Burma: Crackdown on opposition and media

Following the 4th May cyclone the Burmese military Junta have today been fervently
attempting to suppress all information on the manifest humanitarian disaster ahead of the
UN Secretary General’s visit, including detaining democratic youth activists and censoring
media reporting.

With the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in Burma, the Junta have rounded up and detained
thirteen prominent youth leaders from the National League for Democracy who were trying to
raise awareness of the cyclone victims.
Simultaneously, local media have been ordered by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board not
to publish any stories that show the destruction and human suffering caused by the cyclone.
These last violations are taking place while a number of relief agencies are still prevented from
effectively accessing the victims and disaster-hit areas and providing much needed assistance
and alleviate the suffering.
“The full information black-out imposed by the authorities since September has been elevated to
heights rarely or ever witnessed before. Effective assistance depends on uncensored information
about who has been affected and how. The Burmese government is not only suppressing this
information. It is also preventing assistance in order to maintain the cloak of secrecy and fear
over the country.” said Dr. Agnès Callamard, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19
“But no disaster of this scale can ever be erased from people’s memory. No such gross failure to
respect and protect people’s most basic right – the right to life – could ever be forgotten. The
obstruction of the efforts to address the monumental disaster afflicting their people constitutes
the most obscene prioritisation of the status quo.” adds Dr. Callamard.
ARTICLE 19 urges the international community, but particularly the governments of India and
China, to use all their leverage on the Burmese authorities to stop this insanity.
ARTICLE 19 is also calling on the international community to undertake a full, independent and
public review of the nature and scale of the Burmese authorities’ violations of their international
obligations, and particularly to determine the nature of the crimes and violations resulting from
the obstruction of aid and the deliberate censorship and concealment of the extent of the deaths,
wounded, damages, displacements, and sufferings.

NOTES TO EDITORS:
· For more information: please contact Dr. Agnes Callamard, Executive Director,
agnes@article19.org, +44 20 7278 9292
· ARTICLE 19 is an independent human rights organisation that works around the world to protect
and promote the right to freedom of expression. It takes its name from Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees free speech.