Burmese military government strongman Snr-Gen Than Shwe has made the Top 40—on an annual list of the world's “Predators of Press Freedom,” which was released by Reporters Without Borders on Monday to mark World Press Freedom Day.A policeman reads a newspaper while on duty at the Supreme Court in Rangoon. (Photo: Reuters)
“The general, who began his military career in psychological warfare, can rely on the army to impose order through fear,” an accompanying statement said. “His henchmen continue to hunt down journalists suspected of sending information and video footage abroad that show the disastrous state of the country.”
Noting that Than Shwe has decided to hold a general election this year, Reporters Without Borders said that he is nevertheless “refusing to loosen his grip on the media and Internet.”
In its introduction to the press statement, Reporters Without Borders said, “There are 40 names on this year’s list of 'Predators of Press Freedom'—40 politicians, government officials, religious leaders, militias and criminal organizations that cannot stand the press, treat it as an enemy and directly attack journalists. They are powerful, dangerous, violent and above the law.”
Than Shwe is listed alongside North Korean despot Kim Jong-il, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Saudi Arabian Prime Minister Abdallah ibn Abdulaziz Al-Saud and murderous organizations such as ETA from northern Spain, FARC from Colombia and the Israeli Defence Forces.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, US government included Burma in a group of countries—Belarus, China, Cuba, Eritrea, North Korea, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and Venezuela—where journalists who write articles critical of government leaders and their policies are imprisoned,
Noting that 2009 was a bad year for the freedom of the press worldwide, President Barack Obama said: “While people gained greater access than ever before to information through the Internet, cell phones and other forms of connective technologies, governments like China, Ethiopia, Iran, and Venezuela curtailed freedom of expression by limiting full access to and use of these technologies.”
In Burma, the Press Scrutiny and Registration division (PSRD) routinely inspects and censors books, journals and newspapers. Any media criticism of the military junta is strictly forbidden.
“We are writing under the constant shadow of the government,” a Rangoon-based journalist told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. “Press freedom is simply not real.”
Recently, the PSRD allowed news journals to publish political sections carrying interviews with newly formed political parties, their leaders and their policies. Rangoon-based The Ray of Light Weekly ran interview with two central executive committee members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and published their reasons for not competing in this year's election.
“The government is interested in party registration and wants to keep tabs on the NLD. That's why they allowed that interview,” said Maung Wuntha, a well-known journalist in Rangoon.
Several editors in Burma said the military government will only permit articles and commentaries that favor the pro-junta parties.
“I have personal experience that if I write an anti-junta commentary, the government will take it out after it is submitted to the censorship board,” said an editor.
Most editors of news journals in Burma want to publish balanced and unbiased articles pertaining to the election, but some are under the influence of political entities, he added.
Burma's most prominent journalist, Win Tin, who is also a leading member of the NLD, said that “during the election period, I think there will be no freedom of the press. Sometimes, freedom has to break out, but we will have to struggle all the way.”
Hla Hla Win, a young video reporter for the exiled Democratic Voice of Burma was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sending sensitive images abroad.
Sources said pro-government journals and newspapers, such as The Voice, are allowed more editorial freedom. Its editor, Dr Nay Win Maung, is well-known for his right-wing views and pro-junta stance.
He is also publisher of Living Color magazine in Rangoon and the co-founder of Rangoon-based NGO EGRESS, which belongs to the so-called “Third Force” in Burma—a group founded during the International Burma Studies conference in Singapore in mid-2006 that is neither pro-junta nor pro-opposition. They advocate engagement and a business-friendly policy with the junta, and are anti-sanctions.
According to Ohn Kyaing, a former journalist and member of the NLD, press freedom inside Burma is one-sided. “Freedom only exists on one side. I don't believe freedom is balanced. If they wanted balance in the media, they would dissolve the PSRD,” he said.
Lalit K Jha from Washington also contributed to this article.
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