Independent media is under threat in Myanmar.
At least 98 journalists have been arrested since the February 1, 2021 coup,
while 46 remain in detention.
The junta is including journalists in the nightly broadcast
of individuals “wanted” by the authorities.
Those wanted by the junta are announced on state media,
meaning independent journalists are on the run.
With credible journalists gone, all that’s left is government propaganda.
The majority of the people know that MRTV or Myawaddy
TV channel is [a] kind of propaganda channel of the military regime
so they don’t believe any news that is coming out from there.
The military wants to shut down any narratives it doesn’t directly control,
because it doesn’t want the outside world to learn about
the military’s daily atrocities against the Burmese people.
That’s why Myanmar is rapidly becoming one
of the most dangerous countries in the region for journalists to operate in.
Few journalists are working openly, and many are reporting while in hiding
attempting to dodge the security force dragnets looking for journalists.
Nay Myo Lin is the editor-in-chief of Voice of Myanmar.
Early this year he was detained for the second time.
I was shocked to hear when I heard my husband was detained.
Since February 1, I feel like I am falling into a black hole
and I have no hopes, no future.
If the situation is getting worse and it's become
not a very safe place for us,
our only choice would be to leave the country.
Many journalists have fled to Myanmar’s border regions
controlled by ethnic minority groups
or to neighboring countries.
They say remaining in cities is too risky.
If they want to arrest someone and if they don't find that person,
they arrest the family member.
That is why those journalists and their families
are really [in danger] right now.
Numerous, credible sources report appalling conditions in Myanmar’s prisons
and interrogation centers,
where detainees are subjected to torture,
routine beatings and other ill-treatment.
Authorities arrested journalists Han Thar Nyein and Nathan Maung in March,
and tortured them for two weeks at a military interrogation center.
Charges were dropped against Nathan Maung, but Han Thar Nyein
remains in Insein prison and faces a possible 3-year sentence.
The military, when they arrest journalists, they beat them.
Some of my colleagues stayed home
and the officers came to arrest them at night.
No one knows where they were taken away,
but they risk being tortured.
They are taken to an interrogation room without charges.
Journalists are paying the price for reporting with their freedom.
DVB’s Min Nyo was sentenced to 3 years under penal code article 505A
for spreading “false” news.
His colleague Aung Zaw, and Zaw Zaw of Mizzima News
were both sentenced to 2 years under the same charge.
The Myanmar military should immediately revoke article 505A
and other rights-abusing laws being used against Myanmar’s journalists.
They should also immediately and unconditionally release
all journalists held in detention.
Importantly, the Myanmar military should also reinstate
the media licenses of banned outlets and allow them to
operate without interference.
But despite the risks of arrest or worse, and the junta's crippling shutdown
of the mobile internet and satellite services
Myanmar’s journalists continue to bravely document atrocities
and share information with the world.