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 group gives funds to mine victims’ families

-
Monday, 18 October 2010 22:59 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The main Kachin armed ethnic group under ceasefire has donated money to the families of victims of a deadly landmine blast in the northern Burmese state, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) said.

The KIO provided financial support to the families of the two dead and one injured victims when the mine exploded last Wednesday in Pinkyaing village, part of the Pinball village tract of Mogaung Township, Kachin State, KIO joint secretary Colonel Sin Wah said.

“We ordered two KIO officers to go to the scene of the blast and investigate the case yesterday. We provided financial support to the villagers. In fact, we had already told the villagers that there were landmines in the area,” Sin Wah said today.

As five villagers climbed Nwalabo Hill in Kachin Special Region Two, an area controlled by the KIO from Laiza, one stepped on a landmine. Aung Kyaw Thein and Myint Pe died in the blast and Win Bo was injured, he said.

Captain Khaung Lwan from the group’s Mogaung liaison office and Captain Zaw Gam from Myitkyina District liaison office gave 1.5 million kyat (about US$1,500) to the families of the deceased victims. Win Bo’s family received 700,000 kyat and the remaining companions received 50,000 kyat.

The mine was triggered in an area controlled by the 11th battalion of the KIO’s armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), where fierce clashes had taken place between junta troops and the Kachin freedom fighters before the ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994.

On Sunday, the KIO released a statement that they had no intention to hurt civilians. It also warned the public of more mines in the area. The group said it had planted more mines as a result of increased tensions between it and the junta over its refusal to bring its troops under Burmese Army command within a Border Guard Force (BGF).

The state mouthpiece newspaper, New Light of Myanmar, reported on Friday that five villagers had been caught in the blast from a mine planted by KIA “insurgents”.

This was the first time the junta had used the word “insurgent” to describe the ethnic Kachin’s 8,000-strong army since the group signed a ceasefire agreement with the junta that ended a decades-long struggle against Burma’s military dictatorship.

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