Freedom of Opinion and Expression - tools for change in Burma/Myanmar

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Title: Internet access Internet access restored as Myanmar coup protests grow
Description: " As enthusiastic crowds of tens of thousands marched through the streets of Myanmar’s biggest city on Sunday to protest last week’s coup ousting Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, their spirits were lifted by the return of internet services that had been blocked a day earlier. Separate protests that began in various parts of Yangon converged at Sule Pagoda, situated in the center of a roundabout in the city’s downtown area. Protesters chanted “Long live Mother Suu” and “Down with military dictatorship.” Protesters in other parts of the country echoed their calls. Authorities had cut access to the internet as the protests grew Saturday, fanning fears of a complete information blackout. On Sunday afternoon, however, internet users in Yangon reported that data access on their mobile phones had suddenly been restored. RELATED COVERAGE – UN chief: UN will seek to unite world, reverse Myanmar coup – Military coup yet another blow for Myanmar's sagging economy – Myanmar's Suu Kyi detained again — without her old support The demonstrators are seeking to roll back last Monday’s seizure of power by the military and demanding the release from detention of Suu Kyi, the country’s ousted leader, and other top figures from her National League for Democracy party. The military has accused Suu Kyi’s government of failing to act on its complaints that last November’s election was marred by fraud, though the election commission said it had found no evidence to support the claims. The growing protests are a sharp reminder of the long and bloody struggle for democracy in a country that the military ruled directly for more than five decades before loosening its grip in 2012. Suu Kyi’s government, which won a landslide election in 2015, was the first led by civilians in decades, though it faced a number of curbs to its power under a military-drafted constitution..."
Source/publisher: "Associated Press" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-02-07
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar coup: Internet shutdown as crowds protest against military
Description: "A near-total internet blackout is in effect with connectivity falling to 16% of ordinary levels, said the monitoring group NetBlocks Internet Observatory. In the main city, Yangon, crowds chanted "Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win". Police with riot shields have blocked the main roads into the city centre. The internet shutdown happened hours after the military had blocked access to Twitter and Instagram to stop people mobilising for protests. Facebook had been banned a day earlier. Many users had evaded the restrictions on social media by using virtual private networks (VPNs) but the more general blackout severely disrupted that. How the military disrupted Myanmar's internet In pictures: Myanmar protests defy military coup What Myanmar's coup means for Aung San Suu Kyi Civil society organisations urged internet providers and mobile networks to challenge the blackout order, Reuters news agency reported. Human rights group Amnesty International called the shutdown "heinous and reckless" and warned it could put the people of Myanmar at risk of human rights violations. The military has not commented. It temporarily blocked access to the internet following the coup on 1 February..."
Source/publisher: "BBC News" (London)
Date of publication: 2021-02-06
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Spirit of Myanmar’s National Day forgotten?
Description: "On today, the 21 November, the people of Myanmar celebrate their National Day, an annual public holiday for the country, celebrated on the tenth day following the full moon of the month of Tazaungmone, the eighth month of the country’s calendar. The holiday marks the anniversary of the beginning of student-led protests against the British in 1920. As with most of ASEAN, from the earliest days of colonisation, there was a strong feeling of resentment against the rule of Myanmar’s colonisers. The student protests of 1920 were seen as the start of the resistance movement that ultimately led to independence from Britain in 1948. In 1920, on the tenth day following the full-moon day of Tazaungmone, students from the Rangoon and Judson Colleges began protests against the British administration’s Rangoon University Act of 1920. The Act raised the status of Rangoon College to that of a university, but the changes in the administration and curriculum were seen to exclude the local population. The protests ignited a call for nationalism among students, the basis of which formed the key elements of the country’s independence movement. Today, however, Myanmar’s leadership seem to have forgotten the spirit of the 1920 student protests..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication: 2019-11-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar shuts down internet in conflict areas as UN expert warns of potential abuses during blackout
Description: "A top United Nations official has warned of "serious implications for human rights" in parts of Myanmar after the government shut down mobile data networks. According to Telenor, a Norwegian telecoms firm which operates mobile internet services in Myanmar, on June 20 all mobile phone operators were ordered to "temporarily stop mobile internet traffic in nine townships in Rakhine and Chin State." "The directive, which makes references to the Myanmar's Telecommunication Law, does not specify when the shutdown will end. As basis for its request," Telenor said in a statement, adding that officials "referenced disturbances of peace and use of internet services to coordinate illegal activities." The Myanmar military, also known as the Tatmadaw, has been conducting a major security operation and crackdown in the western province of Rakhine since August 2017, when alleged Rohingya militants attacked police posts. More than 720,000 Rohingya are estimated to have been forced to flee into Bangladesh as a result of the ensuing violence, which US lawmakers and international human rights bodies have said amounts to ethnic cleansing and even genocide..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "CNN"
Date of publication: 2019-06-25
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Font: Zawgyi
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Title: Karenni Activists Charged in Loikaw, in Myanmar’s Kayah State
Description: "The Loikaw Township Court on Monday officially charged six Karenni youths with slander under Article 8(d) of the Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of Citizens for calling the Kayah State chief minister a traitor over his support of a statue of Myanmar independence hero General Aung San. In February, the Kayah State government erected the statue in a park in the state’s capital, Loikaw, amid much protest from Karenni locals. The state government used the police force to crack down on protesters that had gathered at the park and later outside of the local National League for Democracy (NLD) headquarters. Karenni activists said at the time that they have their own history involving their own ethnic leaders, and that the statue of Gen. Aung San is a symbol of the dominant role the interests and identity of the Burmese majority plays in the country, to the disadvantage of ethnic minorities. To them, it’s also a symbol of what they see as yet-unfulfilled promises made by the assassinated general and the Panglong Agreement of 1947..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-08-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Joint statement: constitutional reform must guarantee the right to freedom of expression in Myanmar
Description: "Today the ICJ joined twenty organizations in calling for Myanmar’s new Constitutional Amendment Committee to fully protect the right to freedom of expression in the Constitution, in line with international law and standards including Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.....We call on the Constitutional Amendment Committee to recommend: Replacement of the current heavily prescribed guarantee for freedom of expression in Articles 354(a) and 365 with a single article that guarantees the right to freedom of expression in accordance with international standards, so that it fully reflects the requirements of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. A new separate article guaranteeing the right to access information held by public authorities. A new separate article guaranteeing media freedom, which should prohibit prior censorship of the media or licensing of the print media and individual journalists, and should protect journalism as well as the independence of the Myanmar Press Council, Myanmar Broadcasting Council, and any future public service media. Each guarantee should include only those limitations that are provided by law and are necessary for the respect of the rights or reputations of others, or for the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals..."
Creator/author: Yin Yadanar Thein
Source/publisher: International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) via "20 expert organisations"
Date of publication: 2019-04-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 193.41 KB
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Title: Myanmar: Surge in Arrests for Critical Speech
Description: "Myanmar’s authorities have in recent weeks engaged in a series of arrests of peaceful critics of the army and government, Human Rights Watch said today. The parliament, which begins its new session on April 29, 2019, should repeal or amend repressive laws used to silence critics and suppress freedom of expression. The recent upswing in arrests of satirical performers, political activists, and journalists reflects the rapid decline in freedom of expression in Myanmar under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government. In the latest blow to media freedom, on April 23, the Supreme Court upheld the seven-year prison sentences of two Reuters journalists accused of breaching the Official Secrets Act. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who won Pulitzer prizes earlier in April for their reporting, had been prosecuted in apparent retaliation for their investigation of a massacre of Rohingya villagers in Inn Din, Rakhine State, that implicated the army. “Myanmar’s government should be leading the fight against the legal tools of oppression that have long been used to prosecute critics of the military and government,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “During military rule, Aung San Suu Kyi and many current lawmakers fought for free expression, yet now the NLD majority in parliament has taken almost no steps to repeal or amend abusive laws still being used to jail critics.” The authorities have been arresting peaceful critics under a range of laws, especially section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law and section 505 of the penal code. Section 66(d) has been used repeatedly against online critics, while section 505, a broadly worded provision that does not allow for pretrial release on bail, has been used mainly by the military..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-05-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar: Peaceful Critics Prosecuted
Description: ''Myanmar’s first democratically elected civilian government in decades has prosecuted large numbers of peaceful critics in violation of basic human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Concerned governments should press Myanmar to protect the rights to expression and assembly, and reform laws penalizing peaceful speech to bring them in line with international standards. The 87-page report, “Dashed Hopes: The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Myanmar,” documents the use of broad and vaguely worded laws against activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy-led government. While discussion of a wide range of topics now flourishes in the media and online, those speaking critically of the government, military, or their officials, as well as abuses in Rakhine or Kachin States, are frequently subject to arrest and prosecution...''
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Peaceful Critics Prosecuted: Repeal or Amend Laws Criminalizing Speech, Assembly
Description: '' Myanmar’s first democratically elected civilian government in decades has prosecuted large numbers of peaceful critics in violation of basic human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Concerned governments should press Myanmar to protect the rights to expression and assembly, and reform laws penalizing peaceful speech to bring them in line with international standards. The 87-page report, “Dashed Hopes: The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Myanmar,” documents the use of broad and vaguely worded laws against activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy-led government. While discussion of a wide range of topics now flourishes in the media and online, those speaking critically of the government, military, or their officials, as well as abuses in Rakhine or Kachin States, are frequently subject to arrest and prosecution. “Abuses against the press under Myanmar’s new government have been particularly striking,” said Linda Lakhdhir, Asia le" The report, based on interviews in Myanmar and analysis of legal and policy changes since 2016, examines the use of laws including the Telecommunications Law, Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, and Myanmar’s penal code. The government should stop using criminal laws against peaceful speech and assembly and undertake legislative reforms to better protect freedom of expression, assembly, and the media...''
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch via " Progressive Voice"
Date of publication: 2019-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.27 MB 655.65 KB
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Title: Beginners? guide to content restriction အကြောင်းအရာကန့်သတ်ချက်ဆိုင်ရာ ယေဘုယျစည်းမျဉ်းများ
Description: ARTICLE 19 launched this beginners? guide as part of our work on reform in Myanmar. It is part of a series of such guides which are available at www.article19.org လွတ်လပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုခွင့်နှင့်ပတ်သတ်သော နိုင်ငံတကာစံနှုန်းများ 5 International standards on the right to free expression အကြောင်းအရာကန့်သတ်ချက်ဆိုင်ရာယေဘုယျစည်းမျဉ်းများ 13 General rules on content restrictions အကြောင်းအရာကန့်သတ်ထိန်းချုပ်မှု၏ သီးခြားအမှုများ 18 Specific cases of content restriction အသရေဖျက်ခြင်း 19 Defamation အမျိုးသားလုံခြုံရေးကာကွယ်ရေး၊လူထုငြိမ်ဝပ်ပိပြားရေးနှင့်လူထုလုံခြုံ စိတ်ချရေး 33 Protection of national security, public order, public safety အမုန်းတရားဖြစ်ရန်လှုံ့ဆော်ခြင်း 40 Incitement to hatred ဘာသာရေးကိုစော်ကားသော(ဘုရားသခင်ကိုဆဲဆိုသောစကား)ကိုထိန်းချုုပ်သည့်ဥပဒေ 53 Blasphemy laws သတင်းမှား 58 False news ပြည်သူ့နီတိ 62 Public morals ကိုယ်ပိုင်လွတ်လပ်ခွင့် 67 Privacy
Source/publisher: Article 19
Date of publication: 2014-07-23
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 327.33 KB
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Title: Beginners? guide to freedom of expression laws - အခြေခံအဆင့် နိုင်ငံတကာလူ့အခွင့်အရေးဥပဒေလမ်းညွှန်
Description: မြန်မာပြည် ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲရေးဆိုင်ရာ လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်အဖြစ် ၂၀၁၂ တွင် အခြေခံအဆင့် နိုင်ငံတကာ လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ဥပဒေ လမ်းညွှန်စာအုပ်ကို ထုတ်ဝေခဲ့သည်။ ဤလမ်းညွှန် စာအုပ်တွင် လွတ်လ ပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုင်ခွင့်ကို လေးစားရန်၊ ကာကွယ်စောင့်ရှောက်ရန်နှင့် မြင့်တင်ရန် အစိုးရ များ လုပ်ဆောင်ရမည့်အရာ၊ မလုပ်ဆောင်သင့်သည့်အရာများ ကို ရှင်းပြထားသည်။ ARTICLE 19 launched this beginners? guide as part of our work on reform in Myanmar. It is part of a series of such guides which are available at www.article19.org Regulating print media 3 ပုံနှိပ်မီဒီယာကို စည်းမျဉ်းဖြင့် ထိန်းချုပ်ခြင်း Regulating journalists 13 သတင်းထောက်များကို စည်းမျဉ်းဖြင့် ထိန်းချုပ်ခြင်း Regulating the internet 27 အင်တာနက်ကို စည်းမျဉ်းဖြင့် ထိန်းချုပ်ခြင်း Regulating broadcast media 37 ရုပ်သံလွင့်မီဒီယာကို စီးမျဉ်းဖြင့်ထိန်းချုပ်ခြင်း Regulating film 49 ရုပ်ရှင်ကိုထိန်းချုပ်ခြင်း Regulating freedom of assembly 53 ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာစုဝေခြင်း Regulating assess to public information 61 အများပြည်သူဆိုင်ရာသတင်းအချက်အလက်များ ရယူခြင်း
Source/publisher: Article 19
Date of publication: 2014-07-23
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 258.56 KB
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Title: Guide to advocacy on freedom of expression in Myanmar - မြန်မာပြည်အတွက် လွတ်လပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုခွင့် ဆော်သြလှုံ့ဆော်မှုလုပ်??
Description: အာတီကယ် ၁၉ အဖွဲ့နှင့် လွတ်လပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုခွင့်အတွက် မြန်မာပြည်သူ့ညွှန့်ပေါင်းအဖွဲ့ မြန်မာပြည်အတွက် လွတ်လပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုခွင့် ဆော်သြလှုံ့ဆော်မှုလုပ်ငန်း လမ်းညွှန် ARTICLE 19 and the Myanma People?s Coalition for Free Expression present The guide to advocacy on freedom of expression in Myanmar. This beginners? guide was developed by ARTICLE 19 and the Myanma People?s Coalition for Free Expression for training civil society on how to campaign for freedom of expression. It is part of a series of Myanma language guides which are available at www.article19.org နိဒါန်း 2 Introduction ဆော်သြလှုံ့ဆော်မှုဆိုတာဘာလဲ။ ဘာအတွက် စည်းရုံးလှုပ်ရှားကြမှာလဲ။ 4 Advocacy and campaigning ဆော်သြလှုံ့ဆော်မှု လုပ်ငန်းစဉ် စက်ဝန်း 7 The advocacy cycle ၁။ လုပ်ဆောင်မည့်အရေးကိစ္စ ထုတ်ဖော်သတ်မှတ်ပါ 10 Identifying the issues ၂။ စိတ်ဖျာသုံးသပ်ခြင်း 11 Analysis ၃။ ရည်ရွယ်ချက်လုပ်ငန်းစဉ် ချမှတ်ခြင်း 16 Setting objectives ၄။ ဦးတည်ချက်ပစ်မှတ်နှင့် မဟာမိတ်များကို သတ်မှတ်ခြင်း 19 Identifying the targets and your allies ၅။ အသုံးပြုမည့်နည်းလမ်း ရွေးချယ်ပြီး သတင်းစကားများဖန်တီးပါ 26 Selecting the tools and developing the messages ၆။ လှုပ်ရှားမှုအစီအစဉ်ချမှတ်ခြင်း 29 Establish a plan of action ၇။ စောင့်ကြည့်ခြင်းနှင့် အကဲဖြတ်ခြင်း 31 Monitoring and evaluation
Source/publisher: Article 19
Date of publication: 2014-00-23
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
Format : pdf
Size: 262.65 KB
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Title: Background paper on freedom of expression in Myanmar - လွတ်လပ်စွာထုတ်ဖော်ပြောဆိုခွင့်အခြေအနေပြောင်းလဲမှုဖော်ဆောင်ခြင်း
Description: "...The paper briefly looks at the key laws in Myanmar that affect people?s freedom to seek and share information and ideas ? whether that is through the media, in everyday conversations, on the Internet, or in demonstrations in the street. For each law, ARTICLE 19 briefly points out where the main obstacles are to protecting and promoting the right to freedom of expression. It explains what international human rights law requires the government to do ? or not do ? in a certain area, in order to respect, protect and fulfil the right to freedom of expression..."
Source/publisher: Article 19
Date of publication: 2014-07-23
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 252.58 KB
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