In
Myanmar,
Reporters Banned from UN Nambiar, No Comment on Press
Freedom
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 29 --Forty eight hours after UN
Headquarters in New
York had refused to confirm that envoy Vijay Nambiar would be
visiting Myanmar, Nambiar held a tightly controlled “press”
conference as he left the country.
But
reporters who
the Than Shwe military government has cracked down on, even those who
have managed to become and remain accredited in the country, were
barred from Nambiar's press conference. According to The Irrawaddy,
“Reporters
who were denied access included staff from The Myanmar Times, 7 Day,
Venus, The Voice, True News, Weekly Eleven and other news journals.
'We face difficulties in collecting news because the army, police and
local authorities all restrict us from doing so. Even if we have
news, we have to go through the PSRD before we publish it. We are
working under very tight control. The situation may become worse when
the new government lead by the Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP) takes office,' said a reporter, who asked to remain
anonymous.The [military government's Press Scrutiny and Registration
Division] suspended nine private journals last week.”
Just
as Inner City
Press previously
reported Nambiar's lack of any comment on a new
law
signed as he arrived by Than Shwe, which criminalizes any speech by
new parliamentarians that may “endanger national security, the
unity of the country or violate the constitution,” Nambiar send
nothing about press freedom in Myanmar. How could he? He held a press
conference from which the military government barred journalists.
In
the resulting
press conference, here were Nambiar's two final answers:
Q:
Did you convey any message?
Nambiar:
There
is no specific message which I have conveyed, but I have
conveyed within the context of the issues... As the Special Envoy of
the Secretary-General, I look forward to being able to address these
concerns in a manner that brings about a commonality of perception...
A
“commonality
of perception” is easier, he seems to think, if those in power are
allowed to control reporters and thus the public's access to news.
Nambiar in Burma press with some reporters banned
On
November 26 in
lieu of the UN's usually noon briefing, which was canceled, Inner
City Press asked among other questions for Haq to “please confirm
or deny that Vijay Nambiar is going to Myanmar this weekend, and
unless deny, please state his program of work. Separately, please
respond to the criticism 'Win Tin expressed extreme disappointment
that Ban’s 2010 report to the UN General Assembly on Burma’s
human rights situation failed to seriously address violations against
ethnic minorities.'”
Haq
replied, “I
don't have a confirmation concerning Mr Nambiar. I can tell you that
we are still working out a program for the Special Adviser. I have no
comment on the SG's human rights report, which speaks for itself.”
Al
Jazeera, to
which Nambiar
granted his one and so far only interview about his
role in the “white flag” killings in Sri Lanka had
this to say
about Nambiar: “He is a former Indian ambassador to China and is
believed to have a good relationship with Beijing, a key ally of the
Myanmar government.”
UN
Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon's “human rights” report also did not even
mention the recommendation by the UN's Special Rapporteur that Ban
set up an international panel of inquiry into war crimes in Myanmar.
In
a November 22
speech at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, Ban bragged that
“Two
years ago, when Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, the government was
initially reluctant to open its door to international relief. It was
impossible, for me, to stand by and see politics get in the way of
saving lives. We pressed the government quite hard. Eventually we got
a breakthrough. Aid began to flow. Many thousands of lives were
saved. We did the same in Darfur.”
There
are skeptics
as to both statements, on Myanmar and Darfur. Watch this site.
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