Two months after being arrested for investigating a massacre of Rohingya civilians by Myanmar security forces, and a few days after the release of their groundbreaking findings, Reuters reporters Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, are set to receive a major journalism award reserved for journalists who are jailed for their work.
PEN America, an organization that promotes freedom of expression, announced its plans yesterday to give the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award to the two reporters. The award has had 42 previous recipients since 1987, 37 of whom were ultimately released from detention. The award is expected to bring additional attention to the prosecution of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and galvanize efforts to secure their release.
The two reporters were arrested in Yangon on Dec. 12 and charged under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly having “illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media.” It has since been revealed that the information they received from police immediately before their arrest was already in the public domain, prompting allegations that they were “caught in a trap.”
They are expected to remain on trial without bail for several months.
The reporting the two journalists had done before their arrest contributed to a major report released on Feb. 8 detailing the events leading up to and including the killing of 10 Rohingya civilians by Myanmar soldiers, police, and Buddhist villagers in the coastal village on Inn Din on Sept. 2.
The report contradicts the government’s claim that the men were killed amid an attack by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army “terrorists” on security forces in the village. It instead alleges, based on testimonies from villagers and security forces, that the 10 men were selected for execution during a military-orchestrated removal of Rohingyas from the village.
Several days after the release of the report, the Myanmar government announced that it was investigating 16 people suspected of being involved in the massacre, plus one village administrator who cooperated with Reuters in the creation of the report.
“The prosecution of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo for the crime of exposing alleged atrocities is a jarring reminder that the fight for free expression in Myanmar remains incomplete and urgent,” said PEN America executive director Suzanne Nossel in a statement released yesterday. “We are proud to honor these dauntless reporters and hope the award sounds a powerful signal that global concern for human rights in Myanmar will not let up.”
Hopefully, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo will be free to accept their awards at the PEN America Literary Gala & Free Expression Awards in May.
