Rights groups claim Myanmar govt obstructing reporters from covering Rakhine crisis

Rights groups claim Myanmar govt obstructing reporters from covering Rakhine crisis
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Mizzima
Renata Lok-Dessallien (left), United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Myanmar, boards a military helicopter with diplomats on board to take off for a trip to Maungdaw town's fighting area at the Sittwe airport in Sittwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, 3 November. Foreign diplomats led by Renata, visit Sittwe and Maungdaw conflict area on 02 November and 03 November 2016 for the Human Rights accusations to the Muslims. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA
Renata Lok-Dessallien (left), United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Myanmar, boards a military helicopter with diplomats on board to take off for a trip to Maungdaw town's fighting area at the Sittwe airport in Sittwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, 3 November. Foreign diplomats led by Renata, visit Sittwe and Maungdaw conflict area on 02 November and 03 November 2016 for the Human Rights accusations to the Muslims. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA

Several international human rights groups have spoken out over what they allege is Myanmar government obstruction and harassment of journalists trying to cover the Rakhine crisis, including concern over the dismissal of a journalist working for a leading media outlet.

The Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) has issued a statement saying security officials in Myanmar should stop obstructing and harassing journalists attempting to report on the conflict in the country's Rakhine State.

The call comes as the Myanmar government allowed US, EU and UN representatives to visit the troubled area.

The CPJ claims the “censorship” comes amid widespread allegations of military abuses, including allegations of sexual violence, perpetrated as part of an intensified counterinsurgency campaign along the country's border with Bangladesh.

The CPJ notes that border guards and military officers in mid-October blocked journalists and photographers from several news organizations from traveling north of the state's Kyikanpyin police station to areas in the Maungdaw Township, where joint military-police security operations are underway.

Security officials told reporters they could not travel to the area because it was unsafe for journalists. Military officials also ordered journalists to delete photographs they had taken of the aftermath of an October 9 attack on a border guard post that killed five police. The reporters refused to comply and drove back from the military checkpoint, declining to tell officers their names or the media outlets that employ them, according to the CPJ.

"Myanmar's democratically elected government should assert civilian control over its security forces and command senior officers to allow journalists to freely and safely report on the evolving crisis in Rakhine State," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative. "The best way to prove or disprove allegations of rights abuses is to allow independent media to probe the accusations. If the government truly has nothing to hide, then there is no need to restrict media access to the areas in question in northern Rakhine State.

Nongovernmental organizations, rights groups, and international media have all alleged that soldiers have committed rights abuses in security sweeps, including alleged arbitrary arrests, killings of unarmed civilians, arson, and the rape of women in blockaded areas of Maungdaw Township, news reports said. Reuters reported that "dozens of Rohingya Muslim women" had been raped or sexually assaulted by soldiers, based on interviews it conducted with victims and rights groups.

Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay has denied the reports, claiming the allegations are part of an insurgent "disinformation campaign."

Journalists who have probed the rape allegations have come under official fire. Fiona MacGregor, an investigative editor at the Myanmar Times, was singled out by Zaw Htay for being biased against the government and in favour of local Muslims soon after she reported, on October 27, allegations made by a local rights group that claimed security forces raped around 30 ethnic-Rohingya women in a single village on October 19.

The presidential spokesman also reposted comments made on social media by former minister of information Ye Htut calling for a police investigation into MacGregor and her newspaper's reporting on the allegations. MacGregor told CPJ she believed Zaw Htay sought to stifle reporting on the allegations.

On Monday, the Myanmar Times fired MacGregor for breaching company policy against damaging national reconciliation and damaging the paper's reputation by publishing the article alleging the rape of ethnic-Rohingya women and other opinion and analysis articles she had recently written about military and government actions in Rakhine State, MacGregor told CPJ.

In an open letter, MacGregor has expressed her concern over press freedom in Myanmar, and about the hate speech directed against her and the Myanmar Times.

She wrote: “I have written extensively on gender based violence in conflict and the wider impact of conflict on civilians in different parts of this country. Allegations of rapes and other human rights abuses by members of the Myanmar military are a matter of national and international concern and were highlighted by the outgoing UN secretary general in his last annual report.”

Douglas Long, editor of The Myanmar Times, told CPJ by email that MacGregor was fired for violating employee obligations outlined in the company's handbook related to complying "with all reasonable and lawful instructions, policies, procedures and legal requirements." Long wrote, "The extent of direct government pressure [on the paper to fire MacGregor], if any, is unclear."

Phil Robertson, Deputy Director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch, expressed his concern over the MacGregor case.

"The Burmese government's intimidation of journalists reached a new low in its campaign against Myanmar Times journalist Fiona MacGregor and her reporting on alleged sexual abuses by security forces in Rakhine state. What are they trying to hide? Rather than trying to shut down reports that it doesn't like, the government should respect press freedom and permit journalists to do their jobs by investigating what is really happening on the ground," he said in a comment sent to Mizzima.

Myanmar's government has given access this week to foreign diplomats and aid workers in northern Rakhine State. Foreign diplomats including the US and Britain ambassadors and EU and U.N. officials were invited by the government early this week to check the three-week surge in violence.

"We hope that this is the first step for greater access for us to resume humanitarian assistance," US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel told media.

UN coordinator Renata Lok-Dessallien urged the government to launch an independent investigation into allegations of human rights abuses following her two-day trip to the region.

"The allegation of gender-based violence is worrying and we expressed this to the government, but we discussed mainly how to resume humanitarian assistance in the region," she told reporters on Friday, after being asked about reports of rape.

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