Protests took place both at the auditorium in which the IPI World Congress was held, in Rangoon’s Chatrium Hotel, as well as at the entrance of the hotel, on March 27th, the first day of the three-day congress.
Journalists staged protests at the entrance of the hotel, holding signs demanding the government “Stop Attacks on Media”, in efforts to send a message to Information Minister U Ye Htut. Within the auditorium, journalist Soe Yarzar Htun also staged a protest while wearing a mask and holding a sign that read, “Stop beating, arresting, and imprisoning journalists.”
According to protesting journalist Soe Yarzar Htun, he staged the protest not against the Information Minister but against the government.
“It [the protest] was a message; since journalists are still arrested and jailed, [this] does not work for Burma [as it] heads towards democracy. It’s to show him [U Ye Htut] that if such things continue to happen, this campaign (protest) will continue to take place. I think it should be okay to demonstrate in front of international media groups, so I staged the protest myself,” said protester Soe Yarzar Htun.
Although the majority of Burmese media groups boycotted the IPI World Congress because Information Minister U Ye Htut would be in attendance, government-run media and private media groups with close relations to the government did attend.
Information Minister U Ye Htut posted on his Facebook page that the protests staged by the journalists are a sign of transparency in Burma, and that he acknowledges journalists’ concerns.
The Information Minister remarked that five years ago it would be impossible to hold such protests, and what is happening now is proof of how much Burma has changed. U Ye Htut stated that international journalists who attended the congress also accept that Burma’s media sector has become very transparent, since there are differences between [Burmese] journalists. The Information Minister thanked all media groups who attended the congress, as their attendance proved how transparent Burmese media has become, and identified that the protesting journalists came to support exactly what he expressed in his opening speech at the congress.
“Freedom of media should be continued to be maintained in Burma. IPI urged the implementation of the points Information Minister U Ye Htut identified in his opening congress speech, which is to investigate the cases of beating and arrest of journalists, and to punish [the perpetrators] with charges,” said Barbara Trionfi, Deputy Director of IPI.
In a March 28th statement released at the IPI World Congress, IPI stated that although it acknowledges the reform process that has been taking place in Burma since 2011, the arrest and imprisonment of journalists, and the beating and arrest of journalists in recent weeks, is a detriment to Burma’s democratic reforms.
Last week’s congress was the first time IPI has held a World Congress [in Burma]. Falling on the Institute’s 65th anniversary, the IPI’s World Congress included panel discussions regarding the improvement of journalist ethics, freedom of access to news information, and the freedom of reporting.
The IPI World Congress and Assembly, held from March 27-29th at Rangoon’s Chatrium Hotel, hosted about 200 participants including senior editors, executive media members, journalists and publishers from around the world and Burmese media groups.
