Mizzima awarded global JTI certificate for reliable news on Myanmar

-
Image
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 ...
Post a Comment

Kachin hold talks on future as election date release

-
Saturday, 14 August 2010 01:09 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The main ethnic Kachin organisation has called a meeting this weekend to discuss its future. The decision follows the announcement by the junta’s electoral watchdog that Burma’s first elections two decades will be held on November 7, Kachin leaders said.

Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) departmental heads, Kachin religious leaders and representatives from cultural groups will exchange views during the gathering at the KIO head office in Laizar on the Sino-Burmese border. At least 40 are likely to attend, joint secretary Colonel Sin Wah said.

“Participants will present their opinions on the future of our organisation, especially on the transition. The meeting may last up to three days and will start tomorrow from about 8 a.m.”, KIO Joint Secretary Colonel Sin Wah said.

Junta Minister of Industry No. 1 Aung Thaung and Communications, Post and Telegraph Minister Thein Zaw demanded the KIO on July 12 give its final reply to the junta’s offer, which Burma watchers describe more as a demand, for the ethnic group to bring its 8,000-strong Kachin Independence Army (KIA) under the command of the Burmese Army’s Border Guard Force (BGF) before the elections.

“Doing as per the Panglong Agreement is also the transformation. Transformation means the right to autonomy for the Kachin people. We will accept transformation if we are permitted to exercise this right”, a KIO officer said on condition of anonymity.

The Panglong Agreement was a deal reached between the Burmese government under Aung San and the Shan, Kachin and Chin peoples on February 12, 1947, which accepted in principle “Full autonomy in internal administration for the Frontier Areas” and envisioned the creation of a Kachin State by the Constituent Assembly (Burma’s first post-independence parliament.)

KIO has also been gauging input from its rank and file and fellow Kachin on the transformation issue since last May. Its final counter-offer on the BGF issue was that it would only accept Kachin troops in their own battalions, without junta commanders.

The junta made the BGF offer to all ethnic armed ceasefire groups on April 28 last year but the KIO, the New Mon State Party, United Wa State Army, the Shan State Army – North, and Brigade Five of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army have continued to refuse the offer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World's longest internet shutdown ends in parts of Myanmar

-
Image
Rakhine people travel by motorcycle in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Western Myanmar, 02 February 2021. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA By AFP The world's longest internet shutdown -- affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar's ethnic conflict zones -- has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region. The internet in parts of Myanmar's troubled northern states of Rakhine and Chin was suspended in June 2019 following "emergency" orders issued by the telecoms department under Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. Following Monday's military coup, mobile operator Telenor Group confirmed it had reinstated full services in eight townships in Rakhine and Chin states on Wednesday. "Telenor Group and Telenor Myanmar have been advocating for the restoration of services and emphasised that freedom of expression through access to telecoms services should be maintained for humanitarian purposes," the company said in a stateme...
Read more

First ministerial meeting held

-
Image
Mizzima Myanmar held the first meeting among newly appointed ministers after a recent major cabinet reshuffle by the military in capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday morning, according to a release from the Military True News Information Team Xinhua reported. The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, acting President U Myint Swe and nine newly appointed union ministers were present at the meeting held at the Presidential Palace, the release said. Min Aung Hlaing unveiled plans to include reopening religious buildings and pagodas, resuming domestic travel and hotel businesses as well as industries in line with COVID-19 rules and regulations, and revitalizing the country's economy.
Read more

Indonesia detains British woman on terror suspect list

-
Image
File photo of Indonesian police personnel standing guard. (Photo: AFP) AFP Indonesia has detained a British woman named on a list of global terror suspects and plans to deport her for visa violations, authorities told AFP Tuesday. Tazneen Miriam Sailar -- a Manchester-born convert to Islam married to an Indonesian jihadist who was killed in Syria -- is not charged with terror offences. But she and her late husband are on an Indonesian police list of suspected extremists that includes several foreigners notorious in the West. Sailar, 47, and her 10-year-old Indonesia-born son, were being held in Jakarta after being picked up last year without documents allowing her to remain in the Southeast Asian nation, her lawyer Farid Ghozali said. "She was put (in detention) while awaiting her return, which will be facilitated by the British embassy," Indonesian immigration directorate spokesman Ahmad Nursaleh told AFP. The embassy declined to comment, and it was unclear when...
Read more