Contentious Telecoms Law Still Used to Stifle Dissent Despite Amendments: FEM Skip to main content

Contentious Telecoms Law Still Used to Stifle Dissent Despite Amendments: FEM

By ZUE ZUE 12 December 2017

YANGON — The controversial Article 66(d) of Myanmar’s Telecommunications Law is still widely used by authorities to stifle dissent despite a recent amendment, according to a report by Free Expression Myanmar (FEM), a non-governmental human rights defender and promoter.

FEM released its report titled ‘66 (d): No real change’ at Pansuriya Art Gallery in Yangon on Monday, claiming that the government’s amendment of the article in August 2017 has not brought any significant change.

“This article should have been scrapped, but it was only amended. This report highlights with facts and figures that this article is still used [by authorities] as a tool even after its amendment, as well as looks at the situation of freedom of expression in Myanmar,” Maung Saungkha, a poet who has been campaigning for the repeal of the law, told The Irrawaddy.

Over the past two years, Article 66(d) has been used by those in positions of power to punish those who try to hold them accountable, and the government amendment of the article has had no perceptible impact on this, said FEM.

The report was prepared by FEM and its partners Myanmar ICT for Development (MIDO) and a research group on Telecommunications Law. It analyzes the complaints filed under Article 66(d) before and after amending the article.

“We’ve said clearly that Article 66(d) is unnecessary because there is already Section 500 of the Penal Code. The defamation charge in the telecommunications is too broadly defined. Unless and until Article 66(d) is scrapped, any changes to the law will not suffice,” said Maung Saungkha.

Nine new cases were filed under Article 66(d) even after changes were introduced to the law August, according to the report, which covers two years’ time from November 2015 to November 2017.

According to the report, there were a total of 106 cases—11 filed in the time of the Union Solidarity and Development (USDP) government and 95 under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

The report said that 51 percent of complainants were closely related to authorities such as government officials, political parties and the military, and 23 percent of complainants directly represent the government as government officials, including ward administrators and police officers.

“Article 66(d) was not amended as we wanted, in a way that complies with international norms. I would call it a so-called amendment,” said Daw Zarchi Oo, a member of Pen Myanmar.

In early 2017, 22 civil society organizations teamed up in their advocacy efforts for the reform of the Telecommunications Law and the termination of Article 66(d).

The amendment approved by Parliament in August requires prosecutions under the law to be conducted directly by the “defamed” individual, rather than by a third party, unless that party has been granted legal power by the individual. It also allows for bail to be granted to the defendant.

The maximum prison sentence was also cut to two years from three. However, the law’s most contentious clause, which broadly prohibits the use of the telecommunications network to “extort, defame, disturb or intimidate” remains in place.

The FEM Myanmar report said that 93 percent of complaints were about defamation, and if defamation were precisely defined in Article 66(d), at least two-thirds of the complaints should have been rejected.

The report also called for scrapping the article and decriminalizing defamation in Myanmar’s Penal Code.

FEM was established in May 2017 by a group of human rights defenders leading a new civil society coalition to challenge the repressive Telecommunications Law and the notorious Article 66(d).

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/contentious-telecoms-law-still-used-stifle-dissent-despite-amendments-fem.html

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do

Is 160 enough? One Indian man's family

By Sumnima Udas , CNN October 31, 2011 -- Updated 0857 GMT (1657 HKT) Ziona, center, with his has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren in rural Baktwang village, India. STORY HIGHLIGHTS One man in India is the patriarch of a family of 160 in rural India Ziona, who only goes by his first name, has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren. Ziona's father, Chana, founded the Christian sect in Baktwang that promotes polygamy "I never wanted to get married but that's the path God has chosen for me" Mizoram, India (CNN) -- The world's population hits 7 billion this week, but Ziona, the patriarch of what may be the biggest family in the world, is not bothered. "I don't care about overpopulation in India ... I believe God has chosen us to be like this (have big families). Those who are born into this family don't want to leave this tradition so we just keep growing and growing," he says with a smile. Ziona, who only goes by his f