New Delhi – The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) on Tuesday honored Burmese woman journalist Aye Aye Win with its '2008 Courage in Journalism Award' for her outstanding courage in covering Burma in the face of threats to her own personal well-being and against increasing suppression by the country's military rulers.
Responding to the recognition and despite being unable to attend the ceremony in fear that her family's security may be jeopardized, Associated Press (AP) correspondent Aye Aye Win told Mizzima, "I am glad for the award."
"I am happy to know that my friends are there on my behalf, though I could not personally attend," she remarked. The award was received by the AP's International Editor, John Daniszewski, in New York on her behalf.
In a statement read out by Daniszewski, Aye Aye Win said, "A knock on the gate at midnight unnerves and traumatizes our lives," but "I believe journalists have to take some risks if they are to challenge those who want to silence us from telling the truth."
Aye Aye Win further said, "I chose this job because I want to tell the truth about Burma, to stand behind the oppressed, and because of a shared propensity for journalism with my father."
The 54-year old journalist learned journalism from her father, veteran journalist U Sein Win, who was arrested and imprisoned for his professional activities at least three times.
Aye Aye Win, in her early career, had the opportunity to cover the mass pro-democracy uprising led by students in 1988. Not long after that the government took notice of her, as she was almost the only woman journalist.
Her house is often stalked by plainclothes police or military intelligence agents, and her telephone is tapped. She has been harassed numerous times by authorities and was interrogated in both 1997 and 1998.
In August and September 2007, Aye Aye Win put herself in great danger by covering demonstrations against the military government in Rangoon. She walked the streets while soldiers were firing at marchers and beating up innocent bystanders.
Aye Aye Win is also regularly threatened by the state-owned press, which typically carries articles or commentaries that reflect the views of the government.
Burma's official New Light of Myanmar newspaper once issued a "last warning," implying that if she did not cease reporting they would kill her. Though the newspaper did not mention her by name, referring to her as a female "axe-handle" who works for a Western news media organization, she knew this threat was meant for her, as she was the only woman journalist working for a foreign news agency.
Aye Aye Win was awarded the IWMF's 2008 Courage in Journalism Award along with two other female journalists - Farida Nekzad, Managing Editor of Pajhwok Afghan News, and Sevgul Uludag, an investigative reporter for Yeniduzen, a Cypriot newspaper.
Yet, Aye Aye Win is just one among many Burmese journalists that face similar difficulties and who struggle to work under the Burmese junta's tight censorship laws.
On Monday, the junta released Saw Myint Than, Chief Reporter of the Rangoon-based weekly journal Flower, after detaining him for over a month for reporting on a murder case of a couple in Rangoon's suburban Township of Thingankyun.
However before being released Saw Myint Than was forced to sign a pledge by the authorities, though the exact substance of the document remains unknown.
Similarly, the military government's censorship office censored nearly a third of this month's issue of the humorous periodical Pyaw Pyaw Shwin Shwin, publication of which was subsequently forced to be delayed by two months.
