Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations

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Title: Light Fading at Myanmar Times
Description: Rangoon-based journal loses special privileges... "With the help of Burma?s spooks, Australian Ross Dunkley launched the colorful Myanmar Times in 2000. Full of optimism and enthusiasm, he claimed that he saw a greater openness in the country and set out to push the envelope. ROSS DUNKLEY: Feeling the heat Dunkley claimed that his weekly newspaper was exercising responsible journalism in order to create a more favorable environment for all the media in Burma. A nice idea, but local reporters and editors didn?t agree. They saw Dunkley as merely the junta?s apologist, saying he was committed to promoting the cause of Gen Khin Nyunt and military intelligence rather than any grand notions of press freedom. The paper had its own censorship board com"prising Brig-Gen Thein Swe and other ministers who were close allies of Khin Nyunt. Without having to pass through the usual bureaucratic channels, the special censorship board would give the paper quick approval. This set The Myanmar Times head and shoulders above other Rangoon publications, granting it special dispensation to cover sensitive domestic issues such as the status of Aung San Suu Kyi and the visits of UN special investigators to the country. Such privileges were never offered to the local press. But Dunkley?s mission is now in doubt. After a change of guard at the top, The Myanmar Times can no longer obtain ?special privilege? status from the authorities. With the demise of military intelligence and Gen Khin Nyunt, Dunkley?s future is looking somewhat dim. Several media observers have even predicted that The Myanmar Times will be shut down. Well, that?s not happened yet, but the paper is in trouble..."
Aung Zaw
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 3
Date of publication: 2005-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-28
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: State of Fear: Censorship in Burma (Myanmar)
Description: "...T h i s report documents the extent and mechanisms of censorship in Burma and the many restrictions on political, cultural, religious and academic freedoms, both under the former BSPP government and its successor, the SLORC, which assumed power in September 1988. Since then, writers and journalists have continued to be detained, harassed and dismissed from their posts. Publications have been banned and, using new martial law restrictions, press censorship has been further tightened. Foreign journalists have been banned and the SLORC has launched frequent attacks on foreign news organizations and journalists..." 3 The Background to Crisis: 3.1 Economic and Social Collapse; 3.2 Ethnic Strife and Civil War; 3.3 Narcotics and AIDS; 3.4 Ecology; 3.5 Refugees; 3.6 The Issue of Human Rights... 4 Development of the Press in Burma: 4.1 The Colonial Era; 4.2 The Parliamentary Era... 5 The Legacy of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP): 5.1 The Ne Win Period; 5.2 The Media Under Ne Win; 5.3 The 1974 Constitution; 5.4 The Publishing Registration Law; 5.5 Alternative Expression; 5.6 Ethnic Minorities and Burmanization; 5.7 Religious Minorities; 5.8 Literacy... 6 The Press in the 1988 Democracy Summer: 7 The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC); 7.1 SLORC Claims of Legitimacy; 7.2 SLORC's Use of the Law; 7.3 SLORC Actions in the pre-Election Period; 7.4 Restrictions on Movement and Forced Relocations of Civilians... 8 The 1990 General Election: 8.1 Arrests and Retrospective Laws in the post-Election Period; 8.2 Continuing Use of Press Laws to Stifle Freedom of Expression; 8.3 Ill-Treatment and Death in Custody of Poltical Prisoners... 9 Cultural and Political Expression Under the SLORC: 9.1 Newspapers; 9.2 SLORC's Cultural Revolution; 9.3 Music and Films; 9.4 Journals, Books and Magazines; 9.5 Education; 9.6 Restrictions on Public Servants and Political Parties; 9.7 Religious Freedom; 9.8 Ethnic Minorities; 9.9 The Insurgent Press... 10 The SLORC and the International Community: 10.1 The Foreign Press; 10.2 The International Response; 10.3 The Reply from the SLORC; 10.4 The Role of the United Nations... 11 Summary of the SLORC Period and Prospects for the Future... 12 Conclusions and Recommendations... Appendix 1: Journalists,Writers and Intellectuals in Detention; Appendix 2: Country Statistics... Appendix 3: Extracts from "What has become of us?" by Min Lu... Appendix 4: SLORC Questionnaire to Public Servants, 1 April 1991... Appendix 5: SLORC Questionnaire to Political Parties, 5 August 1991... Appendix 6: Multilateral and Bilaterall Aid to Burma... Appendix 7: Foreign Company Investments and Trade in Burma... Select Bibliography. ISBN 1 870798 71 6
Martin Smith
Source/publisher: Article 19
Date of publication: 1991-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2005-06-11
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 451.35 KB 719.94 KB
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Title: OBSTACLES TO INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN BURMA
Description: "The major problems that exist in Burma today can be traced to the formation of the Union of Burma when a diverse group of indigenous peoples agreed to work together in peace before they were freed from colonial rule. But just months after leaders of the majority Burman and the Shan, Chin, Kachin and Karenni nationalities signed the Panglong Agreement on February 12, 1947, General Aung San (father of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi) was assassinated and their hopes of establishing a Federal Union were dashed. When Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948, the government of U Nu, who had succeeded General Aung San, was installed. Almost immediately, the rights of the minority ethnic nationalities were rejected and civil war broke out. As a result of the denial of basic freedoms for the ethnic nationalities and the right to self-determination previously agreed upon, this civil war has dragged on for half a century and Burma has become one of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) in the world. To this day the Burman military government blames the ethnic nationalities for the country?s failure to develop on a par with other countries of Southeast Asia..."
Cham Toik
Source/publisher: World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva, December 8-11, 2003
Date of publication: 2003-12-11
Date of entry/update: 2003-12-11
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Size: 33.14 KB
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Title: Überwachung der Post in Myanmar
Description: "...Der folgende Tex ist eine Zusammenstellung der wenigen Fetzen an Informationen, die ich zu diesem Thema zusammtragen konnte. Ich schreibe dies als Philatelist und Posthistoriker,dennoch dürfte dies auf weiteres Inter- esse stoßen...."
„Pyinsa Yupa“, Deutsch von Heiko Schäfer
Source/publisher: Burma & Myanmar philately!
Date of publication: 2003-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-12-05
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
Format : pdf
Size: 289.59 KB
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Title: Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2002-03: Freedom of Opinion, Expression, and the Press
Description: "Freedoms of opinion, expression, and the press have been virtually non-existent in Burma since the military coup of 1988. The Press Scrutiny Board (PSB), a division of the powerful Ministry of Information, scrutinizes every publication for anything perceived as ‘anti-government.? Similar censorship boards retain tight control over art, music, film, performance, and all other forms of artistic expression. All authors, publishers, journalists and poets must submit a personal biography to the board of literary censorship. The board then investigates to find out if these individuals have any association to opposition political parties or connections to other people or groups deemed threatening by the regime. Anyone suspected or proved to have ‘undesirable? connections is placed on a blacklist and their work is not allowed to be published. People?s access to information in Burma is officially limited to one main state run news agency that disseminates information to government controlled newspapers, radio, and television stations. Burma?s four daily newspapers are all published by the News and Periodicals Enterprise (NPE), a division of the Information Ministry. While currently there are approximately 50 private weekly and monthly magazines published in Rangoon, all are kept under close scrutiny by the regime. Burmese people are well aware that much of the news from official sources is propaganda, and to find out what is really happening in their own country and the rest of the world they must depend on sources of information outlawed by the regime..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication: 2003-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-11-10
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Fighting Words
Description: "Steeped in tradition and stifled by repression, Burma?s literary culture remains defiant despite its seeming silence...Journalists in Rangoon say a combination of factors have pushed the works of revolutionary writers like Bamaw Tin Aung and Bohmu Chit Kaung, which once shaped the political ideologies of Burma?s youth, to the back bins, while at the same time putting a stress on the country?s rich literary tradition. Due to the perils of being associated with politics in Burma, many young people now eschew the sensitive topic for fear of retribution and imprisonment. This same fear has resulted in even fewer people pursuing writing careers, as the lives of writers are also heavily scrutinized. Writers, publishers and bookstore owners say they impose strict self-censorship on themselves in order to stay out of trouble...Despite the pressures facing writers in Burma today, nobody in Rangoon feels that the country?s rich literary tradition is facing extinction. The resiliency of the Burmese spirit can be seen as writers continue to put pen to paper even in the knowledge that they face potential imprisonment and a lifetime of harassment..."
Tony Broadmoor
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 11, No. 6
Date of publication: 2003-06-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-11-06
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: FATAL SILENCE? Freedom of Expression and the Right to Health in Burma
Description: The Online Burma Library contains two versions of this 1996 report -- in html with added URLs of references not available online in 1996 and a Word version, without these additions, which keeps, so far as possible, the format of the hard copy. "Censorship has long concealed a multitude of grave issues in Burma (Myanmar. After decades of governmental secrecy and isolation, Burma was dramatically thrust into world headlines during the short-lived democracy uprising in the summer of 1988. But, while international concern and pressure has since continued to mount over the country's long-standing political crisis, the health and humanitar­ian consequences of over 40 years of political malaise and ethnic con­flict have largely been neglected. Indeed, in many parts of the country, they remain totally unaddressed. There are many elements involved in addressing the health cri­sis which now besets Burma's peoples. A fundamental aspect, in ARTICLE 19's view, is for the rights to freedom of expression and information, together with the right to democratic participation, to be ensured. In a context of censorship and secrecy, individuals cannot make informed decisions on important matters affecting their health. Without freedom of academic research and the ability to disseminate research findings, there can be no informed public debate. Denial of research and information also makes effective health planning and provision less likely at the national level. Without local participation, founded on freedom of expression and access to information, the health needs of many sections of society are likely to remain unaddressed. Likewise, secrecy and censorship have a negative impact on the work of international humanitarian agencies..."
Martin Smith
Source/publisher: Article 19
Date of publication: 1996-06-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-07-27
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Size: 1.07 MB 589 KB
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Title: INKED OVER, RIPPED OUT: Burmese Storytellers and the Censors
Description: A PEN American Center Freedom-to-Write Report, with a preface to the Internet edition, July 2003... Here are two versions of Anna Allott's 1993 book: an html version without pagination and a Word version which seeks to retain the original format and pagination. Both versions contain the preface to the Internet edition. "The purpose of this publication on Burmese writing and Burmese censorship is to enable the work of certain Burmese authors, writing since the imposi­tion of military rule in 1988, to be read by a much wider audience than is usually the case, and also to show, through their own words (in translation), how they are continuing to find ways to express their true feelings about what is happening in their country in spite of the very strict and repressive system of censorship that exists there. Of necessity, in a country where no direct criticism of government policy or of individuals who hold positions of power is permitted, writing is fre­quently allusive or ironical, so much so that even Burmese readers not keyed into the clues may not appreciate the point of a piece, still less those Burmese who have been living abroad for some time, and still less the foreign reader. A writer in Burma has, therefore, a constant dilemma: he is never quite certain how far he dare go, for, if his criticisms or his protest or his satire is too obvious it will not be approved by the censors and will be forced to lie unpublished in his desk drawer. Worse still, it may even bring about his arrest. On the other hand, if the work is too veiled, or couched in too allegorical or symbolic language, the message he is trying to convey will not be understood. Hence, in this selection for the English reader, it is necessary to provide background information about the writers and the works that have been included in this selection, setting them in the context in which they were written. And this context can be understood only with reference to Burma's recent history, and the system of government control and censor­ship that has evolved during the last thirty years. The stories and poems selected for translation have been brought to my attention by a number of lovers of Burmese writing. Some of them have been identified by the readers as carrying a political message, often hidden to the casual reader or to anyone unaware of the issues being addressed in them. Where these pieces have been published in Burma, one assumes the censors either failed to spot the subtext, or if they did not fail, believed that it was sufficiently buried for them to let the pieces through safely, without being accused of being incompetent. Many of the writers featured here already have their works subjected to close scrutiny by the censors and are identified as being persons to watch. The publication of their works in English, together with my interpretations of their works, may result in their future writings being submitted to even greater scrutiny for hidden meanings. I can only apologize for further adding to their difficulties and stress that the allusions and hidden meanings that I have identified in these stories are drawn from my own interpretation, supported by discussions with other readers, and do not represent explana­tions by the writers themselves. Inevitably, the stories represent a very small part of all works written since 1988. They are untypical, in that the majority of pieces published in Burma today do not have any overt or hidden political message, as most works with even a hint of such messages are refused publication. The consequent trivialization of Burmese imaginative literature has been im­mensely discouraging to all serious and independent-minded writers. Some feel that they can now only produce work that is intrinsically without worth. Others have abandoned original writing and confine themselves instead to translating works from Western literature..."
Anna J. Allott
Source/publisher: PEN American Center
Date of publication: 1993-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-07-27
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Size: 547.49 KB 341.5 KB
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Title: Acts of Oppression: Censorship and the law in Burma
Description: "Freedom of expression has been one of the prime casualties of prolonged military rule in Burma. Since the army first began controlling the levers of state power in 1962, numerous publications have been censored or banned; hundreds of journalists, writers, poets, playwrights and cartoonists, as well as pro-democracy activists have been arrested, detained or sentenced to long prison terms, tortured, ill-treated or otherwise harassed, even killed, and tens of thousands of ordinary people have been punished simply for peacefully expressing their views. The impact has been immense and crippling, reverberating through all aspects of life in Burma and blighting the country?s social, cultural and, particularly, economic development. Years of strong-arm military dictatorship and misrule, buttressed by one of the world?s severest censorship regimes and systematic abuse of human rights, have driven thousands of Burma?s citizens to seek refuge abroad and marked out Burma as a pariah within the international community of nation states..." Contents: I) INTRODUCTION; II) POLITICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND; III) FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW; IV) THE STATE OF THE RULE OF LAW; V) FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ITS PROTECTION IN LAW: (a) The constitutional position; (b) Specific legislative measures: a detailed analysis: 1 The Printers and Publishers Registration Law 1962; 2 Emergency Provisions Act 1950; 3 State Protection Law 1975; 4 The Television and Video Law; 5 The Motion Picture Law; 6 The Computer Science Development Law; 7 The Official Secrets Act 1923; 8 Other Laws. VI) EXTRA-LEGAL DENIAL OF FREE SPEECH. VII) CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
Venkat Iyer
Source/publisher: Article 19 (ISBN 1 902598 04 0)
Date of publication: 1999-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Angst vor dem Internet
Description: SPDC politics towards internet use. Birma versucht, sich dem globalen Netz zu ?ffnen und es politisch an der Kandare zu halten. ?ber die SPDC-Politik gegen?ber dem Internet.
Florian R?tzer
Source/publisher: Telepolis magazin der netzkultur
Date of publication: 2000-01-22
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Title: Attacks on the Press 1999: Burma
Description: "Report by the Committee to Protect Journalists" ...... Forcing their citizenry to live behind a wall of repressive ignorance, Burma?s military leaders have shown no signs of liberalizing one of the world?s harshest regimes.
Source/publisher: Committee to Protect Journalists
Date of publication: 1998-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: An Auspicious Moment
Description: The author, the former editor of the recently banned Thintbawa magazine, pays homage to celebrated poet Tin Moe in this article first published shortly after the latter?s release from prison in 1995.
Tin Maung Than. Part One
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 1
Date of publication: 2000-12-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Description: Dilemmas of foreign journalists in Burma..."In mid-July 1995, suddenly Rangoon airport was filled with journalists and cameramen all grabbing taxis to 54 University Avenue. They each hoped to be the first to interview Aung San Suu Kyi after her surprise release from house arrest. Expecting praise for setting her free, the Burmese military began giving most journalists, with a few notable exceptions, visas o?n demand. However the regime soon tired of the bad press, and began increasing restrictions again. Journalist visas had to be applied for far in advance, stays were limited to a few days, and more and more journalists? visa requests were denied with no explanation given..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 6. No. 3
Date of publication: 1998-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1994: 06 - Freedom of Opinion and Expression
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication: 1995-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2000: Freedom of Opinion, Expression and the Press
Description: "The freedoms of opinion, expression, and the press are little known in Burma, where any criticism, direct or indirect of the government or government policy is taken as a direct attack against the "stability of the State." ... In the year 2000, Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) again issued a release condemning the junta for depriving the Burmese people of any objective news and violating the rights of Burmese and foreign journalists to practice their profession freely. It said Burma is still the country which is keeping the most journalists in prison... There is only one main government-run news agency in Burma. The three newspapers, and the two radio and television stations feed off the news agency, and together, act as mouthpieces for the junta. Foreign radio broadcasts such as BBC, VOA and DVB are monitored by the MI and some portions of the news are scrambled. The arts also suffer from the heavy-handed and pervasive censorship of the junta, as every image and sentence produced has to be passed by the government?s censorship board..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication: 2001-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Size: 44.2 KB 6.04 KB
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Title: Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2001-2002: Freedom of Opinion, Expression, and the Press
Description: "Freedoms of opinion, expression, and the press have been virtually non-existent in Burma since the military coup of 1988. The Press Scrutiny Board (PSB), a division of the powerful Ministry of Information, scrutinizes every publication for anything perceived as ‘anti-government.? Similar censorship boards retain tight control over art, music, film, performance, and all other forms of artistic expression. All authors, publishers, journalists and poets must submit a personal biography to the board of literary censorship. The board then investigates to find out if these individuals have any association to opposition political parties or connections to other people or groups deemed threatening by the regime. Anyone suspected or proved to have ‘undesirable? connections is placed on a blacklist and their work is not allowed to be published..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication: 2002-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Size: 87.72 KB
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Title: Burma Under Pressure: How Burmese journalism survives in one of the world's most repressive regimes
Description: "Rangoon?The most surprising thing about the Burmese press is that it still exists. Governed repressively since 1962 and currently under military rule, Burma is by far the most information-starved country in Southeast Asia. And yet the press refuses to die. The ruling junta enforces obligatory and capricious censorship at every turn. A host of topics are off-limits, from heavy rainstorms to local politics, losing soccer matches to details of the World Trade Center attacks. But there is a strong literary tradition in Burma, and many living journalists and writers remember past freedoms and dream of better days to come..."
A. Lin Neumann
Source/publisher: Committee to Protect Journalists (Briefings: Press Freedom Reports from Around the World)
Date of publication: 2002-02-14
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: Burma?s Privileged Pressman
Description: "While other publications labor under draconian press censorship, The Myanmar Times enjoys freedoms few journalists in Burma can even begin to imagine. Relations between Burmese journalists and Ross Dunkley, the editor-in-chief of the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times, have yet to recover since the outspoken Australian issued a harsh criticism of Burmese reporting standards in the middle of last year. Angered by his remarks, journalists contacted by The Irrawaddy complain that Dunkley?s privileged position among pressmen in Burma has completely blinded him to the realities faced by other working journalists..."
Kyaw Zwa Moe, Ko Thet
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 10, No. 1
Date of publication: 2001-12-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: Censorship Prevails: Political Deadlock and Economic Transition in Burma
Description: "Burma remains one of the most heavily censored states in the world. The main instrument of day-to-day censorship continues to be the Printers and Publishers Registration Law of 1962. Introduced shortly after the military coup which brought Gen. Ne Win and his newly-formed BSPP to power, the law has been repeatedly expanded in scope and severity over the years, including by the present SLORC government. Currently, all books, magazines, periodicals, songs and films must be submitted under this law to the Press Scrutiny Board (PSB) prior to being printed or, in some cases, distributed. Books, for example, must be submitted to the PSB before printing and again afterwards to check that no changes have been made, whereas magazines, which must be legally registered, are required to take the more risky method of submitting copies for censorship only after they have been printed. Under the 1985 Video Law, all videos must also be submitted to the Video Censorship Board (which comes under the Film Censorship Board) for pre-publication scrutiny, reflecting the authorities? nervousness about the rapid proliferation of this form of expression..." Contents: 1 Overview of Recent Events; 2 Continuing Mechanisms of Censorship; 3 New Developments in the State Media; 4 Alternative Expression and the Private Sector Media; 4.1 Business Publications; 4.2 Film and Video; 4.3 Literary Rallies; 5 The SLORC?s Political Reform Process; 6 Academic Freedom and Education; 7 Constraints on Freedom of Association and Movement; 8 Ethnic Minority Languages and Literature; 9 Foreign Media and Non-Governmental Organizations; 10 Conclusion and Recommendations. Appendix: Writers and Political Activists Imprisoned for the Peaceful Expression of Their Opinions.
Martin Smith
Source/publisher: Article 19 (ISBN 1 870798 77 5)
Date of publication: 1995-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Size: 121 KB
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Title: Free Burma, Free Media
Description: In 1998, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists released a report describing Burma and Indonesia as the two foremost "enemies of the press" in Asia. Since then, Indonesia?s mass media has blossomed, thanks to the fall of the Suharto regime. This now leaves Burma with the dubious distinction of being the region?s "press enemy number one."
Editorial
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8. No. 9
Date of publication: 2000-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: The Impact of the Internet on Myanmar
Description: In the present paper, I explore how the Internet has affected the flow of information between in and outside Myanmar (Burma). I show that there is a strong difference between the way information was presented before and after the introduction of the World Wide Web... I examine two political events in Myanmar connected to student uprisings, in the hope of documenting how the Internet - as an easily researched symbol of modern communications - may be affecting the political strategies of one of the last isolated states.
Viola Krebs
Source/publisher: First Monday
Date of publication: 1999-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: Inked Over, Blotted, Ripped Out..
Description: "The blind leading the blind: Censorship keeps the people of Burma in the dark, as the generals remain blithely unaware of the demands of the Information Age. Is journalism in Burma dead? If not, it must be in a coma. In 1987, the publication of a poem which closed with the words, ?...gone down is the circumference of the sun,? caught the attention of Burma?s hawk-eyed censors. The sun, or ?ne win? in Burmese, sounds much like the name of the then-Chairman of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), Ne Win. The sentence, according to the censors, implied that ?Ne Win had passed away,? and they ordered the line deleted..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol.. 6, No. 3
Date of publication: 1998-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: Journalists Beware
Description: "Reporting from Burma can be hazardous to your reputation, as a growing roster of foreign journalists is discovering. Burma is not a journalist-friendly country. For foreign journalists, writing about Burma is no easy task, as they are not welcome in this military-ruled country. Many foreign journalists who have been to Burma felt nervous as they learned their activities have been monitored by intelligence officers or informers—and in addition to that, some of them have been harassed. Even after leaving the country, journalists are not safe yet. In Bangkok, Burma?s intelligence officials and their network are believed to follow the activities of journalists and, of course, check what they write in their respective papers, magazines or electronic media. If their report is not satisfactory for the intelligence officials, the journalists could be banned from entering Burma again for years..."
Aung Zaw
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol 9. No. 7
Date of publication: 2001-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: Journalists, Writers and Poets in Burma?s Gulag
Description: List of Journalists and poets in prison in Burma compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Burma; Information Group, The Nation, Radio Free Asia.
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 6, No. 3
Date of publication: 1998-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: Literary "Gypsy" Leaves Burma
Description: The Irrawaddy recently spoke to celebrated author Maung Tha Ya, who recently left Burma after more than a decade of fears that writing anything new would be "like giving the government a noose" to hang him. Noted for his itinerant lifestyle as well as his naturalistic literary style, he told us about his past and his plans for the future.
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 7. No. 6
Date of publication: 1999-06-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: The (Martial) Art of Writing
Description: "Burmese writers and publishers have become masters of journalistic kungfu, using subtle means to defend their work against the lethal attacks of military censors..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 1
Date of publication: 2000-12-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: Mentor and Tormentor
Description: "Paw Thit could have taught Kyaw Win much about the meaning of art; instead Burma?s best-loved art critic is behind bars, a victim of the system the inscrutable Kyaw Win represents. No Burmese artist or art lover could ever fail to recognize the title of A Quest for Beauty, a celebrated book of art criticism by a writer of rare gifts named Paw Thit. This excellent handbook of Burmese art history, covering every imaginable "ism", has earned the admiration of countless aficionados of the fine arts in Burma. Certainly, a passionate amateur painter like Maj-Gen Kyaw Win, deputy to Military Intelligence (MI) chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, could be counted among those who can truly appreciate Paw Thit�s sensitivity to line and color, light and shade, perspective and depth of artistic vision. And if Paw Thit ever had a chance to review Kyaw Win?s work on display at the G. V. Gallery, in Rangoon?s exclusive Golden Valley suburb, he would no doubt offer words of encouragement to this dedicated dilettante. Cutting a dignified but kindly figure, he might make a critical comparison to the work of U Lun Kywe, Burma?s most famous impressionist painter, while acknowledging that Kyaw Win had true talent and an eye for beauty. Sadly, however, this encounter is unlikely to ever take place. For Paw Thit, Burma?s most respected art critic, is none other than U Win Tin, a veteran journalist who was once one of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s most valued advisors?s role that has cost him his freedom. For a dozen years now, U Win Tin, a.k.a. Paw Thit, has been a political prisoner in Rangoon?s infamous Insein Prison. Held in solitary confinement for more than a decade, but unbent in his convictions, he continues to exert inestimable influence on Burma?s artistic community..."
San San Tin
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol 9. No. 7
Date of publication: 2001-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Moustache Mayhem
Description: "Once imprisoned and now blacklisted by the government, the Moustache Brothers� comedy troupe continues to push the country�s political envelope. Working in the gravel yard was never supposed to be a part of life for Burma�s notorious Moustache Brothers comedy troupe. But on January 7, 1996, two of its members�U Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw�were arrested in Mandalay, a day after delivering a series of politically sensitive jokes during an Independence Day performance at Aung San Suu Kyi�s house in Rangoon. They were initially sentenced to seven years in prison, with the first stop being the distant Kyein Kran Ka Hard Labor Camp in northern Burma�s Kachin State. Cut off from their family back home, the two cousins began their five-and-a-half arduous years in Burma�s penal system before being released in July 2001..."
Tony Broadmoor
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 10, No. 4, May 2002
Date of publication: 2002-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: "Our Heads are Bloody But Unbowed": Suppression of Educational Freedoms in Burma
Description: In June 1990 another important student leader, Min Zeya, chairman of the smaller All Burma Students Democratic Association, was reportedly sentenced to eight years in jail. With the colleges now shut, the SLORC sent university and regional college teachers away on boot camp "re-education" courses at Phaunggyi, organized by the Military Intelligence Service. A standardized system of education was also introduced under the 1966 Basic Education Law and the 1973 Union of Burma Education Law.
Source/publisher: Article 19 (Censorship News No. 18)
Date of publication: 1992-12-10
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Paradise Lost?
Description: Environment and Freedom of Expression in Burma. In the past decade, there has been a growing international consensus over the fundamental relationship between the universal values of "human rights", "environmental rights" and "development rights". "The Myanmar Tourism Policy is based on preservation of cultural heritage, protection of natural environment, regional development and generation of foreign exchange earnings."
Martin Smith
Source/publisher: Article 19
Date of publication: 1994-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Pressing Forward: Media in Exile
Description: "Burma�s emerging media groups in exile are trying to shed political affiliations and overcome financial limitations... "All we want is to provide unbiased and accurate information about our country," says Cham Toik, editor of Kao Wao, an ethnic Mon news group based in Thailand. While media groups inside Burma function in a culture of draconian censorship and operate in constant fear of imprisonment for crossing the authorities, emerging media groups in exile such as Kao Wao are generally free to publish whatever they wish without persecution. The obstacles facing these groups are of a different kind..."
Kyaw Zwa Moe, Naw Seng
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" vol 10, No. 9
Date of publication: 2002-10-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: A Proposal to Khin Nyunt
Description: It was completely pathetic to hear Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt?s recent speech in which he claimed that "press freedom" is being granted to an "appropriate degree" in Burma, even though his government is a military regime. His statement revealed once again that the feared intelligence chief is completely deluded, either about the existing press situation in the country, or about the gullibility of Burma?s reading public.
Editorial
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 3
Date of publication: 2001-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Provision of Explicit Guidelines for Literature and the Media - 1975
Description: "In an attempt to reduce the uncertainty about what would be rejected by the PSB, in July 1975, the Ministry of Home and Religious Affairs issued a new set of guidelines for authors and publishers. This ?memorandum to all printers and publishers concerning the submission of manuscripts for scrutiny, issued by the Printer?s and Publisher?s Central Registration Board,? makes very clear the extent to which the government was now seeking to restrict freedom of expression in the country. The text reads as follows:..."
Anna J. Allott
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 6, No. 3
Date of publication: 1998-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: A Story from "Inked Over, Ripped Out"
Daw San San Nweh
Source/publisher: Anna Allot
Date of publication: 1993-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: http://www.burmalibrary.org/sites/burmalibrary.org/files/obl/docs/inked-over-ripped%20-out.htm
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Title: Under a Dark Cloud: Censorship in Burma
Description: "Writers and publishers in Burma remain targets of one of the world?s most draconian censorship systems. Early one morning in December 1994, a group of Military Intelligence Services (MIS) officers and police surrounded a house in the northern quarter of Mandalay, Burma?s second city. The house was a bookshop called Ottaya Lwinpyin ("Northern Plain"), which belonged to Than Htay. Though they had no search warrant, they broke down the door and searched the whole bookshop. After a comprehensive search, they found a lot of pages that had been torn from books, magazines and periodicals. All the pages contained the slogan of the military regime and an official denunciation of the democratic forces, which must be printed on the first page of all materials published in Burma by order of the military. After the search of his bookshop, Than Htay was arrested and sentenced to seven years? imprisonment by a summary court. Now Ko Than Htay is in Mandalay Prison, where he suffers torture and mistreatment like all other political prisoners..."
Aung Din
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 1
Date of publication: 2000-12-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: The Web: A New Window on Burma?
Description: "More and more publishers in Burma are putting their magazines online for the world to see; but if the junta has its way, they will remain little more than window dressing... Since late last year, some Burmese monthly magazines and weekly journals have begun launching website versions. This is creating a real stir in the Burmese publishing industry, and attracting a great deal of attention from Burmese living abroad. But despite the immense hopes attached to this recent development, so far most of these new websites have failed to live up to expectations..."
Ko Thet
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9, No. 9
Date of publication: 2001-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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