Freedom of Press in Myanmar

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch placed a spotlight on the situation in Myanmar and the persecution of Rohingya Muslims followed by their recommendation to involve the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Tracing back to the history of Myanmar, it was unified in the mid 11th century by King Anawrahta adopting Buddhism as the nation’s official religion. It was not until the 16th century when King Bayinnaung began placing specific restrictions on the Muslim population’s Islamic rituals. Since then, Muslims in Burma/Myanmar have experienced oppression and even persecution throughout the British Rule, Japanese Rule, and modern day today. This anti-Muslim agenda, both military and communal-based, resulted in the Rohingya population, the main Muslim community in Myanmar, to flee to neighboring countries for decades, if not centuries.

Photo Courtesy of RFA.

Moving forward to recent years, violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims increased, having the nations and/or organizations like the U.S. and the U.N. intervene to seek peaceful reformation and resolution. However, when the draft resolution came to a vote at the U.N. Security Council on the matter in 2007, China and Russia vetoed it. Reported by Evelyn Leopold (2007) from Reuters, the two members argued that the situation in Myanmar was not a threat to international peace and security on human rights, of which the Security Council should only intervene on. However, when civilians from the Rohingya Muslim community are fleeing to adjacent nations in south-east Asia, one can reasonably consider the threat is then international. In 2017, the U.N. Human Rights Council launched an investigation into the allegations that the Myanmar military abusing the Rohingya Muslim community’s human rights.

The following interview from Democracy Now! documented by Antoni Slodkowski not only acknowledges the abuse of human rights, but it mainly points out the abuse of the right to freedom of the press.

“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested December 12th and charged with violating Burma’s Official Secrets Act,” says Amy Goodman, introducing the subject at hand in an interview with Salai Thant Zin of the publication The Irrawaddy and Antoni Slodkowski, Reuters bureau chief in Burma. The event these two journalists were reporting on took place in September 2017 at Inn Din village, Maungdaw, in northern Rakhine State. Lone and Soe Oo reported that at Inn Din, Burmese soldiers and militiamen executed 10 Rohingya Muslim captives. It was then followed by the two journalists getting arrested in December 2017 by Burmese government officials for their exposé on the Inn Din massacre.

According to officials, sharing information on this event meant sharing government secrets which violated Burma’s Official Secrets Act which is why the two journalists were obtained. Now, this situation brings up numerous questions. What points does this exposé encounter? Slodkowski clarifies that Lone and Soe Oo’s report discovers three main points to this massacre. The first is that there was, in fact, an execution of 10 Rohingya Muslim, with the second point is that the execution was organized by military operations. And the third points acknowledges the source of this massacre and previous other which came from either military officials or Rakhine Buddhists. Any of these facts could play as the main factor as to why these journalists are being charged. It isn’t a secret that there is hostility towards the Rohingya Muslim community. According to BBC (2018) , Myanmar “denies the minority's existence.”

What is Myanmar’s viewpoint on freedom of press? Is it limited to Burma’s Official Secrets Act? According to Hau Do Suan, the Burmese Ambassador to the United Nations, Myanmar does recognize freedom of press. However, when Lone and Soe Oo were doing their job as journalists to report the truth, it fell in violation to Burmese law and were detained; thus, journalist ethics and freedom of press were violated. Therefore, Myanmar may recognize freedom of press; however, it may not respect it to the fullest extent. In respect to human rights, this limitation to freedom of press Myanmar has can pose a threat to peace, human rights, and international law. If it wasn’t for news like this reported by Lone and Soe Oo, this persecution or what the U.N. calls, “textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” wouldn’t be taken as seriously as it should. It can be argued that these limitations are keeping powerful figures such as Aung San Suu Kyi and even the Pope from knowing the depth of the situation. See the following BBC interview with Aung San Suu Kyi, discussing her legacy and perspective on the persecuation of the Rohingya community in Myanmar.

See The Sun article by Neal Baker (2018) for more recent updates on the Pope and Aung San Suu Kyi’s remarks on the matter.

Whether or not these public figures have heard in depth of the circumstance, this is a prime example as to why freedom of press should be taken seriously because it has the power to unleash any known threat to human rights, very much like the Inn Din massacre. There is the counterpoint argument being made of possibly no control over journalism unleashes public chaos in response to such news. However, certain control risks those, like Rohingya Muslim civilians, whose stories will continue to be unheard and forgotten and human rights will continue to be violated. 

It is terrifying to think how many possible stories of human rights violations are out there and may have been unreported or undocumented because such information has been detained purposely from the public eye. Journalism offers access to truth and knowledge. When used responsibly and respectfully in accordance to international law and human rights, there should be no reason for a high power to limit its freedom. Instead, they should support the press; thus, there should be freedom of press.

Recently, the United Nations celebrated World Press Freedom Day with the theme of keeping power in check. “On World Press Freedom Day 2018, I call on governments to strengthen press freedom, and to protect journalists. Promoting a free press is standing up for our right to truth." — António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General

It will be interesting to see how this situation and influencers—Security Council and representatives of Myanmar—further play out.

-Madison

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