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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White phosphorous used on Latpadaung protesters, say lawyers

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Thursday, 31 January 2013 12:57 Mizzima News

Burmese riot police used white phosphorous to disrupt a sit-in protest by monks and activists at the Latpadaung copper mine site on November 29, says a group of human rights lawyers.

A Buddhist monk is treated for severe burns by a medic in Monywa. (PHOTO: Hein Htet/Mizzima)

According to a report on Wednesday by Thomas Fuller in The New York Times, the Upper Burma Lawyers Network claims that a canister taken from the scene after the crackdown was analyzed at a laboratory in Bangkok where experts confirmed that phosphorus residue was found in the canister.

Images of Buddhist monks being treated for severe burns after the Latpadaung incident shocked the world.

The New York Times quoted 64-year-old Ashin Tikhanyana, who remains in intensive care in a Bangkok hospital, as saying on Wednesday: “I saw a fireball beside me and I started to burn. I was rolling on the ground to try to put it out.”

The senior monk was transferred to Thailand because over 40 percent of his body was burned and no hospital in Burma had the facilities to care for him, the report said.

The Burmese government initially claimed that tear gas and smoke bombs were launched by security forces at the protesters at the copper mine in Sagaing region. However, Dr. Chatchai Pruksapong, a burn specialist caring for Tikhanyana, is reported as saying that his injuries were not caused by tear gas, but that the monk was seared by something “severely flammable.”

White phosphorus is frequently employed in warfare—either as a smoke screen or as an incendiary weapon. However, it is rarely if ever used by police in crowd control situations.

Used in both world wars, the Vietnam-American War, and by US-led forces in Iraq, the devastating effects of white phosphorous were most recently witnessed by global TV audiences during the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2008-09.

Burma’s state media made no mention on Thursday of these latest accusations.

On Wednesday, The Irrawaddy reported that more than 2,000 activists and local residents had gathered near the Latpadaung copper mine the day before to demand that Burma’s authorities take action against those responsible for the violent crackdown on protesters in November.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed chairperson of an investigation commission to determine if excessive force had been used in the Monywa incident, and to report on whether the project should proceed. The committee’s report was scheduled to be released on January 31; however, Suu Kyi is currently on tour in South Korea and no statement has been released by the inquiry commission.
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The New York Times report in full: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/world/asia/myanmar-troops-used-phosphorus-on-protesters-lawyers-say.html?_r=0
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