(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 23 January 2007 WAN letter to the Burmese ruler, Senior General Than Shwe: Senior General Than Shwe Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Myanmar Email: myanmar@un.int 23 January 2007 Dear General, We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 23 January 2007 WAN letter to the Burmese ruler, Senior General Than Shwe:
Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
Myanmar
Email: myanmar@un.int
23 January 2007
Dear General,
We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to call on you once again to release journalist U Win Tin from prison.
While welcoming the release on 3 January of journalists Thaung Tun and Than Win Hlaing, who had been imprisoned for seven years for their professional activities, we again ask you to immediately set free U Win Tin and four other journalists still held in jail. Thaung Tun and Than Win Hlaing were among a total of 2,831 detainees pardoned by the government at the start of the year, although reportedly only about 30 political prisoners were included in the amnesty.
U Win Tin, former editor-in-chief of Hanthawaddy newspaper and winner of WAN’s 2001 Golden Pen of Freedom, has been held in Insein prison for the past 17 years. U Win Tin is in poor health. He has had two heart attacks and a hernia operation and suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and a prostate gland disorder.
U Win Tin, who was also vice-chair of Myanmar’s Writer’s Association and founder of the National League for Democracy, was arrested in July 1989, tried in a closed military court and sentenced to 14 years of prison for allegedly being a member of the banned Communist Party of Myanmar. This sentence has since been increased to 21 years in jail.
The continued imprisonment of U Win Tin constitutes a deep blemish on the international standing of Myanmar which can only be erased by his release. Furthermore, his detention constitutes a clear breach of his right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions and we remind you that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights considers that “detention, as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion, is one of the most reprehensible ways to enjoin silence and, as a consequence, a grave violation of human rights.”
We respectfully call on your government to demonstrate strength and compassion by releasing U Win Tin immediately. We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers
George Brock
President
World Editors Forum
WAN is the global organization for the newspaper industry, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 newspapers in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. WAN is non-governmental and non-profit.
