A group of Burmese political prisoners, including journalist Myo Myint Nyein, were released on Wednesday in conjunction with the visit of a United Nations envoy to the country.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement yesterday that of 12 journalists still imprisoned in Burma by the end of 2001, only Myo had been released in tandem with UN envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiros visit to Burma to investigate its human rights record.

Myo, the editor of a literary magazine Yin-Kyae-Hmu (Cultural), has been in jail since Sept 1990 for publication of anti-government propaganda and for distributing a poem at a political rally.

He was originally sentenced to seven years jail in November 1990 for publishing the poem which criticised the military in his magazine.

He was then sentenced to another seven years in jail in March 1996 for helping to write a letter to the UN about prison conditions and ill-treatment of prisoners.

The Burmese military seized power in 1989 after a landslide electoral victory of Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyis political party, the National League of Democracy (NLD).

Regime of censorship

The New York-based non-profit CPJ said in its statement all journalists in Burma still work under a harsh regime of censorship, licensing and threats.

The restrictions imposed by the ruling military junta make reporting on even the most mundane topics a risky business. Magazines can easily be closed and reporters imprisoned or driven into exile, it said.

The CPJ has also released a special report entitled Under pressure: How Burmese journalism survives in one of the worlds most repressive regimes documenting the conditions that Burmese journalists are forced to deal with.

These include strict government regulations, capricious censors and corrupt bureaucrats.

According to an editor cited in the report, the government has forbidden all reports about Aids, corruption, education, or the situation of Burmese students.

We also cannot write any bad news and we must be careful about everything political. That does not leave very much for us to publish, the unnamed editor of a monthly magazine was quoted as saying.

No Internet access

However, A Lin Neumann, who wrote the CPJ report, said the restrictions did not stop Burmese journalists from trying to do their jobs.

I went to Rangoon expecting to find few reporters and editors eager to practise their craft at all. Instead, I found journalists dedicated to uncovering information and ideas. The tragedy is that so little of what they know finds its way into print, said Neumann who is also CPJs Asia consultant.

In addition to direct censorship, the Burmese government also disallows public Internet access, controls all news and owns all electronic media, said the report. It added that journalists are reduced to working the margins and trying to put meaning between the lines of what they write.

[The report] is really a remarkable story that demonstrates the strength of a peoples desire for information and free expression, said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper.

Pinheiro is in Burma as part of a UN fact-finding trip and to meet with Burmese government officials, opposition leaders and ethnic minority leaders in preparation for a report on the country, slated for presentation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in April.

According to a Feb 11 Reuters report, UN special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, expressed optimism with regard to the progress of conciliatory talks between the Burmese government and the NLD.

These kinds of talks are difficult; they take time, Razali was quoted as saying.

The report added that Razali is expected to visit Burma for a four day trip beginning Mar 19 to meet with Prime Minister and with Suu Kyi.

Held in dog kennel

Meanwhile, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Myo was never given proper treatment in jail for the acute psychological and stomach ailments that he suffered.

"For several months, he was forced to live in a dog kennel," said RSF in a statement.

"For several years, RSF and the Burma Media Association have campaigned for his release. As way of denouncing the attitude of the regime, Myo was nominated for a prize awarded by the foundation of Canadian Jounalists for Free Expression, which he won in 2001."

RSF also said that there were at least 17 other journalists still in prison in Burma.

"We are especially concerned about the fate of Sein Hla Oo, who completed his sentence in August 2001 but has not been released."

"Journalist Win Tin, an adviser to the National League for Democracy, is held since July 1989 and is believed to be greatly weakened by various illnesses."