NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
PHOTO: REUTERS
Parliament Passes Population Control Bill 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 Lawmakers stand as the parliamentary speaker, unseen, of civil society enters during a Union Parliament regular session in groups in December Naypyitaw in March. warned that children born not in line with the A bill that opponents say rules of the bill might be at risk threatens to curb women’s reproductive rights was passed by of not being registered by local authorities. Myanmar’s Union Parliament on Under the bill, regional and April 6. state governments are granted the The bill contains a contested ability to request a presidential provision mandating that women order limiting reproductive rates wait three years between birthing if it is determined that population children, with human rights growth, accelerating birth rates, activists and women’s advocates saying the restriction is an assault or rising infant or maternal mortality rates are negatively on female reproductive rights. impacting regional development. Deputy Attorney General U If the president approves Tun Tun Oo, whose office was the request, a “special region” is involved in drafting the bill, told designated, triggering the law’s The Irrawaddy in February that provisions, including the birth the new legislation would help spacing restriction. —Nobel Zaw improve health care services
Lawyers Network for Journalists Formed 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
PHOTO: JPAING / THE IRRAWADDY
More Student Protesters Arrested 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. More than 120 students and their supporters were arrested following the police crackdown Ma Po Po is seen during the student protest in March at Letpadan on March 10, in Letpadan, Bago Region. but 20-year-old Ma Po Po and several others managed to escape, Another student activist, Ma Po Po, according to her sister Ma Ei Pone, who who participated in an education was also arrested at Letpadan but later reform protest that was violently released. dispersed in Letpadan, Bago Region,
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“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 May 2015