Myanmar Now: under attack by military dictatorship
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Hi there, we are Myanmar Now, an independent investigative news outlet based in Myanmar.
On February 1 Myanmar’s military staged a coup, arresting the country’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior government officials. Since then the regime has responded to a massive popular uprising against its rule by attempting to terrorize the entire population.
Its police and soldiers have massacred dozens of peaceful protesters and arrested around 2,000 people at the time of writing. Many others have been severely injured by gunshots, vicious beatings, slingshot projectiles, tear gas and water cannon.
Some of the recent killings were executions of detained protesters. Several members of the ousted ruling party have been tortured to death in custody.
Now, the military has set its sights on destroying independent media, which had just begun to find its feet after pre-publication censorship was abolished in 2012. Police and soldiers raided our office on March 9 and seized computers and other equipment, The regime revoked our publishing license the same day.
Our colleague Kay Zon Nway was detained in late February while reporting on a protest in Yangon; the last video she published was a Facebook livestream of her own arrest.
We recently reported on one case of a detained protester - an 18-year-old boy - being brutally tortured, and others are being tortured and mistreated in custody too. Several other colleagues have been present during attacks on protesters and have witnessed and documented people being murdered.
The military’s strategy to defeat the uprising goes beyond murdering protesters. Soldiers have been showing up at night in residential neighbourhoods to fire guns and set off stun grenades so that no one can feel safe in their own home. Some soldiers have posted videos on social media of them brandishing weapons as they explain how they plan to kill people who defy the regime’s orders.
Police are carrying out nighttime raids, without warrants, on people’s homes to detain activists, trade unionists, politicians, and anyone else they consider a threat. People can be jailed for years for simply criticising the military or expressing support for the protests online.
When they are not on the frontlines covering protests, Myanmar Now's reporters are in hiding to avoid arrest. Even colleagues who are not journalists have moved to safe houses. The upheaval to our operations created by the coup has been extremely costly. We have had to relocate dozens of staff, as well as hire a new editor to help us deal with the increase in coverage.
As the junta tries to crush any hint of dissent, we are committed to not just surviving but expanding and becoming stronger, and continuing to shine light on the crimes of one of the most brazenly evil dictatorships in the world, as well as the awe-inspiring efforts to bring an end to its rule.
Before the coup, we enjoyed the generous support of readers inside Myanmar, many of whom earned very low incomes but contributed because they valued our work.
Now that our office has been raided and our licence revoked, we can safely assume that the regime will freeze our bank accounts inside Myanmar. It is not easy for many inside Myanmar to make international payments; the banking system is underdeveloped and many do not have bank cards that work outside the country.
So we're seeking support from people around the world. We are a small organisation and your contributions will go a long way. You will be paying our reporters’ salaries, helping to keep them safe, and helping us deal with the costly disruption to our operations caused by the coup and the raid on our office.
You'll also be paying for readers inside Myanmar who are no longer able to contribute, but who need independent media now more than ever.
You can read the work we do here: https://www.myanmar-now.org/en
We also post regular updates on events in Myanmar on Twitter: @Myanmar_Now_Eng
On February 1 Myanmar’s military staged a coup, arresting the country’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior government officials. Since then the regime has responded to a massive popular uprising against its rule by attempting to terrorize the entire population.
Its police and soldiers have massacred dozens of peaceful protesters and arrested around 2,000 people at the time of writing. Many others have been severely injured by gunshots, vicious beatings, slingshot projectiles, tear gas and water cannon.
Some of the recent killings were executions of detained protesters. Several members of the ousted ruling party have been tortured to death in custody.
Now, the military has set its sights on destroying independent media, which had just begun to find its feet after pre-publication censorship was abolished in 2012. Police and soldiers raided our office on March 9 and seized computers and other equipment, The regime revoked our publishing license the same day.
Our colleague Kay Zon Nway was detained in late February while reporting on a protest in Yangon; the last video she published was a Facebook livestream of her own arrest.
We recently reported on one case of a detained protester - an 18-year-old boy - being brutally tortured, and others are being tortured and mistreated in custody too. Several other colleagues have been present during attacks on protesters and have witnessed and documented people being murdered.
The military’s strategy to defeat the uprising goes beyond murdering protesters. Soldiers have been showing up at night in residential neighbourhoods to fire guns and set off stun grenades so that no one can feel safe in their own home. Some soldiers have posted videos on social media of them brandishing weapons as they explain how they plan to kill people who defy the regime’s orders.
Police are carrying out nighttime raids, without warrants, on people’s homes to detain activists, trade unionists, politicians, and anyone else they consider a threat. People can be jailed for years for simply criticising the military or expressing support for the protests online.
When they are not on the frontlines covering protests, Myanmar Now's reporters are in hiding to avoid arrest. Even colleagues who are not journalists have moved to safe houses. The upheaval to our operations created by the coup has been extremely costly. We have had to relocate dozens of staff, as well as hire a new editor to help us deal with the increase in coverage.
As the junta tries to crush any hint of dissent, we are committed to not just surviving but expanding and becoming stronger, and continuing to shine light on the crimes of one of the most brazenly evil dictatorships in the world, as well as the awe-inspiring efforts to bring an end to its rule.
Before the coup, we enjoyed the generous support of readers inside Myanmar, many of whom earned very low incomes but contributed because they valued our work.
Now that our office has been raided and our licence revoked, we can safely assume that the regime will freeze our bank accounts inside Myanmar. It is not easy for many inside Myanmar to make international payments; the banking system is underdeveloped and many do not have bank cards that work outside the country.
So we're seeking support from people around the world. We are a small organisation and your contributions will go a long way. You will be paying our reporters’ salaries, helping to keep them safe, and helping us deal with the costly disruption to our operations caused by the coup and the raid on our office.
You'll also be paying for readers inside Myanmar who are no longer able to contribute, but who need independent media now more than ever.
You can read the work we do here: https://www.myanmar-now.org/en
We also post regular updates on events in Myanmar on Twitter: @Myanmar_Now_Eng
Fundraising team (2)
Joshua Luke
Organizer
Swe Win
Team member
