International media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released a joint statement with the Burma Media Association on Friday condemning the Burmese military junta for intimidating the press, censoring news and imposing harsh sentences on journalists.
“Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association today condemned the military junta for intimidating the press trying to cover recent national and international events, as a journalist was jailed for two years after being arrested near the home of Aung San Suu Kyi,” the RSF Web site said.
“Since the UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari arrived in Burma one might expect greater tolerance on the part of the authorities, but on the contrary, the trial of Suu Kyi is being held in a climate of repression and censorship,” it said.
“We call on the UN envoy to show firmness in his talks with the authorities, including the release of all political prisoners and an end to prior censorship. Without this, there can be no approval of any reconciliation process or elections.”
According to the statement, military intelligence agents on June 23 visited several media offices to demand lists of journalists who had taken part in journalism training sessions at the US Embassy in Rangoon.
The two press watchdogs also strongly condemned the two-year sentence imposed on freelance journalist Zaw Tun on 18 June. A journalist with the magazine The News Watch, he was arrested near Suu Kyi’s home in Rangoon by a police officer who claimed he had shown “hostility” toward him.
Another local journalist, the veteran U Win Tin, who was cited as a defense witness in the trial of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, has been under constant surveillance by the police, the statement said, adding that the prosecutor had refused to accept the former political prisoner as a witness because he had criticized the government, particularly in foreign media.
The Burmese military authorities have for many years imposed strict censorship on all media through its draconian Press Scrutiny and Registration Division. It recently banned the publication of news such as the arrival of a North Korean cargo ship, the Kang Nam 1, in Rangoon, the collapse of the Danok pagoda in Rangoon Division, and Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial.
The censorship bureau also banned several recent articles regarding demonstrations in Iran.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Ludu Sein Win, an experienced Burmese journalist in Rangoon, said, “There is no freedom of the press in Burma, because there is no real democracy. To achieve press freedom, we must first acquire political freedom.
“The nature of dictatorship is very sensitive and takes a defensive view,” he said. “Every dictatorship imposes strict censorship because it is very sensitive about the media. They look at every case with a perspective of defending themselves.”
Ludu Sein Win added: “Actually, the role of the media is very important for the country, just as the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary are. So, it can be said to be the ‘fourth pillar of the state.’
The freedom of media is also very important for free and fair elections. If there is no press freedom, it is rather difficult to envisage a free and fair election.”
Also speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Ohn Kyaing, a Burmese journalist and member of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), said, “The censorship bureau is clear evidence that there is no freedom of the press in Burma. The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division consistently bans the publication of news items and imposes strict censorship.
“Actually, news is like a river,” he said. “It needs to flow—be it with new ideas, views, articles or public information. True news and information can develop a country and broaden its citizens’ outlooks.”
RSF revealed at the end of 2008 that the censorship bureau had sent all media offices in Rangoon a document detailing 10 rules that were to be observed by editors, who would also be punished if changes were made to articles after the board had checked and verified them.
irrawaddy
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