Bloggers Defy Myanmar Junta to Expose Human Rights Abuses

Posted on September 29, 2007

In Burma/Myanmar, the ruling junta is furious at the world attention its violent repression of peaceful democratic protesters in drawing. In fact, the only reason we know so much about the brutal crackdown and violence against thousands of marching Buddhist monks is because of bloggers who have been bravely posting photos online so that the world can see what's happening. In this photo, which was released by the Democratic Voice of Burma, Buddhist monks stand in front of riot police as they demonstrate in Yangon, Myanmar on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007. Although the monks carried signs with peaceful, nonviolent slogans, the security forces have been firing into the crowds and taking monks away by the truckload. The monks take lifelong vows of celibacy, poverty and are much revered in the country. Each day they go out to find their one meal, and one gains much merit by donating a monk's meal for the day. For the monks to protest the policies of the ruling dictatorship is a watershed event.

The government is now blocking all websites that are posting images of what's really happening in the streets. But brave young bloggers are continuing to find ways around the blocks, so that the word can get out.

Savvy young bloggers in Burma are breaking through the military junta's tight internet controls to post photos and videos of swelling anti-government protests. The government blocks almost every website that carries news or information about the South-East Asian country, and even bars access to web-based email. But an army of young techies in Rangoon works around the clock to circumvent the censors, posting pictures and videos on blogs almost as soon as the protests happen. Many of these images have been picked up by mainstream news organisations because bloggers have managed to capture images that no one else can get.
Aung Zaw, editor of Irrawaddy, a news magazine for expatriate Burmese living in Thailand told The Age bloggers and underground journalists in Burma were risking arrest in communicating with the outside world. He said Irrawaddy had several reporters in Burma who used the internet, email and mobile phones to send stories and images to their colleagues in Thailand. "It's a huge risk," he said. "We cannot identify them and (must be) extremely cautious because they could be imprisoned for sending information to us." Aung Zaw said a friend had been imprisoned for seven years in the mid-1990s after posting a letter that was opened by the military.
He said images and information for Irrawaddy about the current protests were also being gathered from blogs posted by people inside Burma.

The eyes of the world are on Burma now. The ruling dictatorship seems to be having trouble realizing how technology has changed the world. Legal experts told the BBC that the rulers of the country could very well be charged with human rights abuses and genocide in the World Court. This is the upside of technology. It also showcases some very brave young people who are risking their lives to get the story to the rest of the world.