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

[ 2007: Jan-Mar | Apr-Jun | Jul-Sep | Oct-Dec ] [ 2006: Jan-Mar | Apr-Jun | Jul-Dec ] [ 2005: Jan-Mar | Apr-Jun | Jul-Sep | Oct-Dec ]

[ 2004: Jan-May | Jun-Dec ] [ 2003: Jan-Mar | Apr-Dec ] [ 2002: Jan-Mar | Apr-Jun | Jul-Sep | Oct-Dec ] [ 2001: Jan-Dec ]

BANGKOK, Dec 1 (AFP) - Press freedom groups on Wednesday dismissed Myanmar's prison release programme of more than 9,000 inmates as a "smokescreen" and said a cameraman was the only one of 13 detained journalists freed.

Ko Sein Ohn was released on November 26 after serving more than eight years of a 10-year jail term for filming and distributing a video of a speech by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi that had not been approved by officials from the military-run regime, according to Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association.

A total of 9,248 people were released in eight days from November 18 although only about 40 of them were political prisoners, according to democracy campaigners.

The prisoners were released after a power struggle at the heart of government that resulted in the sacking of premier Khin Nyunt in October and a purging of his allies from the powerful military intelligence branch that he headed for two decades.

The ruling junta said thousands had been improperly jailed by intelligence officials.

Ko Sein Ohn said military intelligence originally accused him of filming a ceremony at the home of a high-ranking police officer, the two press groups said.

But after finding no evidence, the military authorities then accused him of filming Aung San Suu Kyi, although he said he had permission from the military. He was jailed after a sham trial, the groups said.

Twelve journalists remain behind bars including one of Myanmar's best-known journalists, Win Tin, 74, a prize-winning writer and a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), who was jailed for 20 years in 1989.

"The massive release of prisoners has just been a smokescreen," the two organisations said in a statement.

They called on the European Union to "maintain sanctions until all prisoners of conscience including journalists are freed and prior censorship is abolished".

Amnesty International in its 2004 report said more than 1,350 political prisoners remained imprisoned in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi herself has been confined to her home since May last year, her third period of house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi was told at the weekend that her period of house arrest had been extended by another year, drawing international criticism from the United Nations, the United States and Myanmar's former colonial ruler Britain.

A well-known local economic magazine, Myanmar Dana, (Myanmar Wealth) was banned for six-month of publication, writers in Rangoon said.  The reason was the magazine printed a picture of artist U Thet Nyunt and in the background of him was a portrait of his son.  But his son happened to imprisoned student leader Min Ko Naing.

"That is enough for them to ban the magazine for six-month", said one writer in Rangoon.  "It was just a background picture and you can see that this was not done intentionally," he added.

Min Ko Naing's father U Thet Nyut is well-know artist in Burma. His interview was printed in the September issue of Myanmar Dana magazine along with his picture.  But the picture was taken at his home with the background of some of his own paintings.  Two of the background paintings were portrait of his son, Min Ko Naing.  Min Ko Naing has been imprisoned for 16 years.

"The censorship board must have missed this during their initial check", a writer in Rangoon told DVB.  "They just found out about it and they are now banning the magazine from further publication and also seizing the un-sold magazines from the various shops", he added.

The September issue of Myanmar Dana magazine printed a cover story about "Art- Gallery and Artists".  The article looked into the detail about history of Burmese art, how the art gallery in Burma develops and how the artists in Burma survive. The writer also interviewed several well-know artists including U Thet Nyunt.

It is still not clear whether the authority has taken action against Chief-Editor Thiha Saw and photographer Thit Aung.

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association (BMA) have challenged the military junta’s denial that the bi-monthly Khit-Sann was closed for political reasons.

The two press freedom organisations said that after making fresh checks following the junta’s 17 September denial, they were sticking to their assertion that the closure was ordered without justification by Maj. Aye Htun, head of the censorship bureau ­ an arm of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS).

In its statement, the Burmese government spokesman said that financial problems had led to Khit-Sann’s closure. But information obtained by Reporters Without Borders and the BMA showed that the magazine’s financial situation was healthy. It was expanding and circulation had increased by more than 30% in recent months.

A journalist working for Khit-Sann told the two organisations that when the decision to shut down the paper was taken on 1 September, that month’s second number was already finished and awaiting approval from the censorship bureau. This confirms that the closure decision was taken hurriedly and against the wishes of the magazine’s management.

Radio Free Asia reported that according to its own sources the main reason for the censorship was the type of articles that Khit-Sann published, including searching analyses on international and political issues.

New York, September 21, 2004 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the recent closure of the bimonthly current affairs journal Khit-Sann. Supporters of the journal charge that military censors shuttered Khit-Sann because it covered international issues and U.S. political ideas, according to CPJ sources and Radio Free Asia. Burma’s government denied the charges last week, citing instead financial and licensing issues as the reasons behind the journal’s closure.

According to a government statement excerpted by Agence France-Press, the official publisher of Khit-Sann decided to stop publishing the journal on September 1 “due to some financial problems.” Under Burma’s restrictive licensing laws, private publishers are obliged to lease licenses from government agencies. In the case of Khit-Sann, the editor of the journal, Kyaw Win, published under a license accessed through the Department of Parliamentary Affairs in Rangoon, sources tell CPJ.

Local and exiled Burmese journalists were not convinced by the government’s explanation. An unnamed Burmese media source interviewed by Radio Free Asia blamed military censors for the journal’s demise. “Military intelligence decided they should stop publishing,” he said to RFA. Another journalist affiliated with the journal told the Burma Media Alliance (BMA), a group of exiled journalists, that the head of the Press Scrutiny Board ordered the closure of Khit-Sann beginning September 1 without any explanation. The same journalist told the BMA that editor Kyaw Win was reprimanded by censors last month because Khit-Sann’s editorial line was allegedly “pro-American.”

Khit-Sann is a privately owned journal that began publishing in August 2003, featuring critical analysis of international affairs, economics, and ideas from political theorists including the U.S. writer Samuel Huntington, sources tell CPJ. Khit-Sann is translated as meaning either “Renaissance” or “New Age.”

Burmese government on September 17 denied reports by RSF and BMA that it had ordered the closure of a privately-owned current affairs magazine Khit Sann. The government further claimed that the journal had temporarily stopped publication because of financial difficulties.

BMA has recently made further investigation about the case and stand by its original statement.

According to sources from the inner circle of the magazine, Khit Sann had no financial crisis whatsoever that could have resulted in closure of the magazine.

The magazine has recently raised its circulation from 3000 copies 4000 copies, which is a good indicator of the magazine’s success.

By the time Khit Sann was ordered to shut down on 1 September by the PSB, it had already submitted its September second week issue to PSB for censorship screening.

“If Khit Sann were to shut down because of financial reasons, why should it be well-prepared for its future issue”, questioned a journalist who is a regular contributor to the magazine.

“In fact, Khit Sann’s sudden death was caused by the regime”, he continued.

BMA has also learned that Khitt Sann publisher Win Myint congratulated his staff members including Kyaw Win for their excellent workmanship in a meeting held a few days before it was ordered to close.

The order without any explanation was given to Kyaw Win by Maj. Aye Htun, the head of the censorship bureau that is an offshoot of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS).

RFA Burmese service

BANGKOK—Sources close to the Burmese fortnightly magazine Khit-Sann insist that the ruling junta ordered it to stop publishing because of objections to its editorial content.

“Military intelligence decided they should stop publishing,” a Burmese media source who asked not to be named told RFA's Burmese service. “The main reason they stopped it was because the journal was publishing in-depth articles on international affairs and political analyses.”

Financial woes

The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has said Khit-Sann—which roughly translates as "New Era"—was forced to close because of financial problems.

“It’s true that the journal has had financial problems,” said another source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, “but these never stopped it from publishing regularly.”

On Sept. 15, the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières - RSF) said the junta's censorship bureau ordered Khit-Sann to halt publication on Sept. 1. The government in Burma controls all major media.

"At the rate publications are being closed and pressure is being put on journalists, the Burmese press will soon be limited to official propaganda outlets and a few privately owned entertainment magazines," Reporters Without Borders said in a joint statement with the exile Burma Media Association.

Khit-Sann had been published since August 2003 and was popular with young people and intellectuals.

Reporters Without Borders described it as "one of the very few publications to try to cover current affairs, as well as social, economic and philosophical issues."

Khit-Thit, another privately owned publication, recently received warnings from the government, the group said.

Writers harassed

It said the cover of an issue reporting on the 60th anniversary of World War II's D-Day was deemed objectionable "because its photo of U.S. combat troops was deemed to be 'too aggressive."'

RSF also said the government has been harassing two writers, Ludu Sein Win and Dagon Tayar, after they gave interviews to RFA and Voice of America.

Poor record

It said they had been criticized in the state-controlled press and that Ludu Sein Win's telephone has been cut for two weeks.

In its latest annual report on human rights around the world, the State Department noted that in Burma, "the government owned and controlled all daily newspapers and domestic radio and television broadcasting facilities. These official media remained propaganda organs of the government and usually did not report opposing views except to criticize them."

“The only partial exception was the Myanmar Times, an expensive English-language weekly newspaper, targeted at the foreign community in Rangoon. Although the Myanmar Times was censored and was pro-government, the newspaper occasionally reported on criticisms of government policies by the U.N. and other international organizations.”

YANGON, Sept 17 (AFP) - Myanmar on Friday denied claims by an international press freedom group that military censors had ordered the closure of a privately-owned current affairs magazine.

The fortnightly magazine Khit-Sann closed because of financial problems and the publisher had never been summoned before censors because of its content, according to the regime in a statement.

Reporters without Borders and the Burma Media Association said that the magazine, one of the few to cover current affairs, had previously been warned about being too pro-American.

"The allegation of the ban on Khit-Sann journal by the censorship board is not true," said a statement from the regime.

"The publisher U Win Myint himself made a request to the department concerned that due to some financial problem he would like to temporarily stop publishing his journal."

Myanmar has been run by the military since a 1962 coup. The opposition on Thursday called for the release of political prisoners including leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the re-opening of party offices and to allow freedom of expression and the press.

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Myanmar's military government on Friday denied allegations by a press freedom group that it had shut down a magazine, saying the journal had temporarily stopped publication because of financial difficulties.

On Wednesday, the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders said the junta's censorship bureau ordered the privately owned fortnightly Khit-Sann to stop publication on Sept. 1.

However, the government said in a statement Friday that Khit-Sann had not been banned.

The magazine's publisher ``made a request to the department concerned that due to some financial problem he would like to temporarily stop publishing his journal,'' said the statement, in reply to a query from The Associated Press.

It also said the editor had never been summoned by the censorship board and was never told to stop publishing.

A spokesman for the magazine could not be reached for comment Friday.

Reporters Without Borders said no reason was given for the magazine's closure, but that in August censors warned its editor, Kyaw Win, that the magazine was too pro-American.

The United States is a strong critic of Myanmar's military government because of its human rights abuses and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a 1990 general election, but the military never allowed parliament to convene.

The junta tolerates little dissent, and all major media, print and broadcast, are controlled by the state. There are a plethora of small-circulation, privately owned journals, but they generally engage in strict self-censorship, or cover uncontroversial subjects.

YANGON, Sept 16 (AFP) - Media groups on Thursday called on Myanmar's military regime to reverse a ban on a current affairs magazine which they said had been warned about being too pro-American.

Reporters Without Borders said the fortnightly privately-owned magazine, Khit-Sann, was told by military censors on September 1 that it was banned until further notice.

"At the rate publications are being closed and and pressure is being put on journalists, the Burmese press will soon be limited to official propaganda outlets and a few privately-owned entertained magazines," according to the group and the Burma Media Association in a joint statement.

The statement said that editor Kyaw Win was told in August by censors that the magazine was viewed as too pro-American.

The groups said the magazine was one of the few to cover current affairs. It had a print run of 3,000 and was popular with young people and intellectuals, they said.

Myanmar has been run by the military since a 1962 coup. It has been routinely criticised by the international community, led by the US and former colonial power Britain, for its failure to implement democratic reforms.

Bangkok: An international press freedom group called on Myanmar's military government on Wednesday to lift a recently imposed ban on a current affairs magazine.

The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders said the junta's censorship bureau ordered the privately owned fortnightly Khit-Sann to halt publication on Sept. 1.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, tolerates little dissent, and all major media, print and broadcast, are controlled by the state.

"At the rate publications are being closed and pressure is being put on journalists, the Burmese press will soon be limited to official propaganda outlets and a few privately owned entertainment magazines," Reporters Without Borders said.

The statement was issued in conjunction with the Burma Media Association, a group of Myanmar journalists in exile.

It said the magazine was given no reason for being banned, but that editor Kyaw Win was told by censors in August that it was viewed as too pro-American.

The United States is a strong critic of the military regime for its human rights abuses and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government. The opposition National League for Democracy of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi won a 1990 general election, but the military never allowed Parliament to convene.

Khit-Sann had been published since August 2003 and was popular with young people and intellectuals. Reporters Without Borders described it as "one of the very few publications to try to cover current affairs, as well as social, economic and philosophical issues."

Khit-Thit, another privately owned publication, recently received warnings from the censorship bureau, the group said. It said the cover of an issue reporting on the 60th anniversary of World War II's D-Day was deemed objectionable "because its photo of U.S. combat troops was deemed to be 'too aggressive.'"

RSF also said the government has been harassing two writers, Ludu Sein Win and Dagon Tayar, after they gave interviews to the Myanmar-language services of Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, which broadcast by shortwave radio.

It said they had been criticized in the state-controlled press and that Ludu Sein Win's telephone has been cut for two weeks.

It has been learned that Burmese military authorities recently banned a popular journal, Khit-Sann for indefinite period.

A contributing Khit-Sann journalist, who doesn’t want to be mentioned by name, confirmed that Major Aye Htun, the director of the Press Scrutiny Board (PSB), without giving any reason, ordered the journal to immediately stop functioning from 1st of September.

“When editor Kyaw Win insisted an explanation, the Major told him that there was nothing to be explained as he himself was not clarified by superior authorities that instructed him to shut down the magazine”, the journalist said.

"Last month, Kyaw Win was summoned by the PSB and warned that Khit-Sann is considered by the government as pro-American and therefore to be more careful in its editorial policy”, he said.

BMA has also learned that Kyaw Win in June filed a complaint to authorities concerned for letting someone to use his name to write propaganda articles in government newspapers. When the authorities did not respond to his letter he wrote an article in Khit-Sann to explain the matter. However, the article was later censored by the PSB.

When asked about his opinion, the Khit-Sann journalist said, “I think that might be the reason the journal was banned”.

According to him PSB is operated by a Managing Board that in turn is controlled by the Military Intelligence, whose chief is the junta’s Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt.

New York, August 6, 2004 - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent arrest of Burmese documentary filmmaker Lazing La Htoi, who was detained on July 27 in Myitkyina, the capital of the northern Kachin State, for filming and distributing footage of extreme flooding that hit the region in late July.

La Htoi shot footage of the record floods with his personal video camera and then made 300 copies of the scenes on video compact disc for distribution, according to The Irrawaddy, a newspaper run by exiled Burmese journalists in Thailand. Local authorities arrested him on July 27 while he was copying the footage, and he remains in the custody of military intelligence, according to CPJ sources.

The Cyber Computer Center, where the copies of the video were made, was closed and ordered to recall all 300 copies of the footage before they could be distributed overseas, according to The Irrawaddy.

Metta Foundation, a U.S.-based organization founded on Buddhist principles that is one of the few nongovernmental agencies permitted to assist in rural development in Burma, according to CPJ sources and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, a regional journalists' La Htoi, 47, runs a private printing house and has produced video documentaries for the last 10 years for the group. Private video production companies are not allowed in Burma, which severely restricts press freedom and the distribution of information both inside and outside the country. However, foundations and other nongovernmental agencies are permitted to produce videos for educational purposes.

Burma's official newspaper Kyemon did not report any extensive damage resulting from the recent floods, according to The Irrawaddy, but La Htoi's video included footage of a dead body and an interview with a local resident citing as many as 50 casualties resulting from the flooding, according to CPJ sources.

Nine other journalists are currently behind bars in Burma, including documentary filmmakers Aung Pwint and Thaung Tun, who were arrested in October 1998 after working on a documentary about forced labor in Burma's rural areas.

"Sadly, like so many other journalists in Burma, Lazing La Htoi is being unfairly penalized for the simple act of reporting the news," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "He has violated no law and should be released immediately and unconditionally from detention."

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association today condemned the arrest of documentary film-maker Lazing La Htoi on 27 July in Myitkyina (in the northern state of Kichin) as ³a new attempt to suppress the news² and called on the head of the Burmese government, Gen. Than Shwe, to release him at once.

The owner of the Htoi San Press production agency, Lazing La Htoi was arrested for making a film about last month¹s severe flooding in Burma which, according to the official version carried by the pro-government newspaper Kyemon, caused no damage or loss of life.

Lazing La Htoi¹s documentary showed a victim¹s body and interviewed a witness who put the total number of dead at about 50. He made 300 copies of the documentary but was arrested before he could distribute them.

Together with a local NGO, the Metta Development Foundation, he has been making documentaries about humanitarian issues for some 10 years.

SEAPA has learned that on 27 July 2004, Military Intelligence agents arrested Lazing La Htoi, a local documentary filmmaker, for having filmed a flooding disaster in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state (northern Burma). They were attempting to block public access to information about the incident.

SEAPA sources said that a week before his arrest, La Htoi, the owner of Htoi San Press in Myitkyina, filmed the scenes of flooding for the Metta Foundation, a local humanitarian group.

The sources said he was arrested while copying the documentary on VCDs. His video clips included an interview with one witness who claimed about 50 people had died in the flooding.

La Htoi, who is in his mid 40's, has been producing humanitarian documentaries in Kachin state for more than a decade. While private news production houses are banned in Burma, local authorities in Kachin state allow non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and aid workers to produce homemade video documentaries as a medium of education on HIV/AIDS prevention and drug abuse.

An audio recording studio run by La Htoi's brother was also placed under close watch by the Military Intelligence, according to SEAPA sources.

On 30 July, "The Irrawaddy", a Bangkok-based news magazine run by exiled Burmese journalists, reported that Burmese authorities also shut down the Cyber Computer Centre indefinitely. The computer store was producing VCDs of La Htoi's documentary on the flooding disaster and was preparing to distribute them. According to "The Irrawaddy", 300 copies were recalled from the shop before they could be distributed abroad.

Military authorities had earlier played down the massive flooding, which according to local residents and NGOs assisting flood victims in the areas has claimed about 50 lives and damaged at least 5,000 homes.

"The attempts to withhold or block the information are blatant violations of the universal right to free access to information," SEAPA said in a statement. The organisation called upon the local authorities to immediately release La Htoi from custody and avoid a recurrence of the incident.

"La Htoi should not be arrested for exercising his rights to freely access information, particularly information that benefits the public interest," said the SEAPA statement, which was faxed to the Rangoon military junta.

New York, July 26, 2004 - Journalist Tha Ban, a former editor at Kyemon newspaper and a prominent pro-democracy activist, was released from Insein Prison in the capital, Rangoon, on July 12 after serving more than six years of his seven-year prison sentence. 

According to the BBC, he was released from prison after signing a pledge not to participate in politics and will be rearrested in he engages in any activity deemed "political."

Ban was arrested in February 1998 with Aung Htun, a writer and activist with the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, for writing a seven-volume book documenting the history of the Burmese student movement. Htun was sentenced to 17 years in prison, according to a joint report published in December 2001 by the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma and the Burma Lawyers Council. He is currently jailed at Tharawaddy Prison.

Ban, 67, is suffering from poor health, according to news reports and CPJ sources. His eyesight has deteriorated, and he has heart problems.

Nine other journalists remain behind bars in Burma, which has one of the most repressive press freedom climates in Asia.

RSF has welcomed the release from prison of 67-year-old journalist and political activist U Tha Ban, detained for more than seven years for helping a university student write about Burma's student movement, but said it was "very concerned" about the physical and mental health of at least 10 other journalists in jail in Burma.

In a joint statement issued with the Burma Media Association (BMA), RSF expressed regret that the journalist had not been freed earlier. He was released on 12 July 2004 from Rangoon's Isein prison, four months after his sentence had been served.

A lawyer and former staffer with the government paper "Kyemon" ("The Mirror"), U Tha Ban has spent 12 of the past 14 years in jail.

He was imprisoned from 1990 to 1995 for his involvement in the United Nationalities' League for Democracy (UNLD), which is linked to the opposition National League for Democracy. He was held for several years in a prison in Kale, in his native northwestern state of Arakan. He now has trouble walking and seeing. Requests to see an eye doctor were repeatedly refused. His health sharply deteriorated in 1999 but he was not allowed to go to hospital. RSF and the BMA have criticised what they called a "criminal and deliberate policy" by the authorities of allowing prisoners' health to worsen. At least 72 political prisoners have died in the country's jails in the last 25 years.

U Tha Ban worked for "Kyemon" from 1962 to 1978 and with various independent magazines from 1986 and 1990. He was arrested in March 1997 and accused of helping a student write articles and a book about the Burmese student movement. Thirty-one other people were arrested in the case.

Burma's Military Intelligence (MI) has renewed a nation-wide crackdown on politically-sensitive music. According to Mizzima News agency sources, the latest target is a newly-released CD containing songs by an exiled Burmese contemporary hip hop band, Myanmar Future Generation (MFG).

On 20 June 2004, the MI arrested members and concert organisers of a new hip hop band named 9mm after they performed their first concert at the Strand Hotel in Rangoon. In addition to their own songs, 9mm's performance featured MFG songs, according to the Mizzima News sources. The sources said the detainees were taken to an unknown MI location in the capital for interrogation. They were released on 9 July.

Meanwhile, the MI in Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, began conducting an investigation into students who may possess MFG's CDs. According to a 27 June Mizzima News report, the move followed a tip from MI agents in Rangoon that the CDs were secretly being distributed by a student group named New Generation.

The report quoted a student from Taunggyi as saying that the student group downloaded the songs, which contained lyrics about freedom and democracy, from MFG's website. MFG's songs are also being distributed in Mandalay.

Burmese dissident groups in exile are increasingly using songs and other forms of art to spread freedom and democracy messages inside the country to avoid reprisals by the military junta.

The MFG, founded in 2003, consists of 15 members living in exile. Their whereabouts and identities are kept secret for security reasons. To listen to and download MFG's songs, see: http://mm-fg.net This alert was prepared by SEAPA with information from Mizzima News.

On 24 June 2004, Burmese journalist Sein Mar was released from a Malaysian prison into the custody of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), according to the Center for Independent Journalists (CIJ) in Malaysia.

Lawyers and the media only learned of Sein Mar's release on 28 June when she did not appear in court.

CIJ quoted UNHCR officials as saying the authorities released her on the basis of her refugee status, reuniting her with her seven-year-old daughter. Both Sein Mar and her daughter will resettle in Norway.

Sein Mar, editor of the newsletter "Yaung Chee Oo", was arrested at a demonstration outside the Burmese embassy in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, on 17 May.

She was held for over a month without being charged, along with 22 supporters of the Democratic Federation of Burma and the National League for Democracy. Malaysian laws ban the public assembly of three or more persons.

The remaining 22 people were released by the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court on 28 June, but immediately rearrested under the Immigration Act, according to the country's independent online newspaper "Malaysiakini".

The paper quoted UNHCR officials as saying they would most probably be charged on 29 June under Section 6(1) of the Immigration Act for entering Malaysia without proper documentation.

CIJ and SEAPA, along with 23 other international and regional media advocacy groups, signed a joint appeal for the release of Sein Mar during the 11th annual meeting of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian human rights group Suaram called upon the police to release all the arrested Burmese nationals without conditions, since the Prosecutor's Office did not proceed with the charge.

The action by the police displayed blatant disrespect for the judiciary, international law and ethical practices, Suaram said in a statement released on 28 June.

Reporters Without Borders has awarded its 2004 Internet Freedom Prize to Chinese cyber-dissident Huang Qi, who has been in prison for four years for criticising the Chinese government on his website.

The press freedom organisation also presented its 2004 worldwide report, The Internet Under Surveillance, which is fully available on line at www.internet.rsf.org " Internet under surveillance " 2004 report

Reporters Without Borders has published its annual report on the state of online freedom in more than 60 countries   The Internet Under Surveillance.

The rights of Internet users, webmasters and online journalists have been substantially curbed since the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States.  The fight against terrorism has led to stricter monitoring of Internet traffic in both democracies and under authoritarian regimes.

Four countries throw people in jail for posting "subversive" topics online  China (with 63 cyber-dissidents in prison), Vietnam (7), the Maldives (3) and Syria (2).

Censorship of online publications is steadily increasing and dictatorships are developing more and more sophisticated ways of filtering the Internet.  China and Vietnam are experts in the field.  But the regimes in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Tunisia and Turkmenistan also block access to a very wide range of websites, including those featuring pornography, independent magazines, banned religions and human rights.

Cuba, Burma and North Korea have even harsher policies and restrict Internet access to a tiny minority of citizens rather than set up costly monitoring systems.

Democratic countries have steadily chipped away at the freedom of their Internet users.  This involves laudable aims, such as fighting online paedophilia, helping dismantle terrorist networks and protecting cultural industries against piracy.

But governments are having trouble reconciling users¹ rights to message privacy and freedom of expression with more and more serious financial and security concerns.  As a result, Internet freedom is now much less legally protected than that of the traditional media in most democratic countries.
The report, ³The Internet Under Surveillance " can be fully downloaded in .pdf format, along with the cover (300 dpi), from the website¹s "media downloads" link (www.rsf.org).

The following is a statement issued at the 11th General Meeting of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) in Baku, Azerbaijan, 13-18 June 2004:

We call on the Malaysian government to release Burmese journalist Sein Mar. She is being held in a Malaysian jail after being arrested at a demonstration outside the Myanmar Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on 17 May 2004.

Sein Mar, editor of the newsletter Yaung Chee Oo, has been denied bail twice by the Malaysian courts and is being detained without having been charged. She has been given UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) refugee status.

According to local news reports, she was detained with 22 supporters of the Democratic Federation of Burma and National League for Democracy during the demonstration. They were protesting a national convention held in Rangoon by the ruling military junta to formulate a new constitution.

Sein Mar was released two days later on police bail as she has a seven-year-old daughter with her. She was allowed to stay with her daughter under the care of the UNHCR. When she was brought to court on 25 May, the case was postponed to 14 June as an interpreter was not available. Her bail was denied and she was sent to the Kajang Prison, while her child was placed in the care of the UNHCR.

When Sein Mar reappeared in court, again the case was postponed for another two weeks for the same reason. The prosecutors have required more than a month to decide whether to charge or to release Sein Mar and her fellow detainees.

More recently, Burmese journalist Ko Minn Kyaw Minn was abducted and held for 12 hours on 1 June 2004. He was beaten and denied food and water. There is reason to believe that Burmese and Malaysian security forces coordinated the abduction. This is a worrying development, obviously detrimental to the right to freedom of expression held by the nationals of both countries.

We join Reporters Without Borders, the Burma Media Association and Malaysia's Charter 2000-Aliran in calling on the Malaysian government to release Sein Mar immediately to show that it fully respects international standards on free expression.

Signed,

Cartoonists Rights Network, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies, Central Asia and Southern Caucusus Free Expression Network Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, Freedom of Expression Institute, Freedom House, Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa, Independent Journalism Center, Moldova Index on Censorship, International Federation of Journalists, International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech, "Adil Soz", Internews, Uzbekistan Journaliste en danger, Media Foundation for West Africa, Media Institute of Southern Africa, Media Rights Agenda, Norwegian PEN PERIODISTAS, Southeast Asian Press Alliance, Thai Journalists Association, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), AMARC Asia Pacific World Press Freedom Committee

 ******

Background Information

1. The local police have recently pledged to improve the remand process. The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has also recommended that detainees should not be unduly remanded or detained for longer than 24 hours.

2. The Malaysian government has not signed the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, and does not recognise refugee status within the country.

Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders are calling on sports journalists to give their support to imprisoned Burmese sports editor Zaw Thet Htwe and seven law students during the European Football Championships in Portugal.

Zaw Thet Htwe is the editor of a popular Burmese sports magazine First Eleven. He was initially sentenced to death in November 2003 but his sentence was reduced to three years imprisonment on 12 May 2004. International pressure helped to contribute to the commutation of his sentence. With your help we could secure his full release.

The military junta accused Zaw Thet Htwe of involvement in a "conspiracy" against the government and charged him with "high treason". However Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders believe that he is a prisoner of conscience, arrested for exercising his right to freedom of expression. He had reportedly taken the risk of exposing irregularities on the part of Burmese sports officials.

The seven law students, who have been in detention since June 2003, are believed to have been arrested because they set up a student sports union in their university without official permission. Aung Gyi, Aung Ko Lwin, Kyaw Maung, Myo Myint Tun, Myo Than Htut, Nang Siang None and Win Htut Lwin were sentenced to terms of between seven and fifteen years' imprisonment and were reportedly ill-treated after their arrest.

They are among more than 1,350 political prisoners detained in Myanmar, many of whom have been arrested for their peaceful political activities.

How can you help win freedom for Zaw Thet Htwe and the 7 students?

1. By calling on Euro 2004 TV viewers, radio listeners and newspaper readers to sign an on-line petition calling for their release on the following websites: www.rsf.org and to write letters on the following website: http://asiapacific.amnesty.org. A special page will be devoted to their case throughout Euro 2004.

2. By urging sports journalists' organisations to collectively sign the petition.

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

The Right Honourable Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister of Malaysia

C/o Permanent Representative to UN

Email: malaysia@un.int

8 June 2004

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 serious concern at the kidnapping of Burmese journalist Minn Kyaw.

According to reports, on 1 June Mr Kyaw, chief editor of Burma Media Link magazine and a pro-democracy activist, was forced from his car while en route to Kuala Lumpur airport to cover the arrival of Burmese prime minister General Khin Nyunt.

Mr Kyaw, who has United Nations refugee status, was reportedly abducted by men claiming to be with the Malaysian police's special branch. Two vehicles reportedly forced Mr Kyaw's car to stop before he was taken from the vehicle, handcuffed and a hood placed over his head. Mr Kyaw was taken to a southern suburb of the city and held in a container.

After several hours without food or water, Mr Kyaw was interrogated by a Burmese woman. His captors, who beat him during his detention, asked about his local campaigning for democracy in Burma and his support for Burmese refugees in Malaysia. The woman accused him of 'insulting Burma' in articles he had written and in comments on local radio stations. She also demanded to know where he got the money to publish Burma Media Link.

Another Burmese journalist, Sein Mar, is currently being held in Malaysia for demonstrating against the Burmese regime.

We respectfully call on you to ensure that a thorough investigation into Mr Kyaw 's abduction is held and that those responsible are swiftly brought to justice. We also ask you to ensure that Sein Mar is immediately released from prison and urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that in future journalists are able to exercise their right to freedom of expression without fear of violence.

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

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) and the Burma Media Association (BMA) called today for an investigation into the kidnapping of exiled Burmese journalist and pro-democracy activist Minn Kyaw in Malaysia on 1 June and his detention for 12 hours by supposed members of the Malaysian police special branch.

He was seized on his way to Kuala Lumpur airport to cover the arrival of Burmese prime minister Gen. Khin Nyunt and interrogated by Burmese agents about his political and journalistic activities in Malaysia. "It would be shocking if, as well as ceremonially receiving the head of a tyrannical and illegitimate regime, the Malaysian authorities were preventing journalists from doing their work for fear of offending a Burmese general," the two organisations said in a letter to prime minister and internal security minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Another Burmese journalist, Sein Mar, is currently being held in Malaysia for demonstrating against the Burmese regime.

Minn Kyaw¹s Malaysian wife, Yassra Sahril, said her husband, who is editor of the magazine Burma Media Link and represents the BMA in Malaysia, had been kidnapped by men who said they were members of the police special branch as he and she were driving to the airport. Two vehicles forced their car to stop. A man ran towards it, opened the door and shouted ³We want Minn Kyaw!² He was dragged out, handcuffed and a hood placed over his head.

He was taken to a southern suburb of the city and shut up in a container. After several hours without food or water, he was interrogated by a Burmese woman. His captors, who beat him during his detention, asked about his local campaigning for democracy in Burma and his support for Burmese refugees in Malaysia.

The woman criticised him for "insulting Burma" in articles he had written and in comments on local radio stations. She also asked where he got the money to publish Burma Media Link.

His wife filed a complaint with police. The officer in charge of the investigation said the case was a "delicate matter" and refused to say if the kidnapping had been ordered by the authorities, adding only that "the enquiry is continuing." On 3 June, Minn Kyaw's lawyer was not allowed to be present during a police interview of the journalist.

Journalist Sein Mar, edito