From Report by Committee to Protect

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Go to

http://www.cpj.org/pubs/attacks97/attacks97index.html
   for full report from Committee to Protect Journalists
Attacks 1997

129 Journalists in Jail
As of December 31, 1997


As the world prepared to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, at least 129 journalists were being held in prison
for exercising the right guaranteed to them in Article 19
to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media, and regardless of frontiers." The
Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for their
immediate release.

Burma (8)
                        Please send appeals to:
                        His Excellency General Than
                        Shwe
                        Prime Minister and Minister of
                        Defense
                        Chairman of the State Peace and
                        Development Council
                        Ministry of Defense
                        Signal Pagoda Road
                        Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar
                        (Burma)
                        Tel: 87862

U Win Tin
Imprisoned: July 4, 1989
U Win Tin, former editor of two daily newspapers and
vice-chair of Burma?s Writers Association, was arrested and
sentenced to three years? hard labor?a sentence that was
subsequently extended. U Win Tin was active in establishing
independent publications during the 1988 student democracy
movement, and he also worked closely with imprisoned
National League for Democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi.
    Authorities extended U Win Tin?s sentence by five more
years on March 28, 1996, after they convicted him of
smuggling letters describing conditions at Insein prison to
Professor Yozo Yokota, the U.N. Special Rapporteur for
human rights in Burma.
    In an October alert, Human Rights Watch cited reports that
U Win Tin was seriously ill and perhaps close to death in
Rangoon General Hospital. He was apparently transferred to
the hospital in early October from Myingyan jail, known to be
one of the worst in Burma.

U Maung Maung Lay Ngwe
Imprisoned: September 1990
U Maung Maung Lay Ngwe was arrested and charged with
writing and distributing publications that "make people lose
respect for the government." The publications were titled,
collectively, Pe-Tin-Tan.
    In 1997, CPJ was unable to obtain new information on his
status.

U Myo Myint Nyein, U Sein Hlaing, What?s Happening
Imprisoned: September 1990
U Myo Myint Nyein and U Sein Hlaing were arrested for
contributing to the preparation, planning, and publication of
the satirical news magazine What?s Happening, which the
Burmese government claims is anti-government propaganda.
They were sentenced to seven years in prison. On March 28,
1996, they were among 21 prisoners tried inside Insein Prison
and given an additional seven years sentence under the
Emergency Provisions Act for smuggling letters describing
prison conditions to Professor Yozo Yokota, the U.N. Special
Rapporteur for human rights in Burma. In 1997, CPJ was
unable to obtain new information on their case.

Daw San San Nwe
U Sein Hla Oo
Imprisoned: August 5, 1994
Dissident writer Daw San San Nwe and journalist U Sein Hla
Oo were arrested on charges of spreading information
damaging to the state and contacting anti-government groups.
San San Nwe and Sein Hla Oo were sentenced on October 6,
1994 to 10 years and seven years in prison, respectively.
Three other dissidents, including a former UNICEF worker,
were sentenced to between 7 and 15 years in prison on similar
charges. Officials said the five had "fabricated and sent
anti-government reports to some diplomats in foreign
embassies, foreign radio stations, and visiting foreign
journalists." San San Nwe allegedly met two French reporters
visiting Burma in April 1993 and appeared in a video they
produced to spread propaganda about the government.
According to reports citing Burmese officials, authorities
seized confidential Energy Ministry data, as well as documents
and compact discs containing anti-government materials from
one of the dissidents. Both U Sein Hla Oo and Daw San San
Nwe were previously imprisoned for their involvement in the
National League for Democracy, Burma?s main
pro-democracy party. As of December 1994, all five were
being held at the Insein Prison in Rangoon. In 1997, CPJ was
unable to obtain new information on their case.

Ma Myat Mo Mo Tun
Imprisoned: 1994
The daughter of imprisoned dissident Daw San San Nwe, Ma
Myat Mo Mo Tun, was arrested in 1994 and sentenced to
seven years in prison for spreading information injurious to
the state. She is alleged to have recorded "defamatory letters
and documents," made contact with "illegal" groups and sent
anti-government articles to a journal published by an
expatriate group. In 1997, CPJ was unable to obtain new
information on her case.

Ye Htut
Imprisoned: September 27, 1995
Ye Htut was arrested on charges of sending fabricated news
abroad to Burmese dissidents and opposition media. Among
the organizations to which Ye Htut allegedly confessed
sending reports was the Thailand-based Burma Information
Group (BIG), which publishes the human rights newsletter
The Irrawaddy. Burma?s official media claimed that BIG had
presented a false picture of the country to foreign
governments and human rights organizations. He was
sentenced to seven years in prison. In 1997, CPJ was unable
to obtain new information on his status.



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