RANGOON (The Irrawaddy magazine / Pacific Media Watch): The probe into the murder of journalist Aung Kyaw Naing, allegedly killed by the Burmese military, continues with another journalist now facing threats of criminal charges.
The Irrawaddy magazine reported yesterday that the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC), which will receive the results of the probe once complete, had threatened another journalist with criminal charges if he failed to come forward and testify.
The journalist, who is not named, was part of a trio who filed the missing persons report after Naing disappeared in September, while he was out covering a story.
For two weeks, the Burmese military held Naing in custody without letting anyone know where he was, before killing him on 4 October. Even after they killed him, they did not tell his wife, Ma Thandar, that he was dead but allegedly buried his body in secret instead.
Only after protests in Burma and much lobbying by Ma Thandar, did the military reveal that they had killed Naing, The Irrawaddy reported.
Naing's widow, Ma Thandar, says she is concerned about the MNHRC threats:
“This kind of language from the HRC is very alarming. With ‘human rights’ in its name, the commission must be unbiased and take the right stance...I am surprised to hear such words from the HRC.”
Thandar, a prominent activist in Burma, says she still wants an independent investigation into her husband's death.
Last week she revealed that she had seen her husband's body and it did not appear that he had been shot five times while trying to escape from custody, as the military has claimed.
The Irrawaddy magazine says the MNHRC has "not had a stellar track record since it was set up by the government of President Thein Sein in 2011":
"In September, the MNHRC was blasted by a coalition of nongovernmental organizations, which said the commission had failed to successfully investigate “any case submitted to it” since it was formed. The groups went on to criticize the commission as lacking independence, with its funding and staff members beholden to the President’s Office".
The Committee to Protect Journalists has asked US President Barack Obama to impress upon Sein that all jailed Burmese journalists should be freed and that justice should be served for Naing.
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