| Burma |
Sr. Gen. Than Shwe Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
Yangon, Myanmar Dear General, We are writing on behalf of the World Association of
Newspapers and News Publishers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000
publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120
countries, to express our serious concern at the jailing of journalist Ngwe Soe
Lin. According to reports, on 28 January the Rangoon
Western District Court sentenced Ngwe Soe Lin to 13 years in jail for providing
reports to the Myanmar exile broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), based
in Norway. He was arrested on 26 June 2009 and charged under the Electronic Act
and Immigration Emergency Provisions Act, receiving terms of 10 and three years
imprisonment, respectively. This follows the sentencing late last year of another
alleged DVB reporter, Hla Hla Win, to 20 years' imprisonment for violating the
Electronic Act and seven years in jail for using an illegally acquired
motorcycle. We are seriously concerned that the crackdown on
sending reports, photos and video abroad that began in 2007 is intensifying in
the run-up to this year's elections. Around 20 journalists and bloggers have
been arrested since then and at least 14 are currently in jail, most of them in
very harsh conditions. Under current law, anyone who uses the internet to send
information abroad faces prosecution under article 33 (A) of the Electronic
Law. We respectfully remind you that imprisoning journalists
for carrying out their professional activities constitutes a clear breach of
the right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous
international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Article 19 of the Declaration states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media, regardless of frontiers." We respectfully call on you to ensure that Ngwe Soe
Lin, Hla Hla Win and all others held in detention for exercising their right to
freedom of expression are immediately released and that the government's
crackdown on the media is halted. We also urge you to take all necessary steps
to ensure that in future your country fully respects international standards of
free expression. We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest
convenience. Yours sincerely, Gavin
O'Reilly President WAN-IFRA,World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
Xavier
Vidal-Folch President World
Editors Forum |
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