Protesters against the army coup use firearms to respond to the effect caused by police after releasing tear gas on protesters in Yangon, Myanmar. (March 4, 2021)
As Burma’s security forces use greater force to crack down on protesters, journalists are being targeted or spilled over in clashes.
Both the United Nations and the United States this week condemned the violent crackdown in Burma, and the U.N. estimates that military police have killed more than 50 people so far.
Security forces have targeted the media in recent days. In some cases, they have used slingshots when arresting journalists, said Ye Naing Moe, a veteran journalist and founder of the Yangon School of Journalism.
“These are deliberate means for the police to create fear among journalists,” Ye Naing Moe told the Voice of America’s Burmese Desk. “On the other hand, young journalists have the determination and courage to continue doing their work. The police are clearly targeting the media, and I’m worried about them.”
Police also used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.
Photojournalist Htet Aung Khant is in Mandalay covering the clashes there for the Voice of America’s Burmese desk. He said he was taking pictures of police and protesters for about 10 minutes on Wednesday (March 3) when he felt pain in the side of his body and realized he had been hit by a rubber bullet.
He said, “I stepped backwards and asked people around me if they saw any blood.”
Protesters face off with police in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Tie Aung Kuan, Voice of America Burmese Desk Reporter)
Paramedics helped clean his wounds. He said he took a brief break before sending photos to the Voice of America office in Washington, D.C., and then attempted to return to the protest site.
I then tried to go out and shoot video of the protest,” Tieuangkuan said. But it was hard to move my left arm and it hurt.”
But he didn’t let that stop him.
“I’m not afraid to do my job,” he said. “I went today to cover the funeral of a girl who was shot and killed by police during the Mandalay crackdown.”
Protests erupted in Mandalay and other towns after Myanmar’s military toppled the civilian government and arrested key opposition figures and members of the National League for Democracy.
Yenay Mo said he was concerned about journalists covering the protests in smaller towns. They don’t have as many resources and are easier to track.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is also concerned about safety in Burma. CPJ has documented arrests of media personnel during the unrest in Burma.
Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ’s senior Asia fellow, said, “Journalists covering the anti-coup protests also face serious risks to their personal safety because of the use of force by the authorities.”
Maria Salazar Ferro, head of emergencies for the Committee to Protect Journalists, told Voice of America, “The single most important thing journalists and newsrooms in any high-risk environment can do is understand the risks they face and consider how to mitigate that risk.”
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday condemned the violent crackdown on civilians.
State Department spokesman Condoleezza Price said he was “shocked and disgusted” to see photos of Wednesday’s crackdown on protests. Burmese security forces killed at least 38 people that day.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the coup leaders and some military agencies.
Price said the U.S. is concerned about the arrests of journalists, including Associated Press reporter Thein Zaw. Thein Zaw and five other journalists have been charged with violating Myanmar’s public order laws.
Price said, “We call on the military to immediately release these individuals and to stop intimidating and harassing the media and others who are being unjustly detained simply for doing their jobs.”
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said the Burmese military is stepping up arrests, with more than 1,700 people arbitrarily detained in recent days, including at least 29 journalists.
“The Burmese military must stop murdering and imprisoning protesters,” Bachelet said in a statement.
Yolanda López, acting director of Voice of America, also condemned the violence.
“Democracy depends on a free press and a free flow of information,” she said. “These incidents once again show the threats that journalists face every day around the world. Voice of America condemns these and other attacks that put the lives of our very brave journalists at risk and undermine press freedom.”
In addition to the risk of injury or arrest, people in Myanmar are being affected by the occasional shutdown of the Internet, said Iftikhar of the Committee to Protect Journalists. She said being able to access websites and social media is “important for people to have access to information and for journalists to be able to do their jobs.”
Recent Comments