6/13/22, 1:01 PM Myanmar: HRC must act on dehumanising ‘hate speech’ and criminalisation of journalists - ARTICLE 19 The Special Rapporteur’s report follows the December 2017 decision to deny her access to the country. In the past year, at least 12 journalists have been arrested, and others have faced threats of violence while reporting on ongoing conflicts and other sensitive (https://www.article19.org) issues, contributing to a deteriorating environment for freedom of expression in the country (https://www.article19.org/resources/myanmar-hrc-must-addressdeteriorating-environment-free-expression/). Detained Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in December 2017 and face up to 14 years imprisonment in relation to their investigation of a massacre of Rohingya villagers by the Myanmar military. The Special Rapporteur called the case “unconscionable” in her report to the HRC, and the UN-mandated Fact-Finding Mission tasked with investigating human rights violations in the country similarly condemned the case in its report to the Council. In the past year, the Myanmar government failed to make progress on the reform of repressive legislation. Rather, laws such as the Unlawful Associations Act and Official Secrets Act, as well as various Penal Code provisions, continued to be used to unjustifiably restrict the freedom of expression. Amendments to section 66(d) of the 2013 Telecommunications Law, which has been frequently used to prosecute journalists and others, failed to address its fundamental flaws (https://www.article19.org/resources/myanmar-proposedchanges-to-telecommunications-law-fail-to-protect-freeexpression/). Authorities also continued to deny journalists and human rights monitors access to conflict zones in Rakhine, Shan and Kachin States. In an oral statement before the HRC, ARTICLE 19 highlighted the government’s deliberate campaign of misinformation (https://www.article19.org/resources/myanmar-oral-statementhrc37-interactive-dialogue-fact-finding-mission-specialrapporteur/) regarding the crisis in Rakhine State, contributing to dehumanising narratives directed at the Rohingya ethnic minority. ARTICLE 19 is concerned by the government’s failure to follow through on recommendations made last year by the Council to address discrimination and prejudice, concerns that were echoed in This website usesMission’s cookies toreport. improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you the Fact-Finding Government spokespersons continued to question veracity ofwish. accounts by Rohingya canthe opt-out if you Cookie settings ACCEPT survivors in the wake of the reports to the HRC, going so far as to Privacy and Cookie Policy (https://www.article19.org/privacy-policy/) https://www.article19.org/resources/myanmar-hrc-must-act-dehumanising-hate-speech-criminalisation-journalists/  2/3