Burma Media Watch 2004: January

Burma Media Watch 2004: January - May

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18.05.2004: CPJ - Journalist's death sentence commuted
18.05.2004: RSF/BMA - Sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe has death sentence commuted
15.05.2004: AFP - Myanmar makes elaborate preparations for constitutional talks
15.05.2004: AFP - Myanmar drops death sentences against journalist, ILO-linked figures
14.05.2004: RFA/BMA - Burmese court overturns death sentence for 9 prisoners
14.05.2004: AFP - Myanmar ex-reporter imprisoned ahead of convention: media monitor
14.05.2004 - Nobel laureates call for release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Burmese writers
13.05.2004: RSF/BMA - Journalists under pressure after former BBC correspondent jailed for 15 years
03.05.2004: RSF - 14th World Press Freedom Day: Press freedom under the palm trees
03.05.2004: BMA - Restriction of press freedom still persists
02.05.2004: AFP - Asia's media have few reasons to celebrate World Press Freedom Day
02.05.2004: AFP - Media repression an important tool for Myanmar junta: RSF
30.04.2004: WAN - Letter to Sr. Gen. Than Shwe demanding release of journalist Zaw Thet Htwe
30.04.2004: WAN - WAN and WEF concerned over death sentence handed down to Burmese journalist
22.04.2004: RSF/BMA - RSF and BMA ask judges for mercy for sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe
14.04.2004: AP - Havel, other Nobel laureates urge Myanmar junta to free Suu Kyi
13.04.2002: PEN - Nobel laureates call for dissident's release
13.04.2004: RSF - 'Sunny' Khin Maung Win freed after seven years in prison
09.04.2004: RSF - Magazine banned by military, editor circumvents censorship by publishing different magazine
09.04.2004: RSF - Military ban magazine in northeastern state of Shan
07.04.2004: S.H.A.N. - Shan periodical quashed
07.04.2004: IFEX Update - Journalist Freed After Ten Years in Jail
05.04.2004: RSF/BMA - Burmese journalist Kyi Tin Oo free after 10 years
17.03.2004: AFP - Reader's Digest profile of Aung San Suu Kyi sold uncensored in Myanmar
10.04.2004: RSF - Two journalists released at the end of their sentences
12.02.2004: FXI - FXI Condemns death sentence against journalist by Burmese Junta
January 2004: RSF - RSF Round-Up 2003

18.05.2004: CPJ - Journalist's death sentence commuted

New York, May 18, 2004 - The death sentence of Burmese editor Zaw Thet Htway, who was convicted of high treason along with eight others in November 2003, was reduced to a three-year prison term on May 12 by Burma's Supreme Court.

Htway, editor of the sports magazine First Eleven, has been detained since July 17, 2003, 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 Htway during the arrest.

The eight other defendants, who are not journalists, were also arrested in mid-July. According to The Associated Press, 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.

Authorities claimed that Htway was being punished for crimes unrelated to his journalism. But in June 2003, 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.

At the time of Htway's conviction, the harsh ruling was seen as a warning to other journalists, although death sentences are rarely carried out in Burma. Of the nine people sentenced to death last year, five had their sentences commuted to life terms, and four others, including Htway, will now serve three-year sentences, according to Radio Free Asia.

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.

"While we are relieved that Zaw Thet Htway no longer faces the death penalty, we protest his ongoing imprisonment on false charges," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "We call on Burmese authorities to release Htway and the nine other journalists behind bars in Burma."

The Supreme Court has commuted death sentences against four people, including sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe, to three years in prison.

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) and the Burma Media Association (BMA) welcomed the 12 May Supreme Court decision to quash the death sentence against the journalist and his co-accused.

The leniency shown by the judges discredited the military governments¹ absurd accusation that Zaw Thet Htwe was involved in a conspiracy against the military junta, said the international press freedom organisation, joining the BMA in calling for Htwe¹s immediate release.

A military court on 28 November 2003 sentenced the sports journalist and eight others to death for "high treason" for attempting to kill the leaders of the military junta. The editor of the First Eleven was accused of sending information to opposition militants abroad. He was tortured during interrogation carried out by the military secret service (MIS). His arrest was really linked to the success of his sports magazine First Eleven, specialising in football, and its independent editorial line.

His three co-defendants Min Kyi, Aye Myint and Zaw Myo Htet were accused of sending information to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Five other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment. The families were only notified of the verdicts the following day.

At the beginning of April, their lawyer, U Naing Ngwe Ya, said; "They were not found in possession of any explosives or anti-government documents. There was no act of treason and they should be immediately and unconditionally released."

Also in April, Reporters Without Borders and the BMA urged the Supreme Court, in the light of the arbitrary and unfair trial in the lower court, to accept the innocence of the journalist and his fellow accused

Htwe¹s wife, Ma Khine Cho Zaw Win, is to be allowed visit her husband in Insein Prison on 23 May.

Yangon - Myanmar's military regime has made elaborate preparations for a constitutional convention beginning Monday, establishing a mini-town outside the capital to host some 1,000 delegates.

Excited commentaries in the state media have boasted that the representatives will be able to take in a movie, work out at a gym, have a makeover at a beauty salon or go for medical treatment at an on-site clinic.

But despite the propaganda, visitors to the revamped complex, which was originally a meeting centre for a state-run social organisation, describe it as grim and isolated.

"The convention venue must be seen to be believed," one witness told AFP, adding that a solitary access road leads to the site where delegates will be confined for the duration of the convention, which could take months.

"It's totally isolated and smack in the middle of nowhere surrounded by treeless paddy fields, making it impossible for anyone to approach it undetected ... and to top it all it's a military cantonment area."

The delegates will be charged with thrashing out a constitution for Myanmar, but without the involvement of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and other ethnic groups which have declared a boycott.

Myanmar's junta insisted Saturday that the forum would go ahead. It also said that the NLD's demands for their leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be freed and reforms made to the convention format were "unreasonable".

Foreign journalists have been barred from covering the event, but Yangon-based correspondents for foreign news organisations are expected to be transported to the venue to attend the opening ceremony.

The convention centre's location, chosen to deter any unwelcome outside scrutiny, is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the capital Yangon, on a site bordered by military bases.

Apart from a large hall and segregated hostels the complex boasts among other things a photo studio, optician, post office, general store, sports facilities and fax and e-mail services, according to the state press.

As many of the delegates are elderly, a hospital and dental clinic will provide everything from surgery to traditional medicine.

Journalists attempting to inspect the venue have been blocked by guards, and an official "do and don't" list released Friday sets out firm restrictions on their activities from Monday including a ban on recording equipment.

The Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders, RSF) has accused the junta of using intimidation and censorship to stop any information from leaking out of the remote site.

"Burma's military government has moved to block effective coverage of the National Convention.... The authorities have refused to grant journalists visas, subjected them to intimidation, imposed advance censorship and secured the convention centre," it said.

RSF said the delegates risk jail sentences of up to 20 years if they disseminate any speeches or statements not authorised by the convention's working committee, which is controlled by the authorities.

"In 1996, a National League for Democracy (NLD) delegate was sentenced to 20 years in prison for giving journalists a document that had not been approved by the committee," RSF added.

The last national convention -- which ran from 1993 to 1996 -- collapsed after the opposition NLD stormed out in 1995, leaving political reform in Myanmar in tatters.

More than 700 delegates attending that convention were housed in makeshift accommodations at an old Yangon racecourse left over from British colonial rule.

Delegates were bussed each day to the convention which was held at Parliament House.

Yangon - Myanmar's junta has dropped death sentences against nine men accused of high treason, including a journalist and three men charged over contacts with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), legal and family sources said Saturday.

The nine were convicted last November for separate offences, mostly related to alleged plots to overthrow the military government.

Zaw Thet Htway, the editor of Myanmar sports magazine First Eleven, had his sentence commuted to three years imprisonment in a Supreme Court hearing on May 12, his wife Ma Khine Cho Zaw Win told AFP.

"I am very, very happy that his sentence has been reduced to only three years. I have not been able to see him yet to discuss about whether or not further legal steps are to be taken," she said.

The lawyer acting for the nine confirmed reports that the court overturned the death penalty and ordered new jail sentences.

Radio Free Asia said five were now imprisoned for life and the other four were ordered to serve three years in prison, although it was not clear if this included time already served.

The other men given three-year terms were Min Kyi, Aye Myint and Zaw Myo Htet, who were arrested over their contacts with the ILO.

The ILO had objected to the death sentences handed down to the three, saying it cast doubt on the credibility of the regime's cooperation with the organisation, which is trying to stamp out forced labour in Myanmar.

Media groups had also campaigned for the release of Zaw Thet Htway, whose magazine is the country's most widely read sports publication with a circulation of more than 50,000.

He was arrested last July after the publication of a story alleging misuse of a four-million-dollar international grant to promote football in Myanmar.

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

Decisions to overturn sentences for political crimes are rare in Myanmar, but after the condemnation of the ILO three, the government admitted the court's original decision was flawed and agreed to review it, the ILO said in March.

Bangkok - In a highly unusual move, Burma's Supreme Court has overturned death sentences handed down last year to nine men convicted of treason, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

The Supreme Court of Burma, in Rangoon, decided May 12 to reduce the sentences of five of the defendants from death to life in prison and to reduce the sentences of the remaining four to three years in prison, their lawyer, U Nay Oo Naing Ngwe Ya, told RFA's Burmese service. Whether this would include time already served wasn't immediately clear, and the offices of the two judges who heard the case, Dr. Tin Aung Aye and U Tin Aye, couldn't be reached for comment.

The men were convicted Nov. 28, 2003, by a special tribunal inside the notorious In Sein Prison, of plotting against the ruling junta. They were sentenced to death under article 122-1 of the Burmese penal code. Lawyer U Nay Oo Naing Ngwe Ya filed a formal appeal on behalf of all nine defendants on April 6, 2004.

Among those whose sentences were reduced to three years is sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe, editor in chief of Burma's largest-selling sports magazine 'First Eleven'. According to an appeal on his behalf by the advocacy group Reporters San Frontieres, Zaw Thet Htwe's arrest was apparently linked to publication of an article speculating about the spending of an international grant to promote football [soccer] in Burma. It also reported on a fine imposed by organizers of an Asian football [soccer] tournament on a Burmese football [soccer] team for failing to take part in the competition.

The others given three-year sentences are U Zaw Myo Htet, Naing Min Kyi, and U Aye Myint, the lawyer said. Those handed life sentences are Naing Yetkha, U Shwe Mann, U Zar Naing Htun, U Myo Htwe, and U Aung Lun.

"I am pleased that these death sentences were commuted," the lawyer, U Nay Oo Naing Ngwe Ya, said. "For those who still were given life sentences, if I must say something, I would like to say in all sincerity that things could be different from a legal point of view."

U Nay Oo Naing Ngwe Ya said he didn't expect to file any further appeals in the case, since the special appellate court with relevant jurisdiction overturns only about one in every 1,000 cases. "So it might be difficult," he said.

Zaw Thet Htwe's wife, journalist Ma Khine Cho Zaw Win Tin, said she was "satisfied" with her husband's reduced sentence. "I am satisfied with the decision," she said in an interview. "I thank the lawyers and the judges who made the decision possible. I was very movedwhen the lawyer called and told me about it."

The verdicts are surprising because of close ties that exist between the ruling Burmese junta and the Burmese judiciary. In its latest annual report on human rights around the world, the U.S. State Department said: "The judiciary is not independent of the Government. The [ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council or SPDC,] appoints justices to the Supreme Court who, in turn, appoint lower court judges with the approval of the SPDC. These courts then adjudicate cases under decrees promulgated by the SPDC that effectively have the force of law. The court system includes courts at the township, district, state, and national levels."

Yangon - A former Myanmar reporter has been jailed for 15 years and a student activist given a 22-year sentence days before the ruling military junta holds a constitutional convention, a rights group said Friday. The Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders, RSF) and the Burma Media Association called on Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt to release Ne Min, accused of sending information to foreign-based media outlets.

"His arrest and sentence only add to the pressure on Burmese journalists who are doing their best to provide news for foreign media," RSF and the BMA said in a statement.

Ne Min, a lawyer aged around 55, had worked for Britain's BBC in the 1980s and had previously spent eight years in prison for "spreading false rumours", it said. He was rearrested in February and sentenced May 7 at a special court within Insein prison.

Four other people were also given long prison sentences, the statement said, including Nyan Htun Linn, a student activist and former office manager of a Thai-based news website, who was sentenced to 22 years for distributing a statement criticising the procedures of the upcoming convention.

It did not identify the other three, and the court proceedings and sentencings could not be independently verified.

The statement also slammed Yangon for moving to block media coverage of the constitutional convention which is due to open Monday as the first step in the junta's "roadmap to democracy".

The government has also subjected local reporters to "intimidation, imposed advance censorship and secured the convention centre." Restrictions have also been imposed on the 1,000 or so delegates expected to attend the forum, RSF said.

With just days to go before the landmark event, Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by the detained Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, had yet to announce whether it would attend.

Fourteen Nobel Literature Laureates are joining Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic and renowned playwright, and Jiri Grusa, acclaimed Czech writer and President of International PEN to urge Senior General Than Shwe of the Burmese Military Junta to immediately release Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other imprisoned Burmese writers. Burmese writers serving long sentences include 74-year-old editor U Win Tin, serving 20 years hard labor, and poet and journalist U Aung Myint, condemned to 21-years' imprisonment.

In a letter delivered to Burmese embassies in Bangkok, Berlin, London, New Delhi, Tokyo, Washington DC and others cities worldwide on April 13th, Havel and the Laureates wrote "[We] are profoundly disturbed by the open, unchecked, and accelerating suppression of the internationally-acclaimed peaceful movement for democracy in the Union of Myanmar, and by the denial of the freedom of expression - and in many cases, physical freedom - to our fellow writers. We are urgently concerned for the welfare of all who are currently prosecuted simply for exercising their essential right of freedom of speech and expression."

The following Nobel Laureates for Literature joined in the appeal: J. M. Coetzee, Naguib Mahfouz, Seamus Heaney, Nadine Gordimer, Kenzaburo Oe, Wole Soyinka, Toni Morrison, Wislawa Szymborska, Czeslaw Milosz, V. S. Naipaul, Günter Grass, Claude Simon, Jose Saramago and Imre Kertesz.

The appeal also states that the detention of these writers is a roadblock to any significant progress or transition to democracy in Burma: "If a single political prisoner, if writers, journalists and other citizens cannot discuss the future of their country without fear, all announcements of political reform lack credibility. All historical experience teaches us that freedom of speech and free and open public debate cannot stand at the end of a road to democracy, but must be at the very beginning of any meaningful reform."

The appeal was launched by International PEN President Jiri Grusa, former Czech President Havel and Burmese dissident U Aung Ko at the opening ceremony of the One World International Human Rights Film Festival at the Archa Theatre in Prague at 8pm on 14 April. A short documentary on the attack last May on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) will be premiered at the Festival.

For further information please contact: PEN International, London: Jane Spender +44-207-253-4308; Cathy McCann, +44-207-253-3226; PEN American Center, New York: Larry Siems +1-212-334-1660, ext. 105; People In Need, Prague, Tomas Pojar +420. 777. 787 914 or Igor Blazevic +420. 777. 787 914; Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), Thailand + 66-1-324-8935 www.aappb.net

April 13, 2004

Senior General Than Shwe Chairman,

State Peace and Development Council

c/o Director of Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI)

Ministry of Defense

Signal Pagoda Road

Dagon Post Office

Yangon, Union of Myanmar

Fax: +95 1 229 501

Your Excellency:

We would like to address you on a matter that is important to all our hearts and minds.

When Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for leading Burma's non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights, she was under house arrest and unable to travel to Oslo to accept the prize. Dozens of our colleagues, writers and journalists who had also dedicated themselves to the cause of freedom, were either already in jail or destined for arrest. Thirteen years later, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is again under house arrest in Yangon. A crackdown on peaceful political activity that included an attack on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade in May 2003 continues, and out of 1,300 political prisoners languishing in the prisons of Myanmar, at least 19 are writers or journalists.

We are profoundly disturbed by the open, unchecked, and accelerating suppression of the internationally-acclaimed peaceful movement for democracy in the Union of Myanmar, and by the denial of the freedom of expression and in many cases, physical freedom to our fellow writers. We are urgently concerned for the welfare of all who are currently prosecuted simply for exercising their essential right of freedom of speech and expression.

If there is a single political, if writers, journalists and other citizens cannot discuss the future of their country without fear, all announcements of political reform lack credibility. All historical experience teaches us that freedom of speech and free and open public debate cannot stand at the end of a road to democracy, but must be at the very beginning of any meaningful reform.

The changes in Central and Eastern Europe, in the Republic of South Africa and elsewhere have proven that a peaceful and orderly transition to democracy is possible. That the people of Myanmar share the same desire for freedom was evident in 1990, when they voted overwhelmingly for pro-democracy candidates. That this desire remains strong despite years of systematic repression was made vividly clear by the crowds that spontaneously assembled to hear Daw Aung San Suu Kyi before she was rearrested last May.

We demand the unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and writer; and other imprisoned writers including our colleagues Aung Myint, Aung Tun, Myo Htun, Khin Zaw Win, Kyaw Sein Oo, Ohn Kyaing, Sein Hla Oo, and Win Tin; and all other writers and artists who have been jailed for their nonviolent efforts to promote democracy in the Union of Myanmar.

Sincerely,

Vaclav Havel

Jiri Grusa, President, International PEN

[Nobel cosigners]

J. M. Coetzee, Naguib Mahfouz, Seamus Heaney, Nadine Gordimer, Kenzaburo Oe, Wole Soyinka, Toni Morrison, Wislawa Szymborska, Czeslaw Milosz, V. S. Naipaul,

Günter Grass, Claude Simon, Jose Saramago, Imre Kertesz.

Burma¹s military government has moved to block effective coverage of the National Convention that opens on 17 May. The authorities have refused journalists visas, subjected them to intimidation, slapped on advance censorship and secured the convention centre.

With four days to go, the government appears incapable of allowing discussion of a draft constitution to take place in the necessary calm and openness.

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) and the Burma Media Association urged Prime Minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt, to grant visas to all Burmese and foreign journalist who applied, to stop advance censorship, to set up a press centre with international communications and to free imprisoned journalists.

The two organisations also called on the head of the military government to release Ne Min, former BBC stringer who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

³His arrest and sentence only add to the pressure on Burmese journalists doing their best to provide news for foreign media,² said Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association.

Lawyer Ne Min, aged around 55, who worked for the BBC in the 1980s, was re-arrested in February 2004. He was sentenced on 7 May at a special court within the walls of Insein prison. He had already spent eight years in prison for ³spreading false rumours².

The journalist is respected by many of his Burmese colleagues as a very experienced professional. The military secret services accused him of sending information to foreign-based organisations, including media.

Four others, including Nyan Htun Linn, a student activist and former office manager of a Thailand-based news website www.amyinthit.com, were also given long prison sentences. Nyan Htun Linn was sentenced to 22 years in prison for having released, particularly to journalists, a statement criticising National Convention procedures.

Dozens of foreign journalists, including Agence France-Presse, Voice of America, and the Burmese and English services of the BBC World Service, who applied for visas to cover the convention, received no reply from the Burmese authorities. However a Bangkok-based foreign journalist was given permission to travel to Rangoon.

The National Convention is being held at Nyaunghnapin around 40 kms north of Rangoon. Several sources confirmed that there is no mobile phone network coverage for the building, which is close to a military camp. The journalists will have great trouble meeting the hundreds of delegates.

The delegates risk jail sentences of five to 20 years if they ³disseminate² a speech or statement not authorised by the convention¹s working committee that is controlled by the authorities.

A delegate for the National League for Democracy (NLD) was in 1996, sentenced to 20 years in prison for giving journalists a document that had not been passed by the committee.

Moreover advance censorship is always applied to privately-owned publications in Rangoon, which are banned from freely reporting on preparations for the Convention and the position of the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still under house arrest.

To ease international pressure, the military junta announced the opening of a National Convention on 17 May 2004 to write a new constitution. Neither the main democratic party, the NLD, nor the majority of ethnic minority parties have confirmed their participation. The government imposes the rules of the Convention, which was interrupted in 1996 after the withdrawal of the NLD.

Burma, Cuba, Maldives, Seychelles, Tunisia and Vietnam: dream destinations for tourists but a torture for journalists and independent media.

Powdery sand beaches, coconut palms, turquoise seas and shimmering temples... Behind the postcard clichés, the other side of picture is quite different. In Burma, Cuba, Maldives, Seychelles, Tunisia and Vietnam, press freedom simply does not exist. Independent journalists are treated as public enemies and are relentlessly harassed by the authorities. Everything possible is done to ensure they are reduced to silence.

Reporters Without Borders urges everyone setting off for one of these "paradise dictatorships" to practice responsible, informed tourism. To bear in mind that these countries flout the most basic rights of journalists and human rights activists.

The military junta in Burma has not yielded an inch and maintains complete news censorship. Prison conditions for the 15 detained journalists continue to deteriorate. The editor of a sports weekly was condemned to death in 2003 for exposing corruption in Burmese football.

Cuba is the world's biggest prison for the press. Thirty journalists are detained on the island. Most were given jail sentences of between 14 and 27 years at the end of grotesquely unfair trials. Their families complained of a "second sentence" when their loved-ones were transferred to prisons often several hundred kilometers from their homes. The government has a monopoly of news reporting in Cuba.

Two people who ran an e-mail newsletter in the Maldives have been serving life sentences since July 2002. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Asia's longest-serving head of state, cannot stand the least criticism. He more or less directly controls all of the archipelago's leading news media.

The years pass but the Seychelles stays the same. The only opposition newspaper, Regar, is harassed by the authorities. Government officials have brought a series of lawsuits against the weekly, asking so much in damages that just one conviction would suffice to force its immediate closure. The government keeps strict control of the state-owned media.

Despite a very limited liberalisation in broadcasting, Tunisia still does not offer sufficient guarantees for free expression. Two journalists are still in prison and those who are critical of the government are ceaselessly harassed and prevented from working. The print media continue to be at the exclusive service of President Ben Ali and his government.

The Vietnamese media are all controlled by the state so the Internet offers the only outlet for dissident views and independent news reports. The authorities cracked down in 2003 and several Internet users were arrested. A 71-year-old journalist, Nguyen Dinh Huy, has been in prison since 1993 for campaigning for press freedom.

Since 1 January 2004:

- 13 journalists have been killed

The most deadly country for the press is still Iraq, where 10 journalists and media assistants have died so far this year. Since the fighting began in March 2003, at least 23 journalists have been killed there while doing their job, at least six by US army gunfire.

- 6 media assistants have been killed

- 431 journalists have been arrested

- 366 journalists have been physically attacked or threatened

- 178 media have been censored

On 3 May 2004, 133 journalists were in prison in 22 countries

The biggest prisons were Cuba (29 journalists in jail), China (27), Eritrea (14), Iran (12) and Burma (11).

73 cyber-dissidents were in prison (61 of them in China) for posting information on the Internet.

In 2003:

42 journalists were killed

766 arrested

1,460 physically attacked or threatened and

501 media were censored

Chapter Burma 2003

Area: 676,580 sq. km.

Population: 48,852,000

Languages: Burmese, English

Type of state: military dictatorship

Head of state: Chairman (Gen.) Than Shwe

The attack orchestrated by the military junta against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade in May 2003 brought a limited political dialogue to a complete halt. Repression and censorship were stepped up, and prison conditions worsened for detained journalists. A court martial sentenced a sports journalist to death in November.

Around 100 persons, including a press photographer working for the democratic opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were killed in the attack on Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade near Depayin in May 2003. The attack was staged by the military regime in order to stop the NLD leader's successful tour, and it brought a limited political opening to an abrupt end. Aung San Suu Kyi and dozens of other pro-democracy activists were put in detention. The authorities imposed a news blackout on the national press and kept foreign journalists away.

International protests forced the authorities to release Aung San Suu Kyi in September but she was put under house arrest in Rangoon. The prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt, presented a "road map" in November that would supposedly lead the country to democracy by stages. But by the end of the year, there had still been no improvement in prison conditions for the thousands of political prisoners who included at least 15 journalists.

After visiting Insein prison, the UN special rapporteur for Burma condemned the "hell" that thousands of political prisoners have to endure. The detainees he met included the most famous of Burma's imprisoned journalists, Win Tin, who has been held since July 1989 for his pro-democracy essays. Meanwhile, the authorities still did not release journalist Sein Hla Oo although he completed his seven-year sentence in August 2001.

The editor of a sports magazine, Zaw Thet Htwe, was sentenced to death in November 2003 on the pretext of his supposed involvement in an alleged plot against the junta leaders. In reality, the authorities did not like his independence and his articles on corruption in Burmese football. He was being held in Insein prison at the end of the year.

Burma's two dailies are directly controlled by the military junta, which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). They produce articles glorifying the generals in power and, like the government radio and TV stations, defend the regime against international criticism. The government news media reacted fiercely to the calls for Aung San Suu Kyi's release in June. One daily said: "Just as outlaws are arrested and prosecuted in the western countries, Myanmar works for peace and progress in an honest and autonomous fashion." In July, the pro-government New Light of Myanmar published the "revelations" of a journalist claiming to be close to Aung San Suu Kyi in which he said she was prey to fits of temper and authoritarianism.

Burma continued to be one of the few countries in the world with pre-publication censorship, administered by the Literary Works Scrutinizing Committee (LWSC), an offshoot of the interior ministry. Criticism and any topics that irritate the generals such as human rights, AIDS, drugs and corruption were still banned. The censorship committee, headed by Maj. Aye Tun, a former member of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), decided each Saturday on the authorizations to be given to publications. Every quarter, the committee sent the interior minister and MIS chief a report on media activity. The committee often asked managing editors and editors to submit their CVs, failing which the newspapers were sanctioned. The few provincial newspapers must undergo a double check. After getting a green light from the censorship office in Rangoon, the editor must go through the local office. An editor from Mon state said it took an average of a month to get final approval after the initial submission to Rangoon.

Nonetheless, a few privately-owned magazines in Rangoon such as Sabaibhyu (White Jasmin) and Thought succeeded in publishing articles on politics, economy and culture that offered an alternative to the trite, saccharine propaganda of the press that supports the military junta.

When a news blackout was imposed after the attack against Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters, many Burmese turned to the international radio stations that broadcast in Burmese. The BBC, Democratic Voice of Burma, Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia were the most popular stations thanks to the cheap, Chinese-made radios that have flooded the Burmese market. There was no categorical ban on listening to the short-wave radio stations, but government opponents or journalists who agreed to be interviewed for them ran the risk of reprisals. According to a poll carried out in 2003, about 30 per cent of listeners tune into the BBC and VOA.

Burmese journalists in exile worked to produce independent news. The Mizzima news agency in India was one such source. The newspapers Irrawaddy, New Era and Mojo circulated among refugees in Thailand or were smuggled into Burma. The Burma Media Association, which groups dozens of exiled journalists, distributed articles that were banned in Burma. Burmese journalists on the Thai border set up the Burma Correspondents Club (BCC) in 2003.

Burma's embassies abroad had the job of preventing "dangerous" foreign journalists from entering the country. They systematically refused visas to the dozens of foreign journalists who had been put on a blacklist for having at one point or another written or spoken about the political situation in Burma. So reporters had to enter Burma on tourist visas. The few who obtained press visas were closely watched from the moment they arrived. This aversion to foreign reporters hampered regular international coverage of Burma. The government newspapers resumed their attacks on the foreign news media 2003, accusing them of supporting neo-colonialism. There was only one foreign correspondent in Rangoon, a staffer with the Chinese government news agency. The stringers working for the other international news agency had to be Burmese and were subject to heavy pressure from the authorities.

A journalist killed

Photographer Tin Maung Oo, who often worked for the National League for Democracy (NLD), was struck hard on the head by the military junta's thugs as he was trying to take pictures of the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade in Depayin on 20 May 2003. He died on the spot. Eye witnesses said dozens of other people, especially young NLD activists, were also killed in this attack on the leaders of the pro-democracy opposition. The junta claimed that only four people died in the clash.

15 journalists imprisoned

At least 15 journalists were in prison in Burma at the end of the year. They were Aung Pwint, Kyi Tin Oo, Sein Ohn, Thaung Tun, Win Tin, Aung Myint, Aung Zin Min, Kyaw San, Ohn Kyaing, Sein Hla Oo, Khin Maung Win (Sunny), Thein Tan, Monywa Aung-Shin, Tha Ban and Zaw Thet Htwe.

A few months after his arrest in September 1999, Aung Pwint was sentenced to eight years in prison for "illegal possession of a fax" and for sending news to banned Burmese publications. He was still in Irrawaddy prison (in the centre of the country) in 2003. Now aged 58, a poet and video producer, he is a leading figure in the Burmese media world.

Now aged 61, journalist and poet Kyi Tin Oo was arrested on 1 March 1994 and was sentenced a few weeks later to 10 years in prison by a special court inside Insein prison under articles 5 (j) of the protection of the state act and 17 (l) of the illegal associations act. The authorities took issue in particular with his political articles in the monthly Moe Wai (closed in 1996 for financial reasons) and the magazine Tha-bin, banned in 1988. He has spent 19 of the past 40 years of his life in prison. A journalist who is now a refugee in Thailand said he was known in press and literary circles for his columns on everyday life in Burma. "He has always loved our people's culture. He wrote beautiful articles full of compassion for those who suffered." He suffered from heart problems and high blood pressure throughout 2003.

Sein Ohn, 51, a cameraman working with the NLD, was arrested in September 1996 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for distributing uncensored video material and possessing "undeclared" imported equipment (a video camera and video cassette recorder). He used to shoot footage of Aung San Suu Kyi and made video programmes critical of the junta's policies. A video report he produced in July 1996 that was screened abroad showed peasants complaining of the failure of the authorities to provide relief after serious flooding in the Irrawaddy delta. Held in Mandalay prison, in the centre of the country, he has suffered from digestive problems and acute stomach pains since 2000 but has received no medicine from the authorities. For medicine, he has had to rely on his sister, photographer Khin Aye Kyu, who has been visiting him every two months.

Born in 1959 and better known by the pseudonym Nyein Thit, journalist and poet Thaung Tun worked for Padaut Pwint Thit (a magazine banned in 1995), contributed to the Rangoon city magazine and produced video reports for independent production companies. He was also an underground political activist for many years. Following his arrest on 4 October 1999, he was tortured during more than three weeks of interrogation. Two months later, a special court sentenced him to eight years in prison under article 5 (j) of the emergency act for the protection of the state for compiling data on human rights violations in Burma and sending it abroad. Initially held in Insein prison, he was transferred in April 2001 to the prison of Moulmein (the capital of Mon state), more than 700 km from Mandalay where his wife and mother live. They were able to visit him only once every two months. He was said to be in fair health.

Arrested on 4 July 1989 and detained in Insein prison, journalist Win Tin was sentenced to three years imprisonment in October 1989, another ten years in June 1992 and seven more 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 prison. Held in recent years in cell 10 of Insein prison's special wing, he has often had to be transferred to the prison's hospital because of his very delicate health. During his 14 years in prison, he has had two heart attacks, a slipped disc and has undergone surgery. Now aged 73, he has lost most of his teeth because of the poor conditions inside the prison.

The former editor of the newspaper Hanthawathi, the author of many articles criticizing the regime and a close advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi, Win Tin refused several times to sign a letter of resignation from the NLD in exchange for his release. Admired by his fellow political prisoners and called Saya (the Wise One) by Aung San Suu Kyi and fellow NLD activists, Win Tin has never ceased to peacefully resist the orders of the authorities and has maintained countless political discussions with his cell mates, one former political prisoner said. It was Win Tin who wrote the final version of the report on the conditions in Insein prison that was smuggled out of the prison and sent to the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in Burma.

Win Tin was transferred to Rangoon general hospital on 22 November 2002 because of heart problems. He was put in a basement room some 15 square metres in area that is equipped to hold political prisoners. There, he was given medicine appropriate to his condition. On 2 June 2003, he was returned to his special cell in Insein prison after doctors deemed his health to be "satisfactory." On 5 February 2003 (and again in December), he received a visit from an Amnesty International delegation which, on its return to Europe, said his morale was excellent and his health was fair. He had never been so determined and refused to sign any document which the junta could use against him, an Amnesty International representative said.

Arrested on 14 September 2000 by the MIS, Aung Myint was sentenced to 21 years in prison on 20 December 2000 for disseminating news about the NLD to foreign news agencies and western embassies in Rangoon. He was still held in Insein prison in 2003. Better known by the pseudonym "Phya Pon" Ni Loan Oo, he used to write for the magazines Cherry and Mahaythi. Many of his articles were banned by the censors or rejected by privately-owned magazines.

Aung Zin Min was still in Thayet prison, in the centre of the country, in 2003. He was arrested with journalist Cho Seint in December 1996 and sentenced to seven years in prison for supporting the 1996 student demonstrations in his poems, published above all else in the magazine New Style which he helped to edit. He has suffered from depression and serious memory problems since 2002. As his family was visiting him only two or three times a year, he was unable to supplement his prison food and he had serious intestinal ailments. His cell mates were very worried about his declining health and above all by the lack of family support.

Known by the pseudonym Cho Seint, Kyaw San was transferred to Tharrawaddy prison in May 1997. He was given a seven-year sentence for supporting the 1996 student demonstrations in his articles and poems, published in opposition magazines. He was badly beaten during interrogation at the start of 1997 and has been partially deaf ever since. He is the grandson of Thakin Kotaw Hmime, one of the fathers of independence along with Gen. Aung San. The military has deliberately deprived his family of resources, and he was receiving almost no visits or help from outside prison. A former fellow inmate said his combative attitude never flagged and he even took part in a hunger strike in 1998 to demand more water and for cell doors to be left open during the day. The prisoners obtained their demands.

Sentenced to seven years in prison in October 1990 and another 10 years in May 1991, Ohn Kyaing continued in 2003 to serve his sentences in Toungoo prison to which he was transferred from Insein at the end of 1993. As well as being an elected NLD representative for the city of Mandalay, he was a journalist better known by the pseudonym Aung Wint. As such, he worked in turn for Kyemon, Botahtaung and the magazine Youqshin Aunglan, advocating democracy in his writing. Military prosecutors took particular offense at an article entitled "Three ways to achieve power" which he wrote for an opposition publication. Born in 1944, he is married and the father of four. His wife had to sell half of their home to meet his needs in prison. He has been suffering from hypertension and haemorrhoids.

Sein Hla Oo continued to be held in Myitkyina prison in the north of the country, to which he was transferred in February 1997 from Insein. Arrested in August 1994, he completed a seven-year prison sentence in August 2001. The authorities then decided to make him serve a ten-year sentence passed on him in 1990 for possessing information of a treasonable nature under article 124 of the criminal code. He had been given an early release in May 1992, 15 months before his re-arrest in August 1994. A journalist and people's assembly representative, he was accused above all of distributing his "anti-government" articles to embassies and foreign news media. The graduate of a US journalism school, he used to write for Botahtaung and is an acclaimed cinema critic. Conditions in Myitkyina prison are much harsher than those in the south. Inmates have to cope with a colder climate, malaria, and food that is even worse than in other prisons. Family visits are also much more infrequent as it takes two days' travel and the equivalent of an average monthly salary to get there.

Khin Maung Win, a photographer and cameraman known by the pseudonym of Sunny, was still in Loi-Kaw prison, more than 300 km northeast of Rangoon, in 2003. He was serving a seven-year sentence for helping to interview Aung San Suu Kyi before a summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997. The authorities accused him of belonging to a group involved in anti-government activities who were called "puppets of the American government" by Gen. Khin Nyunt a few weeks before his arrest in June 1997.

Thein Tan was still in Thayet prison in 2003. The owner of a bookstore in his home town of Mandalay, he wrote for the government newspaper Kyemon before contributing to many privately-owned magazines in the 1980s. He was arrested at the end of 1990 because of an article he wrote about the murder of four people in Mandalay in August of that year. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, he should have been set free in 2000, but the authorities imposed an additional sentence of unknown length. He was transferred to Thayet after six years in Insein. Now aged 73, his health has got much worse since 2002.

In 2003, Monywa Aung-Shin was still serving a seven-year prison sentence imposed under article 17 (20) of the emergency act following his arrest in September 2000. He was one of the NLD's press officers after editing the magazine Sar-maw-khung (Literary World) until it was banned in 1990.

Arrested in March 1997, Tha Ban was sentenced to seven years in prison for his pro-democracy writing and because he helped a student gather data on the history of a student association. He was transferred from Insein prison to the Arakan state prison in the west of the country, where he is from. Aged 66, he has been suffering from dysentery for several years and must rely on his wife, a retired school teacher, to bring him medicine. His family said his vision had deteriorated considerably recently and he could turn blind if not treated by a specialist. The authorities had still not granted this request at the end of 2003.

Seven people continued to be imprisoned for participating in the clandestine distribution of Mojo, a banned opposition monthly printed in Mae Sot, in Thailand. They were Mg Hla Soe, arrested in August 1999 in MyaWaDee (Kayin state), Ko Win Naing, arrested in September 1999 in Pegu (east of Rangoon), Mg Kyaw Wae Soe, arrested in September 1999 in Tha-Ka-Ta (near Rangoon), Joseph, arrested in September 1999 in Pa-an (Kayin state), Tint Wae, arrested in May 2000 in KaMarYut (near Rangoon), and Ko Myo and Ma Htay Htay, both arrested in May 2000 in Belinn (Mon state). Most of them were serving seven-year sentences.

Military intelligence officers carried out a raid lasting several hours on 17 July 2003 on the offices of the sports weekly First Eleven. They handcuffed, beat and detained editor in chief Zaw Thet Htwe. They also detained journalists Than Htut Aung, Zaw Myint and Soe Pa Pa Hlaing, as well as Myint Zaw, the editor of another Rangoon publication. They were all taken to an undisclosed location. A few hours later, the military detained Zaw Thet Htwe's wife, a member of the staff of the privately-owned magazine Living Colour. She was freed a few hours later. Than Htut Aung, Myint Zaw and U Zaw Myint were released on 19 July. Soe Pa Pa Hlaing was released at the end of July. However, editor in chief Zaw Thet Htwe was not freed.

The arrests appeared to have been prompted by an article in First Eleven about a fine imposed by the organisers of the Asian Champion Club soccer tournament on a Burmese team for failing to participate. The magazine, which has a circulation of 50,000, previously received a warning after carrying an article about an international donation of 4 million dollars for the promotion of football in Burma. The article asked how the money was spent. On 18 July, the day after the raid, the military police summoned all of First Eleven's journalists and asked them to continue publishing the magazine while respecting the censorship rules.

Zaw Thet Htwe was secretly held at the Rangoon headquarters of the military police and was tortured during interrogation. A former political prisoner, he had previously 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). After Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association protested against his arrest, the military junta denied that it was linked to his work as a journalist and attributed it to involvement in "terrorist activities." A junta member, 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. It emerged that eight other people, including a lawyer and political activists, had been arrested on the same day as Zaw Thet Htwe.

On 28 November, a court martial held inside Insein prison convicted Zaw Thet Htwe and the other eight under article 122/1 of the law on high treason of trying to murder the leaders of the SPDC (the ruling junta). They were all sentenced to death. The others were Aye Myint (a lawyer), Zaw Zaw, Zar Naing Htun (a student), Ne Win, Naing Yekkha (a political activist from Mon state, also known as Shwe Mann), Than Htun, Myo Htway and Nai Min Kyi. Than Htun was released without explanation in December. His family said he was arrested by mistake.

Four journalists were freed in 2003.

It was reported in 2003 that Yan Aung Soe was released in December 2002. He was arrested in October 1998 by military intelligence officers and was sentenced a few weeks later by a special tribunal to 59 years in prison for being "in contact with organizations abroad." He is known for articles on education published from 1994 to 1997 in semi-legal academic reviews such as Unity and New Century, and in privately-owned magazines such as Thought and Our Life under the pseudonym Thu-Rein-Htet-Linn. An activist since the age of 15 in secondary school and university student associations and in the NLD, he edited and distributed leaflets for these organizations. After being interrogated and tortured at a Military Intelligence Service centre, he was held in Myaungmya prison in the south of the country.

The military junta on 16 March announced the release of 45 political prisoners including Myint Thein, a teacher and journalist who wrote on international relations in several magazines including the monthly Ah-twe-Ah-myin using the pseudonym Myint Myat Thein. He was arrested on 4 December 1996 during student demonstrations in Rangoon and was badly beaten by police during interrogation. A few weeks later, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for supporting the student movement in his magazine pieces. He was held in Thayet prison. The release of this group came a few days before a visit by Sergio Pinheiro, the UN special rapporteur for Burma.

Dr. Zaw Min, a physician, journalist and short story writer, and Ko Htay Thein, a Rangoon university lecturer, poet and literary critic, were released by the junta on 28 April 2003 after 14 years in prison. They were arrested in July 1989 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for alleged links to the banned Communist Party of Burma (CPB). Their sentences were halved under a partial amnesty in 1993, but when they should have been freed in 1999, they were charged anew under article 10 of the protection of the state act, which allows the military to hold people without trial for "security reasons." When they were finally released, their families found their physical and above all mental health had suffered greatly from the years in prison. Dr. Zaw Min, who was in solitary confinement for years, found the prolongation of their imprisonment in 1999 unbearable and has serious psychological problems. The mental health of Htay Thein, who attempted suicide several times in prison, now needs much medical treatment. Their families told Reporters Without Borders they were in perfect health before their arrest.

Harassment and obstruction

It was reported on 8 January 2003 that the junta rejected a request for the lifting of a ban on 14 Thai journalists who had been barred from entering Burma since the year before. A Thai military officer raised the issue with his Burmese counterparts during the meeting of a border commission in January. Their names continued to appear on a blacklist of journalists deemed to have written anti-Burmese articles and disparaged the junta.

The Literary Works Scrutinizing Committee (LWSC), the interior ministry offshoot responsible for censorship, summoned the editors of the main privately-owned newspapers to a meeting on 19 February and threatened them with reprisals if they published any reports about Burma's serious banking crisis. This news blackout would prevent the crisis from being exacerbated and put a stop to rumours, officials said. Several journalists based in Rangoon told Reporters Without Borders it was impossible for them to report on the banking crisis. "I wrote three stories on the subject and they were all rejected. It's very frustrating," one said. No report was published on the crisis, not even in the privately-owned English-language Myanmar Times. The crisis was set off by the government's decision to close a dozen savings and loan institutions that were offering better interest rates than the banks. On 20 February, the central bank limited transfers and cash withdrawals from the country's 20 banks. Hundreds of Burmese were lining up outside banks every day, especially the Asia Wealth Bank, in an attempt to make cash withdrawals on their savings.

On 17 February, the LWSC prevented any reports being published on the death of 17 students in a bus accident on the road from Syriam to Rangoon.

At the start of March, the LWSC banned all publications, especially the magazines Sabepyu, Kalya and Beauty, from carrying articles by the Burmese historian Than Tun. The ban was reportedly prompted by an interview he gave for the Burmese-language service of the Washington-based Radio Free Asia dismissing the junta's claim that the discovery of three white elephants in western Burma was a good omen for the country's development. The censors were thought to have been particularly irritated by this remark because of the financial crisis. Irrawaddy, a magazine published in Thailand, suggested the ban was also linked to Than Tun's articles in the monthly Kalya on the way Burma was governed in the 18th century, in which the censors saw allusions to the junta's policies.

After the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade by the regime's thugs on 30 May, the censors banned any report on the incident that contradicted the junta's version. Both government and privately-owned news media were forced to say that the incident was attributed to NLD activists. In the following weeks, the press spoke of Aung San Suu Kyi's "protective detention" and began to insult and vilify the pro-democracy opposition again.

Articles by Ludu Daw Amar, the most famous of Burma's women journalists, were censored by the authorities in July and August although she now only writes on Burmese culture and society. As a result, the magazine Kalya was forced to reject one of her pieces. The ban was prompted by her comments to international radio stations on Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest and the massacre of pro-democracy activists. Now aged 88, Ludu Daw Amar recently said to the magazine Irrawaddy: "We cannot write anything freely, there is no press freedom and the censorship office is very restrictive."

The censors imposed a news blackout on a trip to China in August by the junta's No. 2, Gen. Maung Aye. China is the junta's main international ally.

The authorities in the Depayin region, where the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade took place in May, banned the population from listening to foreign radio broadcasts in the Burmese language in September.

The US army's capture of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in December passed without mention by Burma's radio and TV stations, while the government newspapers just ran brief reports. A Rangoon journalist told the foreign-based Democratic Voice of Burma that the Burmese had dubbed the junta's news media "Radio and TV Saddam."

World Press Freedom Day

Burma Media Association (BMA)

Already undermined press freedom situation in Burma is getting worse because of the political hypersensitivity of the military regime.

Burma Media Association (BMA) has learned that harsh restrictions are now routinely practiced against writers who have political backgrounds. For instance, April addition of Khit Myanmar Journal is yet to be cleared by Press Scrutiny Board (PSB) because it contains articles and photos of Burma's most well-known writer and independence hero Thakhin Kodaw Hmaing. Captain Win Shein from PSB allegedly said that only the Interior Minister could pass the journal as its contents attracted 'special attention' from top military leaders.

Sources close to literary circle of Burma told BMA that PSB purportedly issued instructions to its staff to censor all stories written by living writers with political background. That even includes writers who do not openly criticize the regime. For example, an article by Dagon Tayar, an old friend of Burma's independence hero General Aung San, was censored from May issue of Kalyar magazine.

For writers whose opinion differs from that of the regime suffer more. Writings of prominent historian Professor Than Htun, Ludu Daw Amah and Myanma Alin Than Nyunt have been banned from appearing in periodicals for a long time.

Worst is still reserved for writers who associate with the prodemocracy National League for Democracy (NLD) party led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. More than ten poets whose poems were reprinted in the party's 1999 Writers Day anniversary publication were warned by the authorities and since then their writings were not seen in periodicals. Among them were well-known poets such as Nan Nyunt Swe, Ko Lay (Inwa Gonyi) and Kyi Aung.

The military authorities also revoked publication licenses previously issued to certain political parties. Hsenpai, a Shan-language magazine, published under license number Na/Tha 035 issued to Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD), was recently brought to an end by the military regime for carrying political news. The main opposition party, NLD, was however not even granted for such license, although the party has applied for it since many years ago.

Singapore - Asia's media have won a few battles against censorship and intimidation recently but analysts and journalists say most of the region has little reason to celebrate World Press Freedom Day on Monday.

Just seven percent of the Asia Pacific's population have access to a "free press", according to a report by the US-based Freedom House global industry watchdog released last week ahead of the UN-sponsored media awareness day.

Although Freedom House said 17 of 39 Asia Pacific countries surveyed had a free press, most of those were tiny island-nations such as Palau, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Samoa.

Of the larger nations, only Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and Australia were classified as having a free press, which is judged according to the legal, political and economic constraints on the media.

"If you look at it in terms of the number of countries that are ranked free, 44 percent is a pretty high percentage," Freedom House's senior researcher and managing editor of the survey, Karin Karlekar, told AFP.

"But if you look at the population figures, you get a truer picture of what the situation in Asia is."

Karlekar said government opposition to a free press -- in nations as diverse as prosperous Singapore, the Stalinist backwater of North Korea and the often forgotten nation of Laos -- remained deeply entrenched across the region.

"Most of the countries are fairly stagnant in levels of press freedom. In general it's slightly more of a negative trend," Karlekar said.

"Many of the countries at the bottom of our scale are there because of the governments that rule them. If there are no political developments ... it's pretty much a lost cause in the short term."

North Korea and Myanmar are Asia's perennial press-freedom cellar dwellers, but Karlekar said China and Vietnam had also kept tight leashes on the media despite booming economies, increased foreign investment and the rise of the Internet.

"It hasn't led to the changes in the media that one would have hoped for ... media control is an area they are very experienced with and they continue to exercise it," she said.

Of the Asian countries experiencing press freedom changes, Freedom House said most are going backwards.

In this year's survey, the Philippines regressed from free to a partly free press "to reflect the continuing impunity enjoyed by those who threaten and kill journalists".

Last year Thailand fell into the partly free category because of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's efforts to take over sections of the media and intimidate the rest.

Thaksin's media crackdown has continued recently, highlighted by Bangkok Post editor Veera Prateepchaikul's removal two months ago following a series of reports in the newspaper critical of the prime minister.

Other nations that have enjoyed increasing media freedoms over the past decade have also reported recent setbacks.

Indonesia, for example, has seen a vigorous press emerge following the end of dictator Suharto's rule in 1998. But powerful business interests and government officials have worked hard to counter the trend and stifle dissent.

In one high-profile case, a Jakarta court ruled last year that an editor of the popular Rakyat Merdeka (Free People's) daily was guilty of "publicly insulting" President Megawati Sukarnoputri in several front page headlines.

"They only want a press that promotes their interests. There have been efforts to curb the press freedom we have enjoyed," Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists chairman, Edi Suprapto, said at the time.

The US State Department, in its 2003 annual report on Indonesia's human rights, agreed.

"Politicians and tycoons showed greater willingness to take legal action against news organizations whose work they found insulting or offensive, and this trend undermined press freedom," the report said.

Searching for recent positive developments in Asia's media, Karlekar pointed to Sri Lanka's progress under former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the burgeoning democracy movement in Hong Kong and post-Taliban Afghanistan.

But even progress in those countries is uncertain at best.

Wickremesinghe was defeated at national elections last month, China has told Hong Kong it will not have direct elections anytime soon and warlords continue to control or intimidate the press in the provinces of Afghanistan.

Bangkok - Media repression is one of the most important tools of control in military-run Myanmar, where a journalist was sentenced to death for "high treason" last year, Reporters Without Borders said Sunday.

Zaw Thet Htway, the editor of Myanmar's most popular sports magazine, who is appealing his conviction, was convicted "on the trumped-up charge of attempting to assassinate military junta leaders," it said in a report.

The press rights watchdog (Reporters Sans Frontieres - RSF) said he was beaten and tortured after his arrest at the offices of his magazine First Eleven last July.

"The military, who envied the newspaper's very profitable success, did not like his articles criticising the way Burmese soccer is run," it said, using the country's former name.

"Shortly before his arrest, Zaw Thet Htway published an article about an international donation for the promotion of football in Burma. First Eleven asked questions about the manner in which the money was spent."

RSF also detailed the iron grip Myanmar's military government has over the press, which it said was one of the few countries in the world with pre-publication censorship.

"Any criticism of the junta and any subjects that irritate the generals (such as human rights, AIDS, drugs and corruption) are banned," it said.

At least seven magazines were temporarily closed in 2002 for publishing articles or even words deemed "incorrect" and offenders can be published with up to seven years in prison, RSF said.

"Censorship is a key component of the regime of terror imposed by the junta, which is able to decree a total blackout on certain issues," it said, noting that in February 2003 all reporting on Myanmar's disastrous banking crisis was banned.

And in May 2003, the authorities also forced the media to stay silent about the arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a violent attack on her convoy during a political tour of northern Myanmar.

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

Sr. Gen. Than Shwe

Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council

Rangoon, Myanmar

c/o Permanent Representative to UN

E-mail: myanmar@un.int

30 April 2004

Dear Chairman,

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 once again our grave concern at the death sentence handed down to journalist Zaw Thet Htway.

According to reports, Zaw Thet Htway, editor of Myanmar's most widely read sports magazine, First Eleven, was arrested last July after the publication of a story alleging misuse of a US$4 million grant to promote football in your country. At his trial, however, he was convicted of high treason for allegedly contacting Myanmar exiles abroad who had plotted against the military junta. Throughout the legal process, Zaw Thet Htway was only allowed to call a single witness, his wife, and no lawyer was present to defend him.

The Supreme Court is reportedly due to give its decision in Zaw Thet Htway's appeal against his conviction within the next few days.

We respectfully remind you that if the charges are related to his journalism activities, the jailing and sentencing to death of Zaw Thet Htway is a gross violation of the right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international agreements, including Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Furthermore, irrespective of the nature of the charges against him, the trial procedures followed in his conviction were fundamentally flawed and were in serious breach of the rules of natural justice.

We respectfully call on you to take all possible steps to ensure that Zaw Thet Htway is immediately released from jail and that all charges arising from the exercise of his right to freedom of expression are dropped. If it is still believed that Zaw Thet Htway has a genuine case to answer that is not related to his journalism activities, we call on you to ensure that he is given a fair trial and that the rules of natural justice are fully observed.

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

Sr. Gen. Than Shwe

Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council