NEWS - Think of the struggle of Bur

[Rangoonp@xxxxxxx]

Subject: NEWS - Think of the struggle of Burmese journalists

The Nation - May 12, 1999

Mailbag

Think of the struggle of Burmese journalists

When I read in The Nation recently that over 500 journalists died during
the
past decade, I recalled the life of journalists in Burma.

I am curious to know whether Thaw Ka, Sein Win and Tin Shwe, who were
very
famous journalists as well as popular figures in the National League for
Democracy and who died in custody are included in the list?

According to the Documentation Unit of the Foreign Affairs Committee of
Ba
Ka Tha, also known as the All Burma Federation of Student' Unions, three
journalists have died in prison, and another 10 are still detained by
the
military regime.

Gen Ne Win, who seized power in 1962, never recognised the rights of
freedom
of the press and expression and arrested many journalists. The new
leaders
of the present military regime are still committing the said deeds.

Among the detained journalists is Win Tin, another famous journalist and
one
of the founders of the NLD. He was arrested in 1989. He is seriously ill
but
is not allowed any treatment.

The military dictatorship never gave permission for any privately-owned
newspaper to be published. All four daily newspapers are controlled by
the
junta. Over 50 journals are published in Burma, of which 15 are put out
by
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). If anybody wants to
publish
a journal or a magazine, he needs to get permission from the Ministry of
Information. However, The Living Colour Magazine is never censored
because
it is owned by Dr Naing Win, who is the son of Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the
head
of the Military Intelligence Service.

Naing Ko Ko