Since the military crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state began this August, over 600,000 of Rohingya Muslims have been forced to flee their home into their neighbouring country, Bangladesh.
On the 12th of this month, two Reuters reporters who had been reporting on these incidents were detained by Myanmar authorities for “illegally acquiring information with the intention to share it with foreign media.” They could face a 14-year sentence under thestate’s Official Secrets Act, all without being granted prompt access to lawyers or contact with family members.
In this statement, Human Rights Now calls on the Myanmar government to immediately release the Reuters reporters, drop the proceeding of their case, cease any threats or intimidation of journalists for their legitimate activities, and make assurances that freedomof press will be guaranteed to journalists in Myanmar.
The full appeal can be found here： http://hrn.or.jp/eng/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Myanmar_Reuters_Reporters_Arrested_20171219b.pdf