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

Abuses, land grabs ongoing in Burma, says NGO

-
Thursday, 01 November 2012 17:01 Mizzima News

While the political landscape in Burma has undergone noticeable shifts in recent months, human rights violations persist throughout the country, said a Chiang Mai-based rights group in a report on Thursday.

The Network for Human Rights Documentation– Burma (ND- Burma) said in its half-yearly report that issues relating to the civil war in ethnic areas, most notably forced labor, the use of child soldiers, torture and ill-treatment “remain grave concerns.”

Over the period of April-September 2012, ND-Burma said it had documented 114 cases of human rights violations at the hands of the USDP-led government and its supporters, which it said included 27 cases of forced labor, 26 cases of land confiscation and 21 cases of torture.

The report also highlighted the issue of land confiscation and forced relocation by the Burmese government.

“Recent events, including the arrests and beatings of farmers protesting the forced relocation of landowners from 66 villages for the Latpadaung copper mine, underline the ongoing human rights violations by the Burmese government,” said ND- Burma.

Quoting the Asian Human Rights Commission, the group said that land grabbing is a direct result of “the convergence of the military, government agents and business.”

It said that the Asian Legal Resource Centre has also noted the trend when it stated: “Almost daily, news media carry reports of people being forced out of their houses or losing agricultural land to state-backed projects, sometimes being offered paltry compensation, sometimes nothing.”

The 2012 Farmland Law presented an opportunity to address land seizures, ND- Burma said, however, according to the ALRC: “Far from reducing the prospects of land-grabbing, the Farmland Law opens the door to confiscation of agricultural land on any pretext associated with a state project or the ‘national interest.’”

ND- Burma noted that the formation of a Land Investigation Committee by the Burmese government has done little to alleviate concerns.

Ko Phoe Phyu, a lawyer and leading advocate against land-grabbing in Burma, reportedly expressed doubt in an interview with ND-Burma. “In the case of the Parliament’s [Land Investigation] committee, it can’t even decide whether or not the Union Government’s actions are in conformity with the law. I think they are trying to find another solution that doesn’t reflect the reality.”

ND- Burma is an umbrella group of Burma-related NGOs, youth groups and women’s groups based in Thailand. Its members include EarthRights International and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners- Burma, as well as Kachin, Chin, Palaung and Arakan NGOs.

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