Reuters publishes investigation that resulted in reporters’ arrest in Myanmar

13, Feb 2018 | CJP Team

The New York Times reported that Reuters has published a 4,500-word investigation into the killing of ten Rohingya men by soldiers and villagers in Myanmar; the dead were buried in one grave. Reuters said that while reporting on the issue, two of its reporters were arrested by Myanmar police. The report, based on eyewitness accounts and numerous interviews with villagers and officials, outlines the killing of the men in Inn Din village, near Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The victims were aged between 17 years and 45 years. Two of the four reporters who were working on the investigation were arrested in December 2017. U Wa Lone and U Kyaw Soe Oo have not been granted bail, and have been charged under the country’s Official Secrets Act. They could face up to 14 years’ imprisonment. Human rights organisations have alleged that police entrapped the reporters by giving them documents. In January 2018, Myanmar’s military verified that villagers and soldiers killed ten Rohingya men in Inn Din, saying that those killed had attacked Myanmar forces and that soldiers could not keep them in custody. A government spokesperson told Reuters that if human rights violations were found, the necessary action would be taken. A military crackdown in late August 2017 has forced nearly 700,000 Rohingya to flee Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The killing of the ten men took place in September 2017. According to the Times, by October 2017, the 6,000 Rohingya who had lived in Inn Din village were no longer there. Reuters’ full report may be read here.