Jakarta: At least 43 journalists have been arrested in Myanmar since democratic elections were held in 2015, according to a landmark new report from Human Rights Watch.
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And approximately 140 cases of defamation have been brought - which carries a penalty of up two years jail - under section 66 [d] of the country's Telecommunications Law according to the report, which cities statistics from Myanmar civil society group Athan.
The report, Dashed Hopes - the criminalisation of peaceful expression in Myanmar, sets out in detail how journalists have been targeted, freedom of expression curtailed and how laws have been enacted and amended to cover up corruption allegations and military abuses of Rohingya Muslims, in Rakhine State.
It covers the period since the National League for Democracy took power in March 2016, with Aung Sang Suu Kyi as its figurehead and state counsellor [she is barred from being President under the constitution], in what is the first democratically-elected government since 1962.
Even as new media organisations have begun to blossom in Myanmar, report author Linda Lakhdir said “abuses against the press under Myanmar’s new government have been particularly striking".
“Aung San Suu Kyi’s government has had a real opportunity to abolish the tools of oppression used by the military juntas, but has instead used them against peaceful critics and protesters,” she said.
The report comes as Myanmar's government, particularly Suu Kyi, has faced wave after wave of international condemnation for the expulsion of more than a million Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh.
The UN has documented mass gang rape, killings, brutal beatings and the torching of homes and people.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne met Suu Kyi as recently as December 2018 and Australia has been criticised for providing funds to help Myanmar's military.
One famous case of how the media has been targeted in Myanmar is that of two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who investigated the military's activities in Rakhine State, which is home to the Rohingya population.
The pair uncovered evidence of a massacre at Inn Din, met police at a restaurant while seeking more information and received a cache of documents in December 2017.
They were arrested immediately afterwards and have been prosecuted for violating the Official Secrets Act, concluding in their conviction and a seven year jail sentence in September 2018. Their appeal to Myanmar's High Court was thrown out in January 2019.
Many other less high-profile cases of legal abuse are also highlighted, including that of Swe Win, a journalist and co-founder of Myanmar Now, which has reported on the ultranationalist movement in the country including the killing of a Muslim lawyer, U Ko Ni.
Nearly two years later, Swe Win is facing prosecution under section 66 [d] of the country's Telecommunications Law for sharing a story online about an ultranationalist monk who welcomed the murder of the Muslim lawyer.
The report finds that it is the Telecommunications law that is most often used to penalise peaceful expression in Myanmar, and not only by journalists.
Eight students were convicted and fined for defamation after participating in a satirical anti-war play that angered Tatmadaw (Myanmar armed forces) officials, while the father of one of the students, who streamed the play on Facebook, has been jailed for three months under the Telecommunications law.
The report highlights cases in which activists have been prosecuted for posting images on social media that ridicule senior political figures, including Suu Kyi.
