- Update info:
- 27 May 2019 (Suspended)
- Latest info:
- 23 Sep 2018 (Updated)
- 20 Jan 2018
- Country:
- UNION OF MYANMAR
- Subject:
- Wa Lone (aka Thet Oo Maung Maung) and Kyaw Soe Oo (aka Moe Aung)
Gender m/f: male
- Period:
- 18 Oct 2018
- Distribution date:
- 20 Jan 2018
- UA No:
- 004/2018
Two journalists are facing up to 14 years in prison in connection with their peaceful journalistic activities. Both men must be immediately and unconditionally released and the charges against them dropped.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists, were formally charged with breaching Myanmar’s Officials Secrets Act on 10 January 2018 by a court in Yangon, Myanmar’s main city. The colonial-era law provides up to 14 years in prison for anyone who obtains, records or communicates documents or information for any purpose “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state”.
The two journalists had been investigating a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine State against the Rohingya minority, and were detained on 12 December 2017 after they were invited to meet police officers for dinner in the north of Yangon. They were arrested almost immediately after being handed documents by the policemen, who they say they had never met before. According to the Myanmar Police Force, the pair were arrested for “possessing important and secret government documents related to Rakhine State and security forces (with the intent) to send them to a foreign news agency”. State media has reported that two Myanmar police officers were also arrested in connection with the case, however Amnesty International has been unable to obtain further information about the two men.
Following their arrest, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were held incommunicado for two weeks, during which time they did not have any access to lawyers, family members or to the outside world. Their next court hearing is scheduled for 23 January 2018. Both men remain in detention in Yangon’s Insein prison.
The arrest of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo appears to be aimed at preventing them, as well as other journalists, from independently reporting on the situation in Rakhine State. The case marks a blatant attack on freedom of expression in Myanmar which will greatly undermine the ability of all journalists to conduct their peaceful work without fear of reprisal.
more
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
There has been a worrying erosion of the space for a free press in Myanmar, where journalists and other media workers face ongoing restrictions in connection with their work. The operations of independent media outlets have been increasingly undermined, and those who report on sensitive subjects – in particular the situation of the Rohingya minority – can face intimidation and harassment and at times arrest, detention, prosecution and even imprisonment.
The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and includes the right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”. Under international human rights law the right to freedom of expression can only be restricted in very specific circumstances, and any restrictions must be clearly defined in law, only imposed to serve a legitimate aim explicitly specified in international human rights law and necessary and proportionate to achieve their aim. While states are permitted, subject to these conditions, to restrict the right to freedom of expression on the ground of national security, Myanmar’s 1923 Official Secrets Act is extremely broad and vaguely worded, and goes beyond what is permissible under international law. Moreover, The Act contains no provisions which allow for the disclosure of classified information on public interest grounds.
UA: 4/18 Index: ASA 16/7698/2018 Issue Date: 10 January 2018
- Update info:
- 27 May 2019 (Suspended)
- Latest info:
- 23 Sep 2018 (Updated)
- 20 Jan 2018
- Country:
- UNION OF MYANMAR
- Subject:
- Wa Lone (aka Thet Oo Maung Maung) and Kyaw Soe Oo (aka Moe Aung)
Gender m/f: male
- Period:
- 18 Oct 2018
- Distribution date:
- 23 Sep 2018
- UA No:
- 004/2018
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years in jail on 3 September 2018 after being found guilty of breaching Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act. The politically-motivated verdict is in connection with their peaceful journalistic activities in Rakhine State. Both men are prisoners of conscience and must be immediately and unconditionally released.
On 3 September 2018, after a postponement of the verdict from 27 August, a judge at the Northern District court in Yangon found Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists, guilty of breaching Section 3(1)(c) of Myanmar’s 1923 Official Secrets Act. The two journalists, who have been detained for almost nine months, were each sentenced to seven years in prison. The period they were detained accounts as part of their sentence. The lawyers of the two journalists are reportedly preparing to appeal the decision.
On 12 December 2017, the two journalists were arrested shortly after being handed official documents by police officers who had invited them to dinner in northern Yangon, Myanmar’s main city, and whom they had never met before. At the time, the two journalists had been investigating a brutal military crackdown in northern Rakhine State against the Rohingya ethnic minority which forced more than 700,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. The pair were held incommunicado for two weeks, without access to lawyers or family members. In April, a police officer acting as a witness for the prosecution told the court that he and his colleagues had been ordered by a superior officer to “trap” the journalists, however the judge refused to dismiss the case. Later the police officer was sentenced to an undisclosed prison term for breaching Myanmar’s Police Disciplinary Act.
There have been worrying concerns about the fairness of proceedings and the independence of the court since the pre-trial hearings began in January 2018, including a police witness testifying that the reporters’ mobile phones were searched without a warrant and the information acquired from the phones might be tainted. The treatment of the pair during the interrogation reportedly includes sleep deprivation, covering their heads with a black hood, and forcing them to kneel for hours, violating the right to freedom from torture and other ill-treatment.
more
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
At the time of their arrest, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were investigating a violent military crackdown against the Rohingya community in northern Rakhine State, and in particular the execution of 10 Rohingya men by soldiers, members of the police and local vigilantes in the village of Inn Din, Maungdaw Township in early September 2017. On 10 January 2018, the same day that Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were brought before a court for the first time, the military admitted that soldiers had been involved in the killings and that they had launched an investigation. On 10 April 2018, the military announced that seven soldiers had been sentenced to 10 years in prison and dismissed from the army. To date there has been no independent investigation into crimes against humanity and other serious human rights violations by the Myanmar security forces in northern Rakhine State.
In July 2018, the court formally charged the pair of violating the Official Secrets Act. The law criminalizes anyone who obtains, records or communicates secret documents or information that could be “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state” or “useful to the enemy” of Myanmar with a maximum of 14 years in jail.
There has been a worrying erosion of the space for a free press in Myanmar, where journalists and other media workers face ongoing restrictions in connection to their work. The operations of independent media outlets have been increasingly undermined, and those who report on sensitive subjects – in particular the situation and treatment of the Rohingya minority – can face intimidation and harassment and at times arrest, detention, prosecution and even imprisonment.
The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and includes the right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”. Under international human rights law the right to freedom of expression can only be restricted in very specific circumstances, and any restrictions must be clearly defined in law, only imposed to serve a legitimate aim explicitly specified in international human rights law and necessary and proportionate to achieve their aim. While states are permitted, subject to these conditions, to restrict the right to freedom of expression on the ground of national security, Myanmar’s 1923 Official Secrets Act is extremely broad and vaguely worded, and goes beyond what is permissible under international law. Moreover, the Act contains no provisions which allow for the disclosure of classified information on public interest grounds.
Further information on UA: 4/18 Index: ASA 16/9036/2018 Issue Date: 6 September 2018
- Update info:
- 27 May 2019 (Suspended)
- Latest info:
- 23 Sep 2018 (Updated)
- 20 Jan 2018
- Country:
- UNION OF MYANMAR
- Subject:
- Wa Lone; Kyaw Soe Oo (he/him/they/them)
- Period:
- 18 Oct 2018
- Distribution date:
- 27 May 2019
- UA No:
- 004/2018
Two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, have been granted a presidential pardon and released from prison after serving more than 500 days of their seven year sentences in Myanmar. This is an important victory for press freedom in Myanmar and beyond, which Amnesty International is proud to have contributed to.
NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUESTED. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS.
Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were unconditionally released following a presidential pardon on 7 May 2019, two weeks after the Supreme Court rejected their appeal. At the time of their arrest, on 12 December 2017, the two men were investigating a massacre of 10 Rohingya men and boys committed by members of the Myanmar security forces in northern Rakhine State, for which seven Myanmar soldiers were later jailed by a military court.
The two journalists were charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act and on 3 September 2018 and sentenced to seven years in prison. An appeal was rejected by the Yangon High Court in January 2019 and again by the Supreme Court on 23 April 2019. Upon release, Wa Lone told journalists outside of Insein Prison: “I want to thank everyone who helped us in prison, and everyone around the world who called for our release. I can’t wait to get back to the news room now.”
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo should have never been arrested or imprisoned in the first place, and Amnesty International calls for their convictions to be quashed and their criminal records expunged. The organization remains concerned about ongoing restrictions on of freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly in Myanmar and will continue to call for the release of all prisoners of conscience and the repeal of repressive laws.
THIS IS THE THIRD AND FINAL OUTPUT FOR UA 4/18
LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa16/8762/2018/en/