Censorship and repression in Burma
Ida Rohne
Burma is a country where there has been a complete lack of freedom of association and press since the 1960s. Between independence in 1948 and the coup staged by General Ne Win in 1962, Burma was ruled by a democratically elected government and had a vibrant and varied press. The 30 daily newspapers included six in Chinese and three in English.
After the coup, all dissemination of information was centralised, and journals and newspapers were closed down and replaced by state-run media. This hardline attitude to censorship is still viciously enforced. The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and its successor since 1997, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), show no intention of relaxing their repressive censorship laws.
When the SLORC brutally crushed a nationwide uprising and demonstrations for democracy in 1988, it was barely noticed in the world media. Social and economic conditions have deteriorated markedly since then, while a military elite has prospered at the expense of education, health care and social services.
Forty per cent of the state budget is spent on defence while more than a third of the population have no access to health services and less than 40% have safe drinking water. The spread of HIV infection is estimated to be as high as in central Africa. Although difficult to prove, there is credible evidence that the SPDC profits directly from the country's top export: heroin.
In Burma you can be arrested and detained for distributing leaflets, gathering peacefully with friends in a public place, talking to foreign journalists, owning a computer or a fax machine, translating Burmese literature into a foreign language, sleeping in a house other than your own or just expressing your opinion.
Dissident writers, journalists, supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) or anyone voicing criticism of the regime, are harassed, black-listed and arrested. The topics it is forbidden to discuss in the media include human rights, democracy, politics, the NLD, its leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, senior government officials and criticism of the SPDC or any other military personnel.
In a 1997 report, the UN special rapporteur on Burma concluded that freedom of thought, opinion, expression or association is non-existent and that anyone involving themselves in politics risks arrest and interrogation by the police or military.
Foreign radio broadcasts and Burmese-language programs on the BBC have been jammed by the Burmese authorities. Access to foreign satellite television has been restricted to the wealthy by exorbitantly high licence fees.
Only a small group of business owners friendly with the military and a few foreign diplomats have internet access or e-mail. The latter have their e-mail intercepted and read by the authorities. A few newspapers printed by opposition groups based in Thailand are distributed secretly.
In July last year, military leaders issued a statement accusing foreign media of conducting a "misinformation campaign" against the junta. In August, they again attacked foreign media, accusing the Voice of America, the BBC World Service and Radio Free Asia of actively supporting Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and interfering in Burmese internal affairs.
Foreign journalists are regularly harassed and expelled, have their equipment confiscated and are sometimes beaten by police and soldiers. Seven special correspondents were thrown out of the country last year.
A plethora of laws functions to deny people freedom of expression and stifle dissent. For example, anyone not complying with the Printers and Publishers Registration Law 1962, which requires all books, articles, magazines, film scripts, lyrics etc. to be submitted to the Press Scrutiny Board before publication, as well as before distribution, can be jailed for up to seven years.
Under the Emergency Provisions Act 1950, anyone collecting or divulging information about the state and military can be jailed for life or sentenced to death.
The State Protection Law 1975 is routinely used to target journalists and activists who talk to foreign media. Under this law, anyone who is suspected of endangering the sovereignty of the state can be imprisoned for up to five years without a trial.
The Computer Science Development Law 1996 makes possessing computer equipment without a licence, or using information technology to undermine the state, punishable by seven to 15 years' jail and an unspecified fine.
U Win Tin, formerly an editor of two daily newspapers, was arrested and sentenced to three years' hard labour for opposition activities in 1989. His sentence was extended by 10 years in 1992, and again by seven years in 1996 after he was convicted of smuggling letters describing prison conditions to the UN special rapporteur on Burma.
U Myo Myint Nyein and U Sein Hlaing were both sentenced to seven years' prison in 1990 for anti-government propaganda. In 1996, they were among 23 prisoners who had their sentences extended by seven years under the Emergency Provisions Act for smuggling letters to the UN Special Rapporteur.
In 1994, Daw San San Nwe and Sein Hla Oo were sentenced to 10 and seven years' jail respectively for compiling and sending anti-government reports to foreign media and embassies. Both had been previously imprisoned for their involvement with the NLD.
These people are among eight journalists currently imprisoned in Burma. Since last year, no official or independent information about what has happened to them has been available.
The laws in Burma are vague, over-broad and applied in an ad hoc manner. They lack basic safeguards, such as the right of appeal or the right to apply for bail. Defendants have no access to legal representation and no hope of a fair trial. Combinations of several laws are often used when sentencing to increase the penalty.
All laws are incompatible with international law and inconsistent with a number of internationally recognised human rights norms. They breach several articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.
Prisoners already serving maximum sentences often have their sentences increased. This contravenes the prohibition against retroactivity in sentencing, a fundamental principle of human rights law. Conditions in prisons are harsh, and prisoners are often tortured.
The Burmese government clearly has contempt for both its own people and international law.