The Board of the World Association of Newspapers has called for the release of all imprisoned journalists in Burma and for the ruling military junta to allow press freedom and freedom of expression in the country.




"Burma is one of the most repressive countries in the world, and all forms of expression are strictly controlled and censored by the ruling military regime," the Board said in a resolution which was passed on the eve of the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum, which brought more than 1,300 newspaper executives to Istanbul, Turkey, for the global meetings of the world’s press.

"The Board of WAN calls on the government of Burma to ensure that all imprisoned journalists are immediately released and that the country fully restore press freedom and freedom of expression," said the resolution.

The resolution said:

The Board of the World Association of Newspapers and the Board of the World Editors Forum, meeting at the 57th World Newspaper Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, 30 May to 2 June 2004, call on the Burmese government to restore press freedom and freedom of expression in the country. Burma is one of the most repressive countries in the world, and all forms of expression are strictly controlled and censored by the ruling military regime.

At least eleven journalists are known to remain behind bars in Burma. Among them is U Win Tin, one of the country’s most distinguished journalists. The prison conditions for the 73-year-old U Win Tin and his colleagues continue to deteriorate, causing some of them serious health problems.

The latest journalist to be imprisoned is Ne Min, a former BBC stringer who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 7 May 2004.

In November 2003, the editor of a sports weekly was sentenced to death on charges of "committing high treason by plotting to murder senior government figures," after writing about corruption in Burmese football. His sentence was later reduced to three years.

On 17 May 2004, the military regime announced the opening of a National Convention to write a new constitution. The convention was interrupted in 1996, following the withdrawal of the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Independent media have been banned from freely reporting on preparations for the convention and the NLD’s position. NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. International media, including Agence France-Presse, the BBC World Service and Voice of America applied for visas to cover the convention, but received no answer from the Burmese authorities.

The Board of WAN calls on the government of Burma to ensure that all imprisoned journalists are immediately released and that the country fully restores press freedom and freedom of expression.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 13 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.