Post 2. FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN BURMA

The Constitution of The Union of Burma (1947) guaranteed freedom of thought and expression, but after the military coup d'état by Ne Win in 1962, the Printers and Publishers Registration Law was enacted. This law, still in function, requires all printers and publishers to register and submit copies of their publications to the Press Scrutiny Board. Nowadays there is neither freedom of speech nor that of the press in Burma. Only a few people have been brave enough to speak up against the regime for the sake of justice and to promote democracy. Most of them are members of the pro-democracy group, the “National League for Democracy” (NLD).

The Junta denounces all Burmese media in exile and declared all those who work with them as 'traitors of the State'. These groups aim to promote Justice, Freedom and Democracy in Burma and also seek to inform the wider international community about the situation inside the Burmese territory. Many people have left the state for near countries such as Thailand, India and Bangladesh in search of a better life and job, the social and political activists escaped to Thailand and formed the exile media groups, reporting the news updates in Burma with the aid of courageous reporters and other media associates who risk their lives every day to get the crucial and essential news feeds out of the country.

Working as journalist inside the state is a risky job, the Burmese writers try to publish the truth about the situation in Burma, but all the articles must be approved by the censorship board, (called ‘Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRB) of the Ministry of Information since 2005’) in an approval process that can last over six months. Often, these stories are automatically deleted because they contain words that appeal to the human dignity like “'refugees' or 'starvation” which attract international attention and could possibly compromise the military regime.

The journalists sometimes are required to find an alternative job as a cover up to protect their services and loyalty to the media and to also ensure their survival, while at the same time find a way (sometimes illegal) to report the news to their friends in the exiled media, like through a mobile phone, which has revealed to be the hardest medium to control by the Junta.

In Burma only a few hundred elites are granted full access to the Internet, and e-mail communication is strictly monitored by the government. The sites accessed must first pass through the censorship board and the Junta control and monitor every internet user who may be suspected of delivering news to the media in exile. Computer courses are costly and many people cannot afford it.

Internet censorship is mostly confined to websites related to pro-democracy groups and those on pornography. Some internet cafes started to monitor their visitors since 2010 and owners are also required to report their shop’s activity monthly to the Junta.

In September 2011, several banned websites including “YouTube”, “Democratic Voice of Burma” and “Voice of America” have been unblocked.

The Junta cracks down on both Burmese and non-Burmese media. For the non-Burmese, the Junta accuses them of supporting the ethnic rebels or political armed group, while for the Burmese media, it accuses them of supporting the National League for Democracy, the group of Aung San Suu Kyi. The Junta would rather prefer the people directing their interest, focus and passion on non political and social affairs like Sports, instead of the real matters of state such as the cyclone Nargis or the political activity of NLD.

All TV stations are under the control and censorship of the regime, and thus make it difficult to differentiate between facts and fiction, truth and fabrication. The regime via the Press Scrutiny Board can suspend licenses of publications if it does not approve of the materials.

The foreign radio programs produced by the Voice of America, radio Free Asia and DVB (democratic voice of Burma) are very popular in the area, but are considered illegal by the Junta.

I suggest you to watch the film BURMA VJ, which talks about the situation in Burma from the Saffron Revolution to nowadays:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24zPJe3Fgwc

http://www.freeburmavj.org/ it is the site of Free Burma Vj 

DVB (The Democratic Voice of Burma) fights against the violations of human rights in Burma, the censorship of the press and the lack of democracy. For more information about it, there is this site: http://www.dvb.no/

What has changed in Burma after the new Constitution in 2010 and after the release from jail of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2012?

Democracy in Burma still is not consolidated; many political prisoners remain in jail, without a true trial and the Junta continues violating fundamental human rights.

http://www.aljazeera.com//news/asia/2012/07/20127964743497995.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/02/aung-san-suu-kyi-victory-burma-freedom

The situation is difficult, but since July 2012 it seems to be better; publications go to press without prior approval from the Press Scrutiny and censorship, some websites are now accessible and a new media law, that will abolish censorship is being draft.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-18814045

What do you think about the situation in Burma, a country so far away from Europe?

What could the international community do to help people, journalists and political activists which risk their life for share their opinions and the truth?

Share your opinions!

Micol

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Post 1: SEX TOURISM IN THAILAND

Prostitution, even if illegal, is practised in an assiduous way in Thailand’s resorts. It is source of easy money for girls that live in (usually) precarious situations. Sometimes, their families encourage them to become sex workers. But this represents, in my opinion, a reason for the arise of non-indifferent socio-cultural problems. In addition to be a serious form of denigration toward women, that are forced to sell their bodies to foreigners  who arrived in Thailand with the only goal of having low-cost sexual intercourses, usually this phenomenon includes the involvement of minors, with undoubted relapses on their psychic sphere. Moreover, the prostitution facilitates the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS.  And all that takes place by tacit agreement  of local authorities.

Sometimes tourists, coming from Western countries, believe that prostitution is “part of the culture of these populations”, and don’t see (or don’t want to see) the element of compulsion, the violence and the desperation that are hidden in this phenomenon. Simply they turn into “costumers”, well-alert to find the occasion at a bargain and to satisfy their sex urges.

“Sex tourists, defined as those who travel to a country for the sole purpose of having sex see it as an opportunity, or even an entitlement, to have sex available for less money than they would pay at home. They perceive that those involved in the industry are making a choice to sell their services.”

According to me, sex tourism is a real lack of respect, and it becomes especially aggravated when it is made in Third World countries, where it can represent the unique way for coming out from a devastating situation, in exchange for the loss of dignity.

I suggest to read these articles about the topic:

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6360603.stm

 http://matadornetwork.com/bnt/the-shameful-truth-about-sex-tourism/

The first one takes into account the point of view of a Thai girl that, after an experience like a sex worker, decides to give up.

In the second one you can see a good critical article by an English teacher in Thailand. A sentence in particular has attracted my consideration: “Some say that sex tourism is about sex, but I think it’s about power and opportunism”. And I believe that it can summarize perfectly the whole situation

Finally, I found very interesting and useful a video (in Italian!) made by the television broadcast “Le Iene”, that looks into the extent of sex tourism in Thailand and the behaviour of our fellow countrymen.

http://www.video.mediaset.it/video/iene/puntata/213141/fubini-il-bordello-di-pattaya.html

What do you think about sex tourism? Please share you opinions.

Michael Massarutto 

Hi everyone! 
We are four students on the MA course of of International Politics and Diplomacy at the University of Padua.
The purpose of this blog is to bring some news about an area of the world that rarely is in the center of Italian reporting: the Southeastern Asia. 
We are going to focus on different human rights violations that are still going on in this zone . 

The idea of talking about this kind of issues came up easily in our minds, as we studied International Relationships and Human Rights for three years. These topics are something that we really are interested in.
Our hope is that this blog could be useful for the ones that are willing to know something new about a large portion of the Wolrd that is usually overlooked.
Enjoy.

Laura, Nicola, Micol, Michael