Independent media groups said the representative of the military government did not report about the suppression of media freedom in the country.
This statement was originally published on mizzima.com on 10 September 2022.
Independent Myanmar media organizations have joined together to protest against the presentation by an “agent” of the Myanmar military junta at the recent Dili Dialogue Forum held in Timor-Leste that painted a fake picture of the media and developments in crisis-hit Myanmar.
The following is the press release:
Independent Myanmar Media Organizations object to the dictatorship’s representation of the Myanmar Media Council at “The Dili Dialogue Forum 2022” in Timor-Leste.
- On August 25 and 26, 2022, the Dili Dialogue Forum was held in Timor-Leste as part of the Media Challenges in Timor-Leste and Southeast Asia project. U Aye Chan, son of U Soe Thein, former Minister in the government of U Thein Sein (2010-2015) and former Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Navy, attended the Forum as a part of the Myanmar Press Council delegation formed in the aftermath of the coup.
- U Aye Chan spoke on the topic of Myanmar’s Media Challenges and noted that the Myanmar Military Coup was legitimate, and that the independent media has been reporting fake news and misinformation, leading to the deterioration of the political situation in the country. He did not mention the state of press freedom in the country or what the independent media were undergoing after the coup. He merely provided the military government’s propaganda messages.
- U Aye Chan failed to mention during his presentation that 23 of the 27 elected members of the Myanmar Press Council stepped down simultaneously in February 2021 because they refused to cooperate with the military council. Such resignations indicate that the Myanmar Press Council can no longer perform its duties and responsibilities to protect press freedom, uphold media ethics and ensure the safety of fellow journalists.
- More than 140 journalists have been arrested since the military coup. Fifty-seven journalists remain in detention. Eleven independent media groups have had their publishing licenses revoked. Four journalists have been killed by torture and oppression at the hands of the military council. Among them, an independent photojournalist died in custody, and an ethnic journalist from Chin State was arrested and eventually killed along with other civilians.
- The incumbent Press Council created by the military government obscures accurate information about the different states and regions of the country and the mental and physical human rights violations faced by the people of Myanmar. Independent Myanmar media organizations would like to highlight that the presentation of Myanmar’s media problem at the “Dili Dialogue Forum 2022” is the military council’s way of spreading misinformation in the international media.
- The military council is suppressing independent media groups and journalists in Myanmar in many different ways, impeding the right to information and hindering freedom of the press and freedom of expression throughout the country.
- Independent media organizations in Myanmar strongly condemn authorizing the representation of the so-called Myanmar Press Council at the “Dili Dialogue Forum 2022” in Timor-Leste, while the military council has severely suppressed press freedom in Myanmar.
- Independent media organizations in Myanmar strongly condemn regional and international media organizations and governments that have invited the Myanmar Military Council and engaged in spreading misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech.
- Independent media organizations in Myanmar seek the cooperation and support of the press councils of Southeast and South Asian countries in combating the disinformation and misinformation campaigns that the ruling military junta in Myanmar is spreading against its people.
- We call on the independent media houses, journalists, and press councils of other countries to support and stand in solidarity in our struggle for media freedom, democracy, and a genuine federal union of Myanmar.
