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RSF Fondation of France Prize and



Subject: RSF Fondation of  France Prize and RSF Statement

Vincent Brossel - Asia Pacific Desk wrote:
> 
> Embargo: 10 December 1999
> Press release
> 
> Daw San San Nweh (Burma)
> wins 1999
> Reporters Sans Frontières - Fondation de France Prize
> 
> The annual Reporters Sans Frontières - Fondation de France prize has
> been awarded to Burmese journalist and novelist San San Nweh.
> Currently held at Tharrawady prison, she was arrested in Rangoon on 5
> August 1994 and sentenced two months later to ten years in jail for
> "publishing information harmful to the state".
> 
> The prize will be presented on:
> 
> Friday 10 December 1999, at 11.30 am,
> at Espace Electra, 6, rue Récamier, 75007 Paris
> (Metro: Sèvres-Babylone)
> 
> At the age of only 15, San San Nweh became correspondent for three
> national newspapers. Two years later she was the first Burmese woman
> to receive a journalist's training. Before her arrest, she was editing
> several women's magazines, particularly Gita Pade-tha and Einmet-hpu.
> She became politically active in the National League for Democracy
> (NLD), led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Her
> reputation as a writer goes beyond Burma's borders. Since 1974 she has
> published 12 novels, over 500 short stories and about 100 poems. On 6
> October 1994 Daw San San Nweh was found guilty of "publishing
> information harmful to the state" with a view to "fomenting disorder".
> She was sentenced to seven years in jail, the maximum provided for by
> the emergency law, and then to a further three years for "giving
> biased viewpoints" to French journalists in April 1993. She is also
> accused of "providing information about the human rights situation to
> the United Nations' special rapporteur for Burma".
> 
> Now 55, San San Newh is struggling against illness and isolation. She
> is suffering from liver disease and eye problems because of the very
> harsh conditions at Insein prison, Rangoon, and the torture she has
> endured. She was recently moved to Tharrawaddy prison, 100 miles north
> of Rangoon, to continue serving her sentence. Friends and relatives
> who have tried to bring food or money for her have been threatened by
> the MIS (the Burmese secret service). Her mother is her only source of
> support because her husband has died since she was imprisoned and her
> elder daughter, also a writer and political activist, is in prison
> too.
> 
> Thirteen journalists are currently imprisoned in Burma in appalling
> conditions. Most of them are serving long prison sentences. They
> suffer cruel treatment from prison guards and endure the harsh
> conditions shared by all 2,000 prisoners of conscience in the country.
> One journalist died in jail in 1998. A photographer is thought to have
> died under torture in September 1999. U Win Tin, a well-known
> journalist and brilliant intellectual, is dying in his cell. Since
> 1962 the junta, outlawed by the rest of the world, has consistently
> and with exceptional violence crushed the slightest attempts to launch
> a free press.
> 
> U Aung Ko, a Burmese dissident, will receive the prize on behalf of
> San San Nweh. He is known for his part in John Boorman's film
> "Rangoon", in which he played a dissident teacher who introduces an
> American woman tourist to the realities of life in Burma and to
> Buddhist wisdom. U Aung Ko has been working for democracy in Burma for
> over 20 years. He has lived in France since leaving Burma, where he
> worked as a French-Burmese interpreter, in 1975.
> 
> The Reporters Sans Frontières - Fondation de France prize, worth
> 50,000 francs, has been awarded annually since 1992 to journalists
> who, through their work or attitudes, have demonstrated their devotion
> to press freedom. The winners were:
> 
> - 1992 : Zlatko Dizdarevic of the Sarajevo daily Oslobodenje.
> - 1993 : Chinese journalist Wang Juntao of Economic Weekly.
> - 1994 : Rwandan journalist André Sibomana, editor of the magazine
> Kinyamateka.
> - 1995 : Chris Anyanwu, editor of the Nigerian Sunday Magazine.
> - 1996 : Turkish journalist Isik Yurtçu, former editor of the
> pro-Kurdish daily Ozgür Gündem.
> - 1997 : Raúl Rivero, founder of the independent news agency Cuba
> Press.
> - 1998 : Syrian journalist Nizar Nayyouf, editor of the monthly Voice
> of Democracy.
> 
> This year, six other journalists were on the jury's shortlist: Veton
> Surroi, editor of the Albanian-language daily Koha Ditore (Kosovo);
> Jesús Barraza, editor of the weekly Pulso (Mexico); Najam Sethi,
> editor of the English-language weekly Friday Times (Pakistan); Grigory
> Pasko, a former journalist with the Russian navy newspaper Boyevaya
> Vakhta (Russia); Amal Abbas, editor of the independent daily Al-Rai
> Al-Akhar (Sudan); Taoufik Ben Brick, correspondent of the French news
> agency SYFIA and the French daily La Croix (Tunisia).
> For any further information, contact Olivia Brillaud on (33) 1 44 83
> 84 84.
> 
> Reporters sans frontières
> 5, rue Geoffroy-Marie - 75009 Paris
> Tél. 01 44 83 84 84 - Fax 01 45 23 11 51
> E-mail : rsf@xxxxxx - Web : www.rsf.fr
> 
> Daw San San Nweh (Burma)
> Scheduled for release in 2004
> 
> Profession
> Journalist, author and political activist.
> 
> Date of arrest
> 5 August 1994
> 
> Sentence
> Daw San San Nweh was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by a
> civilian court sitting inside Insein prison on 6 October 1994. A
> second charge cost her another three years. She is therefore serving a
> sentence of ten years.
> 
> Reason
> Daw San San Nweh was accused of "producing and sending anti-government
> reports to diplomats in foreign embassies, foreign radio stations and
> foreign journalists passing through the country" and of "receiving,
> collecting and distributing publications issued by organisations
> exiled in the jungle". Daw San San Nweh was also accused of meeting
> former members of the Democratic Party for a New Society (a political
> group banned by the SLORC, then the ruling junta) with a view to
> "fomenting disorder" and of talking - filmed from behind - to two
> French journalists for a documentary made in April 1993. Meanwhile,
> her daughter, Ma Myat Mo Mo Tun, was accused of recording "libellous
> documents and letters" on a computer diskette for Khin Zaw Win,
> another opponent of the military government (probably a diskette found
> on him when he was arrested).
> The authorities also allege that she gave information about the human
> rights situation in Burma to Yozo Yokota, the United Nations special
> rapporteur for the country.
> 
> Place of imprisonment
> She is currently being held at the prison in Tharrawaddy, the town
> where she was born. She was moved there after several years at Insein
> prison, Rangoon
> 
> Conditions of imprisonment
> Conditions at Tharrawaddy should be less harsh than at Insein prison,
> where torture and ill-treatment are common and several political
> prisoners have died in the past. San San Nweh suffered various health
> problems during her time at Insein, but it is believed that her health
> has improved somewhat following the move.
> On various occasions the prison authorities have refused to allow her
> visits, which are usually permitted every two weeks. Her family,
> especially her mother, and friends who have tried to help her
> financially have been threatened by prison guards. The publisher of
> one of her books was even imprisoned for a month after trying to help
> her.
> 
> Circumstances of arrest
> San San Nweh was arrested in Rangoon at the same time as her daughter,
> writer Ma Myat Mo Mo Tun; journalist Sein Hla Oo; and Khin Maung Swe,
> an executive committee member of the National League for Democracy
> (NLD) and a member of parliament. The arrests were apparently
> connected with that of Kin Zaw Win a few days earlier.
> 
> Charges
> San San Nweh was charged under article 5 of the emergency law with
> "publishing information harmful to the state" with a view to
> "fomenting disorder".
> She was also charged under article 14 of the law on illegal
> organisations with "giving biased opinions" to two French journalists
> passing through Burma in April 1993.
> 
> Trial
> She was tried by a civilian court. She was told she could have the
> services of a lawyer but refused the offer for fear that the lawyer
> might suffer reprisals for handling her case.
> 
> Marital status
> Widowed, four children
> Her husband died while she was in prison. Her children now have no
> regular income because of her imprisonment.
> 
> Date and place of birth
> 28 August 1945 at Tharrawaddy, a town 60 miles south of Rangoon. Her
> parents are U Tin Maung and Daw Sein Pu.
> 
> Biography
> She has been writing since the age of 13 and was local correspondent
> for several newspapers (The Nation, Botahtaung, Pyithuowe) while still
> at school. She continued to work as a reporter until 1966, when she
> married Tun Nyunt Oo, a columnist with Kyeimon and Hanthawadi, and
> moved to Rangoon. The couple had four children. In 1962 she was the
> first Burmese woman to receive full training as a journalist.
> She published her first novel in 1974 but it was the third, "Prison of
> Darkness", which was highly critical of Burmese society and the
> dictatorship of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), that made
> her famous. San San Nweh has written a total of 12 novels, over 500
> short stories and about 100 poems, some of which have been banned by
> the Burmese censors.
> In 1988, at the time of the pro-democracy demonstrations, she
> published two magazines, Gita Pade-tha and Ein-met-hpu. Known in
> intellectual and journalistic circles for her strength of character
> and her excellent writing, she became involved with the NLD and with a
> group of intellectuals, including journalists Win Tin, who is still in
> prison, and Tin Moe, who was released in February 1995. Together they
> devised the slogan "Our duty is to oppose illegal decrees". On 21 July
> 1989, as she was travelling the country as a representative of the
> NLD, she was arrested and kept in solitary confinement at Insein
> prison. She was freed in April 1990.
> 
> Amnesty International prisoner of conscience status
> 
> Sponsors
> France 2, France Culture, Le Figaro, Elle, Les Clés de l'Actualité,
> L'Indépendant, Internazionale (Italy), El País (Spain), Le Soir
> (Belgium), Journalisten (Sweden).
> 
> Reporters sans frontières
> 5, rue Geoffroy-Marie - 75009 Paris
> Tél. 01 44 83 84 84 - Fax 01 45 23 11 51
> E-mail : rsf@xxxxxx - Web : www.rsf.fr
> 
> For immediate release
> Paris, December 1999
> 
> Report on the state of press freedom in Burma
> 
> Thirteen journalists left to die in Burmese jails
> 
> Win Tin and Myo Myint Nyein, two well-known journalists, have been
> forced to sleep on the concrete floor, with no mattresses or blankets,
> in tiny cells normally used as kennels for soldiers' dogs. Their
> guards accused them of giving information about the prison conditions
> to the United Nations' special rapporteur on human rights in Burma.
> This ill-treatment bears witness to the appalling conditions being
> endured by the 13 journalists currently in prison in Burma. Most of
> them are serving long sentences. They suffer cruel treatment from
> prison guards and endure the harsh conditions shared by all 2,000
> prisoners of conscience in the country. One journalist, U Saw Win,
> died in jail in 1998. Another, photographer U Thar Win, is thought to
> have died under torture in September 1999. What these journalists have
> in common is their commitment to the cause of democracy and their
> refusal to submit to the millstone of censorship that the army imposes
> on the press. Since 1962 the junta, outlawed by the rest of the world,
> has consistently and with exceptional violence crushed the slightest
> attempts to launch a free press.
> 
> Thirteen journalists in prison
> Most of the 13 journalists in prison in Burma have some connection
> with Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, the
> National League for Democracy (NLD), either as officials, activists or
> sympathisers.
> 
> The situation in Burma makes it difficult to gather information about
> what has happened to journalists in prison. The authorities have never
> officially given any information about how many are being held or
> their state of health. Some have been moved to the provinces without
> their families being informed.
> 
> U Win Tin, editor of the newspaper Hanthawathi, is one of the most
> respected Burmese journalists and intellectuals. He was arrested on 4
> July 1989 and sentenced to three years' hard labour for "harbouring a
> criminal wanted for arrest" under article 216 of the penal code. The
> "criminal" in question was thought to be a young woman who had had an
> abortion, which is illegal in Burma. His sentence was reportedly
> increased to ten years in January 1993. U Win Tin is only due for
> release in 2008. His health has worsened considerably over the past
> few months. He is still thought to be held at Insein prison, Rangoon,
> where conditions are particularly harsh. Aged 69, he has often been
> interrogated by the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), but has
> always refused to denounce the Representative Committee of the
> People's Parliament (the opposition parliament in exile), which the
> junta has made a condition of his release.
> 
> San San Nweh has been a journalist for 30 years and was jointly
> editing several women's magazines when she was arrested in 1994 -
> along with her elder daughter - and sentenced to ten years in jail.
> The government accuses her of having a conversation with two French
> journalists in April 1993. According to recent information, she is
> being held at Tharrawaddy prison, about 100 miles north of Rangoon,
> after spending several years at Insein. Aged 55, she is reported to be
> suffering from liver disease and an eye infection. Her mother is her
> only source of support because her husband has died since she was
> imprisoned. Friends and relatives who have tried to help her by
> bringing her food or money have been threatened by the MIS and the
> publisher of one of her books was recently jailed for a month for
> giving her financial support.
> 
> U Sein Hla Oo, a journalist with the daily Botahtaung and a well-known
> short story writer, was arrested in 1994. He is currently serving a
> 14-year prison sentence for translating Aung San Suu Kyi's book
> "Freedom from Fear"into Burmese. He is being held at Myitkyina jail,
> in the north of the country. His wife, who had been allowed to visit
> him every three months, has been refused permission to see him since
> August 1999. Aged 61, U Sein Hla Oo is suffering from heart disease
> and is believed to have started receiving treatment at the prison
> hospital.
> 
> Myo Myint Nyein and Sein Hlaing, both independent journalists, worked
> chiefly for magazines. They were arrested together in September 1990
> and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for publishing an
> "anti-government propaganda" leaflet entitled "What has become of us?"
> In November 1995 they were sentenced to an additional seven years
> after books were found in their cell at Insein prison. Myo Myint Nyein
> was moved to Tharrawaddy prison and is reported to be in good health.
> Sein Hlaing is thought to be still at Insein. His family has not been
> allowed to visit him since August 1999.
> 
> U Moe Thu has worked as a reporter for the economic magazine Dana as
> well as being a recognised author. He was arrested in May 1996 under
> article 10 (a) of the 1975 State Protection Law, which means that he
> can be kept in jail indefinitely without trial. Aged 69, he is
> currently being held at Insein prison where he is suffering from
> stomach trouble and heart disease.
> 
> Sonny (Khin Maung Win), 40, a photographer and cameraman for the NLD,
> was arrested in June 1997 for filming an interview with Aung San Suu
> Kyi. He was sentenced to seven years in jail in August 1997 for
> "knowingly publishing false information". He is being held at
> Myitkyina prison in the north of the country. The prison authorities
> recently told his family that he was no longer on their list of
> prisoners. He has not been seen for several months.
> 
> U Tha Ban, a journalist with the daily Kyemon (the Mirror) was
> arrested in March 1997 and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for
> helping a student leader to write a book entitled "The History of
> Burmese Students". Aged 65, U Tha Ban is being held at Insein prison.
> He is reported to have trouble walking and to be suffering from eye
> problems. His family has asked for him to be examined by an
> ophthalmologist but their request was turned down by the authorities.
> 
> U Soe Thein (Maung Wontha), a journalist with the daily Botahtaung,
> was arrested in May 1996 under article 10 (a) of the 1975 State
> Protection Law. He is being held at Insein prison and is reported to
> be suffering from high blood pressure.
> 
> Ohn Kyaing, a journalist with the dailies Kyemon and Hantawaddy, was
> imprisoned in 1990 and later sentenced to a total of 17 years. He is
> currently being held at Taungoo prison, 125 miles north of Rangoon.
> His family have been forced to sell their home and land to help him.
> 
> Aung Zin Min, 50, a journalist with the magazine New Style, was
> sentenced to seven years in prison in 1996 for publishing articles in
> support of democracy. He is currently in Tharrawaddy prison.
> 
> U Thein Tan, a journalist with Kyemon and Hantawaddy, was arrested in
> 1990 and sentenced to a total of ten years in jail. According to some
> sources, his health has deteriorated recently. He is 60.
> 
> Cho Seint, independent journalist, was arrested in 1996 and sentenced
> to seven years in prison for his commitment to democracy. He is being
> held at Tharrawaddy prison.
> 
> Extremely harsh prison conditions
> As well as difficult conditions, prisoners have to endure physical and
> mental torture. Most of the journalists jailed in Burma are also
> suffering from serious illnesses. The authorities either refuse to
> allow prisoners proper treatment, or put it off. One jailed
> journalist, U Saw Win, deputy editor of the daily Botahtaung, died on
> 7 August 1998 after a heart attack. Aged 59, he was apparently not
> given correct medical care by the Tharrawaddy prison authorities.
> Elected as a member of parliament for the NLD in 1990, he was arrested
> a year later and sentenced to ten years in jail.
> 
> It seems likely that U Thar Win, a photographer with the government
> newspaper Kyemon, died during interrogation by the MIS on 26 September
> 1999. U Thar Win, 43, was arrested along with seven other journalists
> after the daily published a photo of General Khin Nyunt alongside a
> story headlined "The world's most famous crook". They were all
> released but lost their jobs. According to some sources, the
> photographer was a democrat who had managed to "infiltrate" the
> government newspaper.
> 
> All the journalists in prison have been beaten or even tortured during
> interrogation. Information about the torture endured by prisoners of
> conscience has been available for a few years because of accounts by
> some who have managed to flee into exile. Beatings, cigarette burns
> (particularly on the genitals), electric shocks, isolation in tiny
> cells, death and rape threats have all been reported. The lastest
> information available suggests that these practices are far from
> having disappeared.
> 
> U Win Tin, Myo Myint Nyein, Sein Hlaing and U Sein Hla Oo are chained
> up and kept in solitary confinement for periods of at least three
> months. San San Nweh has still not been allowed to see her 24-year-old
> daughter, who was arrested at the same time in 1994.
> 
> The prison authorities may suspend visits from friends and family
> without explanation, withdraw medical treatment or restrict the right
> to showers. Prisoners of conscience have to make do with food rations
> that are very low in calories. Many have developed eye infections and
> heart problems. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
> has been visiting Burmese prisons since September 1999. Following the
> visits, food rations have been reduced, prisoners moved to jails in
> the provinces and conditions generally have worsened for prisoners of
> opinion.
> 
> Underground news versus the propaganda press
> Since the 1988 coup d'état no independent media have been allowed in
> Burma. The press, and in particular the three dailies (two published
> in Burmese and one in English), are under the direct control of the
> junta. About 50 privately owned weeklies and 40 or so monthlies are
> published, but many subjects are taboo: examples are human rights, the
> events of 1988, the activities of the opposition, and prostitution.
> The owners have to obtain a publishing licence from the generals'
> advisers. Most of these publications are of low quality, printing
> mainly reports and pictures about film stars, singers and dancers. All
> magazines are also forced to print an article submitted by the MIS in
> every issue.
> 
> The junta has been trying for several years to gain tighter control of
> journalistic and intellectual circles, usually by "buying" them from
> the opposition. The army has offered land and social benefits to
> journalists who work for official media. Those who join the official
> Association of Journalists receive a bonus worth about 1,000 euros. A
> journalist is recognised as such after writing 20 poems or 12 articles
> in the Burmese language. According to the government, there are 12,000
> writers and journalists in the country at the moment. Independent
> sources put the figure at only 1,000.
> 
> Only programmes broadcast on shortwave by the British Broadcasting
> Corporation (BBC), Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and the radio
> station Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB, based in Oslo) give Burmese
> listeners access to news other than propaganda. Those stations are
> very popular with the Burmese, who listen to them in secret. The
> punishment for such a "crime" is prison. Newsletters and magazines are
> also published by Burmese people living in exile in Thailand and
> distributed secretly in Burma. Three of these independent newspapers
> appear regularly in Burmese: Khit Pying (New Era Newspaper), Moe Joe
> and The New Light of Myanmar (which was deliberately given the same
> title as the junta's English-language daily). They contain mainly
> political news put out by the various opposition groups. A person
> found in possession of one of these newspapers is liable to a severe
> jail sentence. In 1994 the well-known writer Ma Thida and 11 other
> people were arrested and sentenced to 20 years in jail for reading and
> distributing Khit Pying in Rangoon. Only Ma Thida has since been
> released. Burmese people are now afraid to read a newspaper or
> magazine published by journalists in exile. Recently a group of
> journalists living in exile issued a series of reports on human rights
> and civil society on cassette tapes that can easily be distributed,
> hidden or erased.
> 
> Before 1995 the border police and MIS did not stop and check
> businessmen arriving from Bangkok. Since then, however, the MIS has
> kept a close watch on the border between Thailand and Burma. Anyone
> found in possession of an opposition magazine is liable to be tortured
> and given a severe prison sentence. Few people therefore are now
> willing to take the risk of bringing underground publications into the
> country.
> 
> Dozens of Burmese journalists have left the country after being
> imprisoned or threatened by the military. One was Maung Tha Ya, a
> writer who also publishes the magazine Thaya. Everything he has
> written has been banned by the military government. He managed to flee
> the country in 1999 by pretending to be a trader. Tim Moe, a
> well-known journalist, poet and founder of various magazines with U
> Win Tin, was also sentenced to exile after four years in prison. The
> same thing happened to Win Khet, a well-known columnist who spent
> several years in Burmese prisons.
> 
> As for foreign journalists, they are regarded with suspicion by the
> junta. Visas are hard to obtain and since January 1998 five foreign
> journalists have been thrown out of the country. Several others have
> been arrested and interrogated by the Burmese police. The authorities
> accused them of taking too great an interest in human rights, or of
> making contact with members of the opposition.
> 
> Recommendations
> 
> Reporters Sans Frontières calls on the Burmese military government to:
> 
> 1. release immediately and unconditionally the 13 journalists
> imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of expression, which
> is guaranteed by article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
> Rights,
> 2. ban the use of torture and ill-treatment in prisons, interrogation
> centres and police stations,
> 3. stop using "confessions" extracted under torture as evidence at
> trials,
> 4. respect international standards concerning fair trials (presence of
> a lawyer, the right to appeal, the defendant being informed of the
> charges, etc.),
> 5. repeal laws that are damaging to press freedom: the Printers and
> Publishers Registration Law of 1962, a blatant instrument of
> censorship, the Television and Video Law and the Computer Science
> Development Law of 1996, which allow drastic censorship of
> broadcasting and electronic media, the Emergency Provisions Act of
> 1950, which is used to give journalists severe prison sentences, the
> Official Secrets Act of 1923 and the State Protection Law of 1975, an
> emergency law that gives the army sweeping powers,
> 6. sign and ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political
> Rights, article 19 of which guarantees freedom of expression,
> 7. allow a delegation from Reporters Sans Frontières to go to Burma.
> 
> Reporters Sans Frontières calls on the European Union to:
> 1. broaden the scope of sanctions against the Burmese government as
> defined in 1996 and extended by the Declaration of 30 October 1999,
> 2. do everything possible to give the United Nations' special
> rapporteur on human rights in Burma the means to investigate
> violations of freedom of expression.
> 
> For any further information, contact Vincent Brossel on (33) 1 44 83
> 84 84 or visit our web site: www.rsf.fr
> 
> Vincent Brossel
> Asia Pacific Desk
> asie@xxxxxx
> web : www.rsf.fr
> 5 rue Geoffroy Marie 75009 Paris
> tel : (33 1) 44 83 84 84
> fax : (33 1) 45 23 11 51