Mizzima awarded global JTI certificate for reliable news on Myanmar

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Mizzima Mizzima, one of Myanmar ’s most prominent news outlets and a press freedom advocate, obtained the Journalism Trust Initiative ( JTI ) certification from global audit firm Bureau Veritas , JTI says in a press statement 5 January.  Operating in clandestine mode within Myanmar and supported by an exiled team, Mizzima strives to fulfil its role as reliable source of news and information for the Myanmar public. “Your Journalism Trust Initiative certification affirms what audiences already know: that principled, transparent journalism matters. Congratulations on this achievement and on your continued contribution to informing citizens about Myanmar,” says Benjamin Sabbah , director of Journalism Trust Initiative “Myanmar’s ongoing conflict has created an intensely contested media landscape, where mis- and disinformation are increasingly deployed to reinforce state propaganda and the prevailing “official” narrative. Although Mizzima is already regarded as one of the most trusted ...
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Pervasive drug production linked to rebel groups: UNODC

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Friday, 26 February 2010 13:23 Sai Zuan Sai

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - The eradication of drug production in Burma is contingent upon a reduction in the number of ethnic armed forces, stipulates a United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC) report.

According to the report, drug cultivation and trafficking is critical to the survival of ethnic armed forces.

Shan State is said to be the biggest region for drug production, an area which is also home to a score of ethnic armed forces.

But Shan State Army (South) spokesman Major Sai Lao Sai defended his army, saying the group is implementing anti-narcotic and narcotic suppression programs.

“We have nothing to do with this drug cultivation and drug trafficking and we don’t want them [the drugs]. So I’d like to say we are not involved in the drug trafficking business,” contends the Major.

The UNODC report continues, “The major producers of heroin and ATS (amphetamine-type stimulants) tablets in Shan State are the largest armies in Shan State, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Shan State Army (South) and forces in the Kokang region.”

However a UWSA spokesman defended the armed group, stating the UWSA has already declared their region an opium free zone where drug cultivation and trafficking is strictly prohibited.

U Khun Sai, Director of Shan State Drug Watchgroup, said as opium cultivation takes place in junta controlled areas, drug trafficking cannot be related to ethnic armed forces.

“Who would dare and be foolish enough to enter an area heavily guarded by well equipped SPDC [Burma Army] forces and cultivate opium. Those who are cultivating opium in these areas have to pay a levy and tax to the SPDC and in return SPDC officers turn a blind eye on opium cultivations,” he explained.

After former drug warlord Khun Sa surrendered to the military regime in 1996, an opium substitution program was implemented in Shan State, effectively reducing acreage devoted to the cultivation of the opium poppy by 87 percent, though the produciton of ATS tablets has skyrocketed over the same time period.

Nonetheless, about 330 tons of raw opium were produced in Burma in 2009, earning end sales of USD 360 million, estimates the UNODC report.

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