11 Apr
2018
11 Apr
'18
11:02 a.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 11, 2018
Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org>
mahajanr(a)rfa.org
Radio Free Asia Interview with Burmese Child Soldier Wins at New York
Festivals
As with jailed Reuters reporters, Aung Ko Htway's treatment a "worrisome"
sign of press freedom in Myanmar: RFA President
WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia <https://www.rfa.org/english/> (RFA) last
night won at the 2018 New York Festivals TV
<http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/tvfilm/> & Film Awards for its television
profile piece titled, "Child Solider Recalls his Plight
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7qxDV7z_OY> ." The short documentary by
RFA's Burmese Service was awarded a bronze medal in the biography/profiles
category. Released last August, it follows former child soldier, Aung Ko
Htway, as he describes his abduction and forced conscription for nearly 10
years. Following the interview's airing, Aung Ko Htway was arrested and
charged defaming the military. He was sentenced in March
<https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/abduction-03282018135909.html> to
two year's hard labor.
"Aung Ko Htway was robbed of his childhood," said Libby Liu, President of
RFA. "Now, after speaking with RFA, he is being severely punished once
again.
"This award underscores not only his tragic past as a forcibly conscripted
child soldier, but also Aung Ko Htway's unconscionable current situation and
the increasingly worrisome state of press freedom in Myanmar.
"Like Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, the reporters from Reuters who are being
tried, this brave individual courageously shared a difficult story knowing
that it needed to be told and is paying a terrible price for it."
Myanmar's armed forces and some of the country's ethnic armed groups have
long recruited and trafficked children to serve as soldiers, particularly in
conflict-prone areas in the borderlands. Military recruiters often snatch
children under the pretext that they have committed a minor or nonexistent
offense and tell them they must serve in the army or go to jail. Children
are forced to undergo training in often harsh or inhumane conditions and are
routinely subjected to physical abuse by military personnel.
Radio Free Asia's Burmese Service produced an in-depth and personal look
into the experience of these child soldiers, telling the gut-wrenching story
of Aung Ko Htway, who was abducted when he was 14, forced to serve in the
Myanmar army, and sentenced to prison for a crime he didn't commit. Twelve
years after his ordeal began, he was sentenced on March 28
<https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/02/myanmar-quash-conviction-former-child-s
oldier> under Section 505(b) of the country's Penal Code, pertaining to
making, publishing, or circulating information that may cause public fear or
alarm and incite people to commit offenses against the state or disturb
public tranquility. Just this month, legal troubles for Aung Ko Htway have
continued to mount, with
<http://www.dvb.no/news/union-seal-law-charge-latest-legal-battle-ex-child-s
oldier-supporters/80496> additional charges being brought forward by
authorities.
The award was presented during a ceremony in Las Vegas. Other winners
<http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/winners/2018/index.php> announced at the
2018 New York Festivals included CNN, PBS, ABC, Al Jazeera, National
Geographic, and RFA sister network, Voice of America.
# # #
Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and
publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian
languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media.
RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and
expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information
and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." RFA is funded by
an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
Rohit Mahajan | Radio Free Asia | Director of Public Affairs and Digital
Strategy
<mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M:
202.489.8021
