, which was to comprise 28 members and which would promptly [carry] out prisoners of conscience affairs at the grassroots level . However, it appears that the Committee never even met and no information has been made publicly available regarding its mandate, procedures, or activities. The lack of information and action appears to justify concerns that the Committee had been reconstituted merely to deflect growing national and international criticism, rather than to resolve the issue of remaining political prisoners. (7) On December 12, 2017, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters covering the crisis in Rakhine State, were entrapped, arrested, and charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, continuing a trend of restricting media and free speech and attempting to thwart coverage of the events in Rakhine State. (8) On September 3, 2018, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. After 18 months in prison, they were released from prison. On May 28, 2018, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo personally received the Pulitzer Prize that was awarded to them while they were imprisoned. (9) According to Burma free-speech organization Athan, 44 journalists and 142 activists have faced trial since 2016, charged with repressive laws used to stifle dissent at the same time restrictions on activist groups are being tightened. In the first three months of 2019, three Kachin activists were each sentenced to six months in prison in connection with peaceful anti-war protests, a protester against the Myitsone dam (a controversial Chinese backed-hydropower project) was charged for peaceful demonstrations, and police used excessive force to crackdown on peaceful protesters in Kayah State, with some of the demonstrators charged under vaguely worded, repressive laws. One of the activists, Nang Pu, was released on April 1, 2019, on health grounds. (10) On August 18, 2017, Aung Ko Htwe was arrested because he gave a media interview in which he described his experience as a child soldier, including how