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Article 19 on Burma Censorship



ERRORS-TO:INET:strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
FROM:NBH03114@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Burmese Relief Center--Japan
DATE:March 28, 1995
TIME:10:08PM JST
SUBJ:Excellent Article 19 Report on Burmese
Censorship

POLITICAL DEADLOCK DEFIES STIRRINGS OF
ECONOMIC CHANGE

On 21 March 1995, ARTICLE 19 publishes
Censorship Prevails: Political Deadlock and Economic
Transition in Burma.  The ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) is attempting to
promote economic development while reinforcing the
structures of military rule.  Harsh laws stifle political
debate; opposition politicians are imprisoned;
censorship controls all media; and despite a number of
recent cease-fires, the military government continues a
civil war against its own ethnic minority peoples.

In the midst of this upheaval, the SLORC is promoting
tourism, natural gas and mineral resource
development, and international business of all kinds.

ARTICLE 19's Executive Director, Frances D'Souza,
comments: "Burma cannot sustain these
contradictions.  Future stability and economic
development depend upon opening up the political
process to debate; the release of Aung San Suu Kyi
and political prisoners; and the repeal of laws which
deny the rights of association.  Military operations
against minority ethnic groups must give way to
renewed dialogue."

The report examines Burma's censorship laws, and its
record of repression.  These conditions create what the
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights has
described as the "atmosphere of pervasive fear" in
Burma.  NO aspect of life escapes the consequences of
the 1988 military coup, and the SLORC's refusal to
yield power after the 1990 election victory of the
National League for Democracy.

Alarmingly, the SLORC continues to defy UN
resutions and calls for access by the International
Committee of the Red Cross to Burma's prisons.

Nevertheless, intellectual and artistic life survive.  New
business magazines struggle to increase coverage of
social issues.  Video filming, though censored,
constitutes a new industry.  Hints of change are found
in unlikely places: readers comb the business press for
news excluded from mainstream papers, and official
denunciations of the "inaccuracies" of foreign news
reporting are scrutinized for hidden information about
Burma.

For further information, please contact: Catherine
Drucker (Campaigns) Tel: 44 71 713 1357, Fax 44 71
713 1356
Article 19, Lancaster House, 33 Islington High St.,
London N1 9LH
U.K.
or 
Martin Smith
Tel: 662 300 1945, Fax. 662 300 1972