Parliament Passes Population Control Bill Lawyers Network for Journalists Formed

A bill that opponents say threatens to curb women’s reproductive rights was passed by Myanmar’s Union Parliament on April 6.

The bill contains a contested provision mandating that women wait three years between birthing children, with human rights activists and women’s advocates saying the restriction is an assault on female reproductive rights.

Deputy Attorney General U Tun Tun Oo, whose office was involved in drafting the bill, told The Irrawaddy in February that the new legislation would help improve health care services for women in impoverished regions of the country. Though there do not appear to be punitive measures in place if the 36-month birth spacing requirement is violated, a coalition of civil society groups in December warned that children born not in line with the rules of the bill might be at risk of not being registered by local authorities.

Under the bill, regional and state governments are granted the ability to request a presidential order limiting reproductive rates if it is determined that population growth, accelerating birth rates, or rising infant or maternal mortality rates are negatively impacting regional development.

If the president approves the request, a “special region” is designated, triggering the law’s provisions, including the birth spacing restriction. —Nobel Zaw

More Student Protesters Arrested

Lawyers from across Myanmar have teamed up to create a network offering legal assistance to journalists and media agencies, in response to a surge in suits filed against members of the fourth estate.

The new Lawyers Network for Journalists and Media, launched in Yangon on April 1, comprises about 80 lawyers working in various parts of the country, and plans to extend initial services to Ayeyarwady, Magwe, Mandalay, Bago and Yangon regions.

“There has been an increase in legal charges against journalists and media agencies, and there is still a lack of legal protection for them,” said U Than Zaw Aung, a lawyer and secretary of the network. He said the new association will be able to provide legal advice and, in some cases, representation.

The group plans to carry out educational discussions for media workers and lawyers to promote awareness of Myanmar’s legislative framework regarding the media, he said.

A member of the country’s interim Press Council, U Myint Kyaw, welcomed the network, saying that it could offer muchneeded services at a time when press freedom is under threat.

“We really need that kind of group,” he said. “Since legal cases against media professionals [have increased], this kind of legal group can help advise them in legal matters or even to write news related to the Media Law.” —Zarni

Mann

in March, was arrested at her home on April 8 on charges of joining a subsequent demonstration in Yangon.

The third-year student spent the night in a Kamayut Township jail cell before being remanded to Insein Prison the following day.

Another student activist, Ma Po Po, who participated in an education reform protest that was violently dispersed in Letpadan, Bago Region,

More than 120 students and their supporters were arrested following the police crackdown at Letpadan on March 10, but 20-year-old Ma Po Po and several others managed to escape, according to her sister Ma Ei Pone, who was also arrested at Letpadan but later released.

“We are told they arrested her due to the Hledan protest,” Ma Ei Pone said, referring to the traffic junction in Yangon where protestors later gathered on the same day of the Letpadan crackdown to protest the police’s use of force.

“With her, Nanda Sitt Aung and others, altogether six people, will be [charged] in the same case,” she added.

Prior to Ma Po Po’s detention, police had arrested Ko Nanda Sit Aung and Ko Win Kyaw Moe. Authorities are still searching for Ko Kyaw Ko Ko, Ko Lin Htet Naing and others who are accused of leading the demonstration along with Ma Po Po. —Yen Snaing & Zarni Mann