U Win Tin

U Win Tin, a longtime journalist and democratic activist, was born on March 12th, 1929 in Gyobingauk Township, located in southern central Myanmar. He was born to parents U Pu and Daw Mar. In Yangon, he attended Myoma High School and Yangon University. He graduated from Yangon University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1953. He began his writing career working as a journalist in France with the Agence France-Presse, the oldest news agency in the world. He continued his career with a publishing company in the Netherlands and later, he returned to Myanmar and worked with several Burmese newspaper companies. From 1962 to 1988, he used his involvement with journalism to criticize the military regime, often using pseudonyms to protect himself from government scrutiny. In 1964, following its nationalization, Win Tin became editor-in-chief of Kyemon, a popular Burmese newspaper. After working with Kyemon for five years, he served as editor-in-chief of the Burmese newspaper, The Hanthawaddy Daily, after being appointed by the military leader, General Ne Win. Despite the fact that The Hanthawaddy Daily was state-owned, Win Tin continued to publish stories critical of the military government, ultimately leading to his removal and the termination of publications from the newspaper in 1978. 

U Win Tin’s life from the period of 1978 to 1988 is not well documented, but it is known that in 1988, he and several other pro-democratic activists formed the National League for Democracy. He worked with Aung San Suu Kyi and others to lead nonviolent opposition movements. Because of his activity with the NLD and NLD-sponsored Civil Disobedience, he was arrested on July 4th, 1989. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being charged with “anti-government propaganda” and served his time in the Insein prison. In his memoir, What’s That? A Human Hell, published in 2010, Win Tin detailed the abusive conditions he endured in the Insein prison, such as being placed in solitary confinement in a cell used for holding dogs; experiencing frequent abuse and torture by prison officials; and being denied food, water, and medical treatment. In 1996, after sending documentation and written accounts of the prison conditions to the United Nations, his sentence was extended another seven years. While in prison, military officials gave Win Tin the ability to renounce his beliefs once annually and move toward release, but each time he denied the offer. After 19 years in prison, he was released by the military government. While they first granted him release on general amnesty, Win Tin refused to leave until the military government granted him unconditional release. 

Despite his release, Win Tin continued to show solidarity with other political prisoners by wearing the same blue prison shirt daily. He also resumed his criticism of the military government through various means, such as starting a radio show and newspaper column. Win Tin also strengthened the NLD by regularizing the Central Executive Committee meetings and continuing to support political prisoners. Until his death on April 21st, 2014, he protested the military government and its imprisonment of opposition members. He is currently buried in Yayway Cemetery. His longtime commitment to challenging the military government through journalism and political activism made significant contributions to the progress of the NLD and democracy movements in Myanmar. His work was recognized by many, and he received both the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize and the World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award in 2001 for his efforts.