member of an opposition party.

Senior military intelligence officers said in July the group had planted several time bombs in and around Yangon and had tried to link up with leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) to foment unrest.

They said four bombs killed two people and wounded dozens.

Myanmar has been the target of international outrage since Suu Kyi was detained after a bloody clash between her followers and government supporters on May 30.

The Nobel laureate was then allowed to go home under house arrest, but refused to accept her own liberty until 35 opposition figures held since May 30 were released.

A team from human rights group Amnesty International is in Myanmar to examine the human rights situation in the former Burma, ruled by the military since 1962.

The two researchers have said little about their trip since arriving on Tuesday, but they have asked to meet Suu Kyi.

BANGKOK, Dec 4 (AFP) - Death sentences passed against nine Myanmar citizens accused of high treason including the editor of a sports magazine triggered outrage Thursday from media groups.

Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association (BMA) challenged Myanmar's Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt to produce evidence of their involvement in an alleged coup attempt.

"Your government has once again shown its criminal attitude towards journalists who refuse to comply with orders," they said in a joint letter to the regime.

Zaw Thet Htway, the editor of Myanmar sports magazine First Eleven, and eight others were convicted last Friday at a special court convened inside Yangon's notorious Insein jail, family sources said.

They said the nine and three others whose cases are still pending were arrested in July after First Eleven ran a story alleging misuse of a 4 million dollar international grant to promote football in Myanmar.

Shortly afterwards, the magazine also published an article on a fine imposed by the organisers of the Asian Champion Club tournament on a Myanmar football team for its failure to participate.

The government said at the time however that the suspects were accused of plotting to assassinate members of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

The family sources said Zaw Thet Htway, who was jailed in the 1990s for his involvement with the Democratic Party for a New Society, was also accused of unlawful contact with "underground elements" including members of the party.

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres -- RSF) identified the eight others convicted as lawyer Aye Myint, Zaw Zaw, Zar Naing Htun, Ne Win, Shwe Mann, Than Htun, Myo Htway and Nai Min Kyi.

Zaw Thet Htway was among six journalists including his wife who were detained in connection with the case. The other five were released.

With a circulation of more than 50,000, First Eleven is the country's most widely-read sports publication.

The nine are expected to appeal their sentences. The last execution was held in Myanmar in 1988, and the current regime has never carried out a death penalty although several have been handed down.

The junta's actions come as rights group Amnesty International conducts its second mission to Myanmar to investigate the country's human rights situation.

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) and the Burma Media Association (BMA) today voiced outrage at the death sentences passed by a court martial on 28 November on sports journalist Zaw Thet Htway and eight other persons for allegedly trying to kill the members of Burma¹s military junta.

"Your government has once again shown its criminal attitude towards journalists who refuse to comply with orders," the two organisations said in a joint letter to the prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt. "We challenge you to provide the evidence of this journalist¹s implication in a coup attempt," the letter added.

The editor of the sports magazine First Eleven, Zaw Thet Htway and the other eight were convicted and sentenced to death by a Rangoon court martial under article 122/1 of the law on high treason for supposedly trying to murder the leaders of the SPDC (the ruling junta). The others are Aye Myint (a lawyer), Zaw Zaw, Zar Naing Htun, Ne Win, Shwe Mann, Than Htun, Myo Htway and Nai Min Kyi. The last public execution was held in Burma in 1988, the magazine Irrawaddy said.

All nine were arrested on 17 July 2003 by members of Military Intelligence (MI). Zaw Thet Htway was arrested at the First Eleven office in Rangoon. Four other journalists working for the magazine were also detained for several days.

A member of the military junta, Col. San Pwint, announced on 26 July that the security services had thwarted a planned series of bombings in which 12 suspects were implicated, including Zaw Thet Htwe. They were also accused of contacts with political organisations in exile.

A former political prisoner, Zaw Thet Htwe already served a four-year prison sentence in the early 1990s for his activities as a member of the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), and he was reportedly tortured during interrogation.

His arrest in July is thought to have been prompted by a report in First Eleven raising questions about the use of an international donation of four million dollars to promote football in Burma. The country¹s most widely-read sports magazine, with a circulation of 50,000, First Eleven shortly thereafter carried a report about a fine imposed by the organisers of an Asian football tournament (the Asian Champion Club) on a Burmese team that failed to take part.

On 24 July, the military junta denied the claims of Reporters Without Borders and the BMA that Zaw Thet Htwe¹s arrest was linked to his work as a journalist.

Burma's military government on 12 November sentenced 9 people to death for treason. One of them is U Zaw Thet Htwe (a) Thet Zaw, the chief editor of the First Eleven sport journal. He was also the general secretary of the now banned DPNS (Democratic Party for New Society) party. The rest of them belong to other political parties.

All together 12 people were arrested on 17 July 2003. They all were accused of planning to assassinate military leaders and to plant bombs in Rangoon. According to BMA's sources, the defendants were not provided proper legal assistance. There is only one government-sponsored defense lawyer to represent all the defendants.

Right before his arrest, Zaw Thet Htwe published an article in which the author criticized the authorities about its mishandling in football funds.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ A U.N. human rights envoy has lashed out at Myanmar's military government for jailing old and ailing dissidents, and called for the immediate release of hundreds of other political prisoners.

``I told the authorities that it is a shame to keep all these people ... It is outrageous to have people of 75 years (of age) in prison after 10, 15 years,'' Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told reporters Saturday before leaving the country after a weeklong visit to Myanmar.

He called for the immediate and unconditional release of some 1,300 political detainees including 35 people who were arrested after a May 30 clash between pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters and a government-backed mob.

Suu Kyi was also arrested and kept at an undisclosed location _ for her own safety, the junta claimed _ before being shifted to apparent house arrest last month.

Her detention has provoked widespread international criticism of the junta, which refuses to give up power it seized in 1988 despite calling elections in 1990 and losing them to Suu Kyi's party.

Pinheiro said authorities told him that Suu Kyi _ with whom he met on Thursday _ was no longer under security detention. But, Pinheiro said, the Nobel Peace laureate said she will not accept freedom until all those arrested with her are released.

``She wants to be the last person to have access to freedom of movement,'' Pinheiro said.

It was not clear if the junta's explanation meant that Suu Kyi was free to leave her home or whether she was being held under some non-security law. Pinheiro would not clarify.

He said he proposed to junta leaders an amnesty for all political prisoners.

``I told authorities that they cannot postpone the release of political prisoners forever especially for the elderly people because they will be dead,'' Pinheiro said.

On Wednesday, he interviewed 19 prisoners at the notorious Insein prison in Yangon, some of them in their seventies.

``I am embarrassed to meet those people another time. They are supposed to be in their homes with their families not in Insein. It is unacceptable,'' Pinheiro said.

He cited the case of journalist Win Tin who has been in jail for the last 14 years. He was originally sentenced to 14 years in prison for allegedly being a member of the banned Communist Party of Myanmar. He was sentenced to an additional five years for illegally possessing writing materials in jail.

Pinheiro said Win Tin now writes poems on the wall of his cell with ink made of brick powder and water.

``I told the authorities that they are not supposed to put poets in prisons. He is 75 but in good spirit but prison is hell.''

Pinheiro dismissed criticism from some U.S. Congressmen that he has been unable to achieve any concessions from the junta.

``I'm not a fairy with a magic wand. I'm not a superman to release all the prisoners. This is ridiculous to have such high expectations,'' he said.

He, however, praised the authorities for giving him access to prisoners, saying some despotic regimes don't even allow that.

Pinheiro's indictment raises more doubts about the junta's willingness to allow democracy.

Hopes were raised when it started reconciliation talks with Suu Kyi in October 2000, but the process came to a standstill after the May 30 incident.

Burma thied from last, just ahead of North Korea and Cuba

United States and Israel singled out for actions beyond their borders

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) today publishes its second world press freedom ranking. Like last year, the most catastrophic situation is to be found in Asia, with eight countries in the bottom ten: North Korea, Burma, Laos, China, Iran, Vietnam, Turkmenistan and Bhutan. Independent news media are either non-existent in these countries, or are constantly repressed by the authorities. Journalists there work in extremely difficult conditions, with no freedom and no security. A number of them are imprisoned in Burma, China and Iran.

Cuba is in 165th position, second from last. Twenty-six independent journalists were arrested in the spring of 2003 and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 27 years, making Cuba the world¹s biggest prison for journalists. They were accused of writing articles for publication abroad that played into the hands of ³imperialist interests.² Eritrea, in 162nd position, has the worst situation in Africa. Privately-owned news media have been banned there for the past two years and 14 journalists are being held in undisclosed locations.

To compile this ranking, Reporters Without Borders asked journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists to fill out a questionnaire evaluating respect for press freedom in a particular country. A total of 166 countries are included in the ranking (as against 139 last year). The other countries were left out because of a lack of reliable, well-supported data.

Wealth and press freedom don¹t always go together

As in 2002, the ranking shows that a country¹s respect for press freedom is not solely linked to its economic development. The top 50 include countries that are among the poorest in the world, such as Benin (29th position), Timor-Leste (30th) and Madagascar (46th).

Conversely, the 50 countries that respect press freedom least include such rich nations as Bahrain (117th) and Singapore (144th).

Special situation of the United States and Israel

The ranking distinguishes behaviour at home and abroad in the cases of the United States and Israel. They are ranked in 31st and 44th positions respectively as regards respect for freedom of expression on their own territory, but they fall to the 135th and 146th positions as regards behaviour beyond their borders.

The Israeli army¹s repeated abuses against journalists in the occupied territories and the US army¹s responsibility in the death of several reporters during the war in Iraq constitute unacceptable behaviour by two nations that never stop stressing their commitment to freedom of expression.

General deterioration in the Arab world

The war in Iraq played a major role in an increased crackdown on the press by the Arab regimes. Concerned about maintaining their image and facing public opinion largely opposed to the war, they stepped up control of the press and increased pressure on journalists, who are forced to use self-censorship.

Kuwait (102nd) replaced Lebanon (106th) as the Arab world¹s leader as regards respect for freedom of expression because of cases of censorship in Lebanon, together with abusive judicial proceedings and an attack on the television station Futur TV. Saudi Arabia (156th), Syria (155th), Libya (153rd) and Oman (152nd) used all the means at their disposal to prevent the emergence of a free and independent press.

In Morocco (131st), the hopes pinned on Mohammed VI when he became king in July 1999 have been dashed. Independent newspapers are still subject to constant harassment from the authorities. Ali Lmrabet, the publisher and editor of two satirical weeklies, was sentenced in June 2003 to three years in prison for ³insulting the person of the king² because of articles and cartoons touching on taboo subjects.

European Union gets good rankings, except Italy and Spain

Italy received a poor ranking (53rd) compared with the other European Union countries for the second year running. Silvio Berlusconi¹s conflict of interests as head of government and owner of a media empire is still unresolved. Furthermore, a draft law to reform radio and TV broadcasting, tailored to Berlusconi¹s interests, is likely to increase the threats to news diversity in Italy.

Spain¹s relatively low ranking (42nd) is due to difficulties for journalists in the Basque country. The terrorist organisation ETA has stepped up its threats against the news media, promising to target journalists whose coverage does not match its view of the situation. Furthermore, the necessary fight against terrorism has affected press freedom, with the forced closure as a ³preventive measure² of the Basque newspaper Egunkaria, whose senior staff are suspected of collaborating with ETA.

France is ranked as low as 26th because of its archaic defamation legislation, the increasingly frequent challenges to the principle of confidentiality of sources and the repeated abusive detention of journalists by police.

Former USSR still lags behind

The situation remains worrying in Russia (148th), Ukraine (132nd) and Belarus (151st). A truly independent press exists in Russia, but Russia¹s poor ranking is justified by the censorship of anything to do with the war in Chechnya, several murders and the recent abduction of the Agence France-Presse correspondent in Ingushetia. Russia continues to be one of the world¹s deadliest countries for journalists.

Press freedom is virtually non-existent in much of central Asia, especially Turkmenistan (158th) and Uzbekistan (154th). No criticism of the authorities is tolerated.

Non-state violence

Several countries with a democratically-elected government and a free and independent press have poor rankings. This is most notably the case with Bangladesh (143rd), Colombia (147th) and Philippines (118th). Journalists in these countries are the victims of violence that comes not only from the state but also from political parties, criminal gangs or guerrilla groups. In other cases, such as Nepal (150th), the press is caught in the cross fire between security forces and rebels.

Such violence results in considerable self-censorship by the news media, which do not dare to broach such subjects as corruption, collusion between political leaders and organised crime, or sectarian clashes. At the same time, the authorities very often fail to respond to this violence with the appropriate measures, namely protection for journalists and the punishment of those responsible.

News is the victim of war in Africa

Wars and serious political crises have inevitably had an impact on press freedom in Africa. The three countries that have fallen most in the ranking in the past 12 months are Côte d'Ivoire (137th), Liberia (132nd) and Guinea-Bissau (118th). Local and foreign journalists were exposed to the violence of the warring parties in Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia, while the military closed down news media in Guinea-Bissau.

Stand Up For Freedom is at the Assembly Rooms at midnight

Rosemary Burnett

AMONG his many awards, U Win Tin has won the World Press Freedom Prize and the Golden Pen of Freedom. But in March this year he spent his 73rd birthday behind bars in the notorious Insein Prison in Burma, now known as Myanmar.

He has been in prison for 14 years.

His crime was to be one of the founding members of the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, set up in 1988 to challenge decades of military rule.

In 1990, the new party won a landslide victory in the first democratic election in many years.

But a military coup overturned the election result and put many of the newly elected MPs and NLD supporters in prison.

General Than Shwe, leader of the coup, is still in power at the head of the ironically named State Peace and Development Council.

A prominent journalist and writer, U Win Tin was originally sentenced to three years in prison, but his sentence was extended twice, most recently in March 1996 as a punishment for smuggling out a report to the United Nations describing the appalling prison conditions in Insein.

He and four or five of his colleagues were moved to a small military cell, measuring eight by ten feet.

They had no blankets and were allowed to leave the cell for only ten minutes a day to shower.

They were detained like this for two months.

U Win Tin's rapidly deteriorating health is believed to have been caused by a lack of adequate food, water, sanitation and medical care in prison.

In June 2002 he was taken to Yangon, or Rangoon, General Hospital, but was denied the operation doctors said he needed.

Recent events in Myanmar have led to a further surge in arrests and killings of members of the National League for Democracy.

During a government-sanctioned tour of upper Myanmar, members and supporters of the NLD were attacked by a mob armed with sharpened sticks, clubs and iron bars.

They blocked the motorcade and began attacking NLD supporters and the vehicles in which Aung San Suu Kyi, U Tin Oo, and other NLD leaders were travelling.

Youth members and others attempted to protect the leaders, and some may well have been injured or killed in the attempt.

MANY other supporters were said to have been beaten by attackers, several of them to death. Attackers repeatedly hit the heads of supporters, including several women, with iron bars and bamboo staves, until they lost consciousness.

The security forces eventually arrived on the scene and gunshots were also heard at that time. It is alleged the mob were members and supporters of a rival political party, the Union Solidarity Development Association, an organisation established and supported by the military rulers.

Some people managed to escape, but Aung San Suu Kyi, U Tin Oo, and many of their supporters who fled the scene were later detained. Scores of other NLD members were also arrested during or after the event. NLD offices around the country - including the headquarters in Yangon- were shut down.

During a press conference on May 31, a government spokesman accused Aung San Suu Kyi, U Tin Oo, and other NLD members of having incited unrest during the NLD tour of upper Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi is being held in "protective custody" at an unspecified location. U Tin Oo is also detained at an unnamed location in upper Myanmar.

Eight other NLD leaders, all of them elderly, are being held under de facto house arrest.

Amnesty International believes all ten NLD leaders were arrested solely for the peaceful expression of their non-violent political views.

On June 10, during a visit to Myanmar, Ambassador Razali Ismail, the United Nations Secretary General's special envoy to Myanmar, visited Aung San Suu Kyi at an unnamed location in Yangon, where she is being held in solitary confinement. During the last week of June, a delegation of the International Committee for the Red Cross travelled to upper Myanmar, where they visited U Tin Oo, who was reported to be in good health.

THE ICRC was also given access to at least 30 others arrested on and after May 30. Amnesty International is concerned that in the wake of the attack, the authorities have continued to arrest and interrogate NLD supporters, some as recently as mid- July.

Meanwhile, Amnesty members are involved in preparing a giant petition protesting at the treatment of the democratically elected members of the NLD to be presented to the authorities in Myanmar.

The petition calls for the immediate release of all those imprisoned for their peaceful political activities. Amongst the signatories are Sir Sean Connery and Ariel Dorfman.

The situation of U Win Tin is also causing concern. Comedian Boothby Graffoe has persuaded many of his friends to make a special video in support of the frail prisoner and you can watch the video and sign up to the online petition at his site, www.uwintin.org.

Boothby, and fellow comedians Bill Bailey, Ed Byrne, Dara O'Briain, Nina Conti, Daniel Kitson and Adam Hills will be appearing at the Amnesty International Stand up for Freedom benefit night tomorrow at midnight in support of the campaign to release U Win Tin. The fight for democracy needs him.

Rosemary Burnett is Amnesty International's programme director for Scotland

Stand Up For Freedom is at the Assembly Rooms at midnight, Sunday August 17. Call 0131-226 2428

By Kyaw Zwa Moe

Burma's military authorities searched the offices of the country's best-selling journal and arrested five staff members last week, journalists in Rangoon say. According to sources, the chief editor and another staff member remain in custody.

At 2.00 pm last Thursday, military intelligence officers seized on First Eleven, a weekly Burmese language sports journal. "About three dozen MI officers raided the office and searched it until 6 pm," a Rangoon-based editor of another magazine told The Irrawaddy.

The source says chief editor Zaw Thet Htwe, editor Zaw Myint, chief officer Dr Than Htut Aung, another staffer Soe Pa Pa Hlaing, as well as Myint Zawwho edits an affiliated news journal in Rangoonwere arrested and taken away for questioning. After two days, three men were released but Zaw Thet Htwe and Soe Pa Pa Hlaing are reportedly still being detained.

First Eleven is a weekly journal covering mainly international sports news. Based in Rangoon with offices in Yuzana Tower, Bahan Township, the journal has a weekly circulation estimated close to 100,000. The journal usually avoids political news.

Sources in Rangoon are not sure why officials raided the journal, but some journalists in the capital say the crackdown was in response to sensitive news published in previous editions of First Eleven. Last month First Eleven was given a warning after it printed an article asking what happened to a grant from the international community to develop football in Burma, the exiled National Coalition Government for the Union of Burma (NCGUB) reported.

Others say the suspected political links of some staffers led to the arrests. Zaw Thet Htwe was general secretary of the Democratic Party for a New Society in 1989, a party banned by the junta and now operating in exile. He also spent years as a political prisoner in the 1990s.

Soe Pa Pa Hlaing is the daughter of Ohn Kyaing, a Member of Parliament for the opposition National League for Democracy and currently a political prisoner. Ohn Kyaing also worked in the media, editing the Burmese language Botahtaung newspaper and writing under the pen name, Aung Wint.

Authorities closely monitor journalists and editors in Burma. All material for publication in state and privately owned magazines, journals, newspapers and books need to pass censors at the junta's Press Scrutiny Board.

PARIS - Freedom of the press hit new lows in 2002, watchdog group Reporters without Borders (RSF) said in its scathing annual report, with the number of journalists assaulted or threatened doubling since 2001.

"Press freedom is not guaranteed in more than half of the world's countries, so we must continue to be vigilant in 2003," according to the report, released to coincide with the 13th World Press Freedom Day on Saturday.

While the number of journalists killed went down from 31 in 2001 to 25 in 2002, the number of reporters detained went up by 40 percent and twice as many were physically attacked or threatened than in 2001, the group says.

Over the course of the year, "at least 1,420 journalists were beaten, abducted, charged by the police, harassed or threatened with being killed," the Paris-based organization notes.

RSF also alleges that at least half "were murdered by regime henchmen, armed groups, organized crime figures or agents of powerful interests the victims angered."

The group called for the immediate release of the 121 journalists in prison as of January 1, including 18 behind bars in Eritrea, another 18 in Nepal, 16 in Myanmar, 12 in China and 10 in Iran.

Asia proved to be the most dangerous continent for journalists -- with 11 killed there in 2002 -- and the most repressive, with the highest number of reporters attacked, threated, arrested, imprisoned and censored.

The group lamented the fact that in 2002, "the press freedom gap between Europe and the former Soviet republics widened significantly."

The Americas offer a mixed bag with respect to press freedoms: while the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the United States and Uruguay have "broadly respected" media rights, Colombia and Cuba were black spots in 2002, RSF says.

The situation in Africa revealed some rays of hope, with Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Mali, Mauritius and South Africa lauded for being particularly respectful of the rights of journalists.

"It was further proof that respect for freedom of expression is not limited to the developed, western countries, that respect for human rights is above all a question of political will," the group says.

But RSF hit out at other countries, saying "some African leaders despise journalists" and citing Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as the "most striking example".

Mugabe, Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame are among the African leaders on RSF's hit list of "press freedom predators".

Also to coincide with World Press Freedom Day, RSF added some new names to the list, which includes 42 heads of state, ministers, armed guerrilla groups and security forces accused of targetting reporters.

New faces in the "who's who" of press enemies include Nepal's King Gyanendra, Liberian President Charles Taylor, Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

In a statement, Reporters without Borders called early figures for 2003 "worrying". Since the start of the US-led war in Iraq on March 20, more than a dozen journalists have been killed.

By Kyaw Zwa Moe

Three political prisoners were released earlier this week after spending 14 years behind bars.

Physician and short story writer Dr Zaw Min, university lecturer Htay Thein and engineer Tin Myint arrived home from Mandalay Prison, all suffering psychological trauma, a source close to their families told The Irrawaddy.

The three men were arrested in July 1989 and charged with having connections to the outlawed Communist Party of Burma (CPB). They were initially sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. The long prison terms took their toll on the prisoners' health.

"I talked to Dr Zaw Min on the phone after his release and he said he would need a medical checkup," said U Ohn Myint, a former political prisoner who was arrested along with Dr Zaw Min and Htay Thein in 1989.

U Ohn Myint is now vice chairman of the National League for Democracy's Social Supporting Committee, which was set up by the opposition to help political prisoners and their families.

Authorities reduced the sentences from 20 to ten years in 1993, in line with a limited amnesty that reduced sentences for prisoners due to serve more than ten years. They expected to be released in 1999, but the military regime continued to detain them under Article 10(a) of the 1975 State Protection Act, which allows the military to hold individuals without trial for "security reasons".

Dr Zaw Min, 43, who is also a prominent political activist, played a leading role in the pro-democracy uprising in 1988. Junta leaders accused him of being one of the masterminds behind the movement. While in prison, he spent years in solitary confinement.

On the day he was due to be released in 1999, he was reportedly taken to the prison's main gate but then turned away by military intelligence officers who told him that he would be detained again under Article 10(a). In the following years, his mental health worsened.

Htay Thein, 46, was an author and lecturer at the Burmese language department at Rangoon University until he was arrested. He returned to his home in Rangoon late last night. A close friend said the most important thing for him now was to seek treatment for his mental illness.

Bo Kyi was detained with Dr Zaw Min in Mandalay Prison and is now secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP). He says the junta should take full responsibility for the health of the three released prisoners. "The three men were all healthy before their arrest, but now they have a severe disease after 14 years in prison," Bo Kyi said.

According to the AAAP, dozens of political prisoners suffer from deteriorating mental conditions as a result of ongoing prison sentences. The association says that at least 25 political prisoners are still being held under Article 10(a), despite having completed their sentences. Around 1,400 political prisoners continue to be held in prisons around Burma.