Myanmar: Reuters reporters excluded from mass pardons

Current government has taken almost no steps to repeal or amend laws being used to jail critics, says human rights watchdog

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar (AA) - Two Reuters journalists who had been detained in Myanmar for their coverage of rights violations in the western Rakhine state were excluded from an upcoming pardon, their lawyers said on Friday.

Myanmar recently announced two rounds of presidential pardons in wake of the country’s mid-April new year, bringing amnesty for more than 16,000 prisoners.

Further releases are planned, the presidency said in a statement without giving further details.

However, two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, remain behind bars in Yangon’s infamous Insein Prison, lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told Anadolu Agency.

On Monday, the military-controlled Home Affairs Ministry said there were no political prisoners in Myanmar, but only people sentenced under the country’s existing laws and penal code for criminal acts.

However, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma), (AAPP Burma), based in the western Mae Sot city of Thailand said at least 45 political prisoners remained convicted as of March since current government took office in 2016.

Another 94 await trial in prison, while 225 others are on bail pending trial, said the human rights NGO.

On Friday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the country’s parliament to repeal legislation criminalizing peaceful expression after a recent series of arrests of peaceful critics of the army and government.

"During military rule, Aung San Suu Kyi and many current lawmakers fought for free expression, yet now the NLD [National League for Democracy political party] majority in parliament has taken almost no steps to repeal or amend abusive laws still being used to jail critics," said the group’s Asia director Brad Adams.

Adams underlined that numerous governments and donors had made freedom for political prisoners the "cornerstone of their policy".

"At a time when Myanmar’s transformation to a rights-respecting democracy hangs in the balance, where are those same voices?" he said.

Kaynak: