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Myanmar junta frees five journalists arrested on UCMJ-like charges
Myanmar's military junta has released five journalists who were jailed on vague and arbitrary charges of incitement and dissent as part of a recent amnesty push that saw over 2,000 prisoners freed on so-called 'humanitarian grounds'.
The five media workers who were released had all been sentenced under the amended Section 505 (A) of the country’s Penal Code, which criminalizes "causing fear, spreading false news, or agitating directly or indirectly criminal offenses against a Government employee."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Myanmar?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Myanmar</a>🇲🇲: The military junta has released five journalists jailed under arbitrary incitement and dissent charges in an amnesty on so-called ‘humanitarian grounds’ of 2,153 prisoners on May 3. <a href="https://t.co/BuhiFngNNr">https://t.co/BuhiFngNNr</a></p>— IFJ Asia-Pacific (@ifjasiapacific) <a href="https://twitter.com/ifjasiapacific/status/1655490948942675969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Among the journalists released was Zaw Tun, a photographer, who was arrested alongside freelance photographer Ko Soe Naing on December 10, 2021, after photographing an anti-military protest in Yangon. Other journalists released include Mizzima journalist Nyein Nyein Aye, photojournalist Zaw Lin Htut, freelance reporter Yin Yin Thein, and editor Kyaw Zeyya.
The release of these journalists has been welcomed by the Myanmar Journalists Network (MJN), but the organization has emphasized that there are still as many as 50 journalists in prison who do not deserve to be detained for doing their job. The MJN has reiterated that journalism is not a crime, and all detained journalists should be released immediately.
While this has been seen as a positive development, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and MJN, have called for the immediate release of all journalists still in detention and for the international community to do more to address the ongoing human rights crisis in the country.
According to the IFJ, Myanmar is now the world’s second-highest jailer of journalists behind China. Since the military coup on February 1, 2021, at least 176 journalists have been arrested and four killed.
Myanmar is currently amid a bloody civil war as its citizens attempt to defend and fight for the continuation of legitimate democracy. At present, as many as 50 journalists are still in jail or police detention, despite the recent mass pardon.
Furthermore, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) has reported that the military has killed at least 3,459 people, including four media workers, and arrested another 20,883, including 282 children, since the coup.
The IFJ’s report, released in November 2022, has called on the international community to increase pressure on the military leadership in every way possible, including the use of laws to sanction violators of international human rights outside of the country.
The death of Soe Naing, the first journalist known to have died in custody since the military takeover, has incited fear among MJN and IJF that all the detainees are at risk of facing a similar fate.
The IFJ has emphasized that the international community must do more to guarantee the safety of journalists and human rights in Myanmar. They have also reiterated that the military junta’s horrendous actions should be condemned at every international forum.
While the MJN has also urged the international community to take action to resolve the crisis in Myanmar and hold perpetrators of gross violations of international human rights law to account.
The release of these five journalists may be a small victory, but much more needs to be done to address the ongoing human rights crisis in Myanmar. The IFJ and its affiliates will continue to work to support journalists and media workers in Myanmar and to hold the military authorities accountable for their actions.
