24 hour Fast for Burma's political prisoners

From 9am 26th Nov to 9am 27th November Burmese held a 24 hour hunger strike/fast in Parliament Square, London. Burmese Muslims, Buddhists and Christians all held prayer services for political prisoners in Burma. The brutal Burmese military dictatorship has recently sentenced student leaders and democracy activists to 65 years in prison. The Burmese were calling on UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon to visit Burma in December.

The event was sponsored by the NLD-LA UK ( www.nld-la.org.uk - National League for Democracy is Aung San Suu Kyi's political party) and supported by Women of Burma - UK, Burmese Muslim Association, Burma Democratic Concern, Rep of NCUB, International Buddhist Monks Organisation and representatives of Burmese ethnic groups and other solidarity groups. The Burmese wore white (or white arm bands) as the prison uniform in Burma is white. Many Burmese visited throughout the day. Passers-by kindly signed a petition that was handed in to 10 Downing Street by the Burmese.

Thank you to Brian and Maria of the resident "24 hour Peace Picket" at Parliament Square for their kind assistance to the Burmese. It was cold but fortunately it only started to rain the minute the Burmese returned from 10 Downing Street to pick up their rucksacks.

Sadly, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has just said he won't even visit Burma, despite being invited by the regime and a December visit being suggested for months.

The military junta in Burma has sentenced at least 215 political activists, monks, nuns and journalists during November, bringing the total number of political prisoners sentenced since last year's uprising to at least 384.

•   Activist and famous comedian Zarganar, who had been organising relief supplies to survivors of Cyclone Nargis, received sentences totalling 59 years.

•  Prominent Buddhist monk U Gambira, leader of the All Burma Monks' Alliance, who played a leading role in last year's Saffron Revolution, was given sentences totalling 68 years.

•  Twenty-three members of the 88 Generation Students Group, who led the protests against fuel price hikes in August last year, including Min Ko Naing, were given sentences of at least 65 years each.

Ban says he won't go to Burma because there has been no progress, but it is his job to ensure progress happens. He won't bring change to Burma sitting behind a desk in New York. He must go to Burma and negotiate change, including the release of all political prisoners.

On 10th December the UN will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration proclaims "the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people." Surely the best way to celebrate the declaration would be for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit Burma and at least try to obtain the release of Burmese political prisoners.

TAKE ACTION: please fax/email Ban Ki-moon asking him not to abandon Burma's brave democracy activists to spend the rest of their lives in jail.

Download a message to fax at: www.burmacampaign.org.uk/fax_un.html

Or send a message via email: www.burmacampaign.org.uk/un_action.html

40 Burmese Dissidents Given Prison Terms of up to 65 Years
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14614

Burmese Online Petition Request for Release of Political Prisoners in Burma
http://www.petitiononline.com/nlduk08/petition.html

LETTER FROM 112 FORMER PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS OF MORE THAN 50 NATIONS SENT TO UN SECRETARY-GENERAL URGING HIM TO PRESS FOR RELEASE OF ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BURMA BY THE END OF 2008 - text appended below.
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/pm/weblog.php?id=P407



More Photos of 24 hour hunger strike/fast for political prisoners event:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toastyoneuk/sets/72157610303806929/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/totaloutnow/sets/72157610593508327/


FUTURE EVENTS

Saturday 6th December

Amnesty International London Wide Groups Event for Human Rights Day - 6 December 2008
60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Barnet and Enfield Amnesty group has chosen  Aung San Suu Kyi as somebody who does not enjoy the rights for this day.

Time: 4pm - 6pm on Saturday 6 December
Location: Potters Field Park, London SE1, next to City Hall on the Southbank, a few minutes walk from London Bridge Station
Map: http://preview.tinyurl.com/potfieldpk

In celebration of this important anniversary, Amnesty International are asking people to gather together in hundreds of locations around the world, holding up a light and forming the shape of the iconic Amnesty candle.

There will be a rally with a member from each of 30 AI groups holding up a group-made banner representing one of the articles of UN Declaration of human rights, with a photo of from around the world of a person not lucky enough to be afforded that particular right.  After the rally - everyone attending will be invited to take up a light and arrange themselves into the shape of the Amnesty International logo. This image is to be re-created across the world by Amnesty supporters. A photographer will take photos for AIUK HQ. Throughout the event volunteers will try and sign up passers-by to the Greetings Card campaign and hand out information on Amnesty.
Website: www.amnesty.org.uk/events_details.asp?ID=1080


Wednesday 10th December

10D Movement - Human Rights Day and 60th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Burmese demonstration at Burma Embassy

"Respect for human rights and human dignity "is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace" in the world and 10th December is Human Rights Day. Justice is outlaw; injustice is prevailing everywhere and military regime is always above the law in Burma. This is our duty to protect and promote human rights and justice in Burma. To highlight the military regime's atrocities, we will hold the demonstration on 10th December 2008 (Wed) from 12:00-13:30 in front of the Burmese Embassy in UK. We would like to encourage everyone to join with us to show solidarity and to demand United Nations Security Council to take practical action on Burma.
12:00-1.30pm  Wednesday 10th December"
Myanmar/Burma Embassy 19A, Charles St, London W1J 5DX.
Tube: Green Park | Map: www.maps.google.co.uk/?q=W1J5DX
Website: www.bdcburma.org/EventDetails.asp?msg_id=53
         www.bdc-burma.blogspot.com/

Brighton Burma Gig

Event: Burma Gig -        "Please support the people of Burma"
What: Fundraiser
Host: Brighton's Free Burma Group
Start Time: Wednesday, December 10 at 7:30pm End Time: Wednesday, December 10 at 11:30pm
Where: The Hope, 11-12 Queens Road, Brighton, United Kingdom
Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=37906848719
Email: bn4burma [AT] googlemail.com
An acoustic music gig to raise awareness of the situation in Burma.
The bands playing are Carly Bryant, Charlot Webster, Michael Mclinn and Milton. Doors open at 7.30 and entry is £4 (£3 cons).

Tuesday 16th December

SCREENING OF FILM "TOTAL DENIAL"

The inspiring story of fifteen villagers from the jungles of Burma whose quest for justice eventually leads them to bring a suit in a U.S. court against two oil giants - UNOCAL (now Chevron/Texaco) and TOTAL - for human-rights abuse.

For five years producer/director Milena Kaneva collected accounts from Burmese villagers of forced labour, re-location of villages, rape, and murder associated with construction of the Yadana pipeline. Her "guide" during this journey was Ka Hsaw Wa, a member of Burma's Karen ethnic minority, and one of the leaders of the student movement for democracy in Burma in 1988 which was violently suppressed by the Burmese government.

For more than a decade, at considerable personal risk, he has gathered testimonies and other evidence on numerous cases of human rights and environmental abuse. In 1995, along with the co-founder of Earth Rights International, Katie Redford, Ka Hsaw Wa brought a landmark lawsuit against UNOCAL and TOTAL that drew international attention to the pervasive abuses in Burma.

Followed by Q&A with director Milena Kaneva and Peter Frankental, Amnesty's Economic Relations programme director

Amnesty Event Website: www.amnesty.org.uk/events_details.asp?ID=887
Event Type      Film
Event venue     The Human Rights Action Centre, London, EC2A 3EA
Map: www.maps.google.co.uk/?q=EC2A3EA
Tube: Old Street/Liverpool Street
Time     6.30 pm
Price     Free of charge
Online tickets Book this event: www.amnesty.org.uk/events_booking.asp?ID=887&#booking
Although this event is free, booking is essential. Latecomers are not admitted once the film has started.

For more information on Total Oil and Burma, reports of actions and dates or
future events see
http://www.totaloutofburma.org

LETTER FROM 112 FORMER PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS OF MORE THAN 50 NATIONS SENT TO UN SECRETARY-GENERAL URGING HIM TO PRESS FOR RELEASE OF ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BURMA BY THE END OF 2008
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/pm/weblog.php?id=P407


Press Release from:
OSLO CENTER FOR PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM NOW
DECEMBER 3, 2008

LETTER FROM 112 FORMER PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS SENT TO UN SECRETARY-GENERAL URGING HIM TO PRESS FOR RELEASE OF ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BURMA BY THE END OF 2008

New York and Washington, D.C. – Today, Freedom Now and the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights released a letter from 112 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from more than 50 nations to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to personally travel to Burma before the end of the year to secure the release of the military junta’s 2,100 political prisoners. Last month, more than 215 activists, National League for Democracy party members, Cylone Nargis relief workers, journalists, monks, and even some of their lawyers were each given draconian sentences of up to 68-years in prison.

This initiative has been led by the Honorable Kjell Magne Bondevik, former Prime Minister of Norway and President of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. “This is a historic outpouring of global support for the people of Burma, and I am pleased that so many have joined me in spotlighting this important issue,” he said. “Today we unite to call on the United Nations to take action. The first step towards achieving national reconciliation in Burma is creating a firm deadline for the release of all political prisoners.”

Joining Mr. Bondevik on the letter are such luminaries as Corazon Aquino, Tony Blair, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Joaquim Chissano, Jacques Delors, Abdou Diouf, Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin, Kim Dae-jung, Vicente Fox, Árpád Göncz, Mikhail Gorbachev, Václav Havel, John Howard, Lionel Jospin, Junichiro Koizumi, Chandrika Kumaratunga, John Major, Benjamin Mkapa, Brian Mulroney, Romano Prodi, José Ramos-Horta, Margaret Thatcher, Alejandro Toledo, Mary Robinson, and Lech Wa??sa.

The letter recalls that on October 11, 2007, the UN Security Council issued a presidential statement urging the early release of all political prisoners in Burma. Further, the UN set the release of all political prisoners as one of its benchmark goals for 2008. However, in direct defiance of these calls, the junta has instead increased the number of political prisoners from 1,200 in June 2007 to over 2,100 today.

“The Burmese people are counting on the United Nations to take the required action to achieve the breakthrough they desperately need to both restore democracy to their country and address the serious humanitarian and human rights challenges that they face,” the letter reads. It further urges Ban Ki-moon to encourage the Security Council to take “concrete action” to implement its October 11, 2007 statement if these efforts are not successful by the end of December 2008.

December 3, 2008

Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General
United Nations
New York, New York

Dear Mr. Secretary-General:

We write this letter to applaud your public consideration of traveling to Burma, also known as Myanmar, before the end of the year. We encourage this trip because it would illustrate for the world whether or not the Burmese military regime is serious about making changes called for by the United Nations Security Council and your good offices.

As you are aware, on October 11, 2007, the United Nations Security Council issued a presidential statement calling on the Burmese military junta to release all political prisoners in Burma, including the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.

We are heartened that you have taken up this issue and reiterated in your budget request for your Special Envoy's office to the UN General Assembly that a key benchmark to measure progress in Burma is whether all political prisoners in Burma, including Aung San Suu Kyi, are released by December 31, 2008. To date, in direct defiance of the United Nations Security Council and your good offices, the Burmese military junta has instead continued a major crackdown, increasing the number of political prisoners from 1,200 to over 2,100 since June 2007.

We urge you to make it clear that all political prisoners in Burma must be released by the end of this year, regardless of whether you travel to Burma. If the Burmese junta continues to defy the United Nations by refusing to make these releases by the end of the year, we urge you to encourage the Security Council to take further concrete action to implement its call for the release of all political prisoners. The Burmese people are counting on the United Nations to take the required action to achieve the breakthrough they desperately need to both restore democracy to their country and address the serious humanitarian and human rights challenges that they face.

Sincerely,

1. The Honorable Giuliano Amato
Former Prime Minister of Italy (1992–1993, 2000-2001)
2. The Honorable Halldór Ásgrímsson
Former Prime Minister of Iceland (2004-2006)
3. The Honorable Corazon C. Aquino
Former President of the Philippines (1986-1992)
4. The Honorable Patricio Aylwin Azócar
Former President of Chile (1990-1994)
5. The Honorable Hrant Bagratyan
Former Prime Minister of Armenia (1991, 1993-1996)
6. The Honorable Jan Krzysztof Bielecki
Former Prime Minister of Poland (1991)
7. The Honorable Valdis Birkavs
Former Prime Minister of Latvia (1993-1994)
8. The Right Honourable Tony Blair
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(1997-2007)
9. The Honorable Kjell Magne Bondevik
Former Prime Minister of Norway (1997-2000, 2001-2005)
10. The Honorable George H.W. Bush
Former President of the United States of America (1989-1993)
11. The Right Honourable Kim Campbell
Former Prime Minister of Canada (1993)
12. The Honorable Ján ?arnogursk?
Former Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic (1991-1992)
13. The Honorable Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Former President of Brazil (1995-2003)
14. The Honorable Ingvar Carlsson
Former Prime Minister of Sweden (1986-1991, 1994-1996)
15. The Honorable Jimmy Carter
Former President of the United States of America (1977-1981)
16. The Honorable Joaquim Chissano (1986-2005)
Former President of Mozambique
17. The Honorable Carlo Azelio Ciampi
Former President of Italy (1999-2006)
Former Prime Minister of Italy (1993-1994)
Senator for Life (2006-Present)
18. The Honorable W?odzimierz Cimoszewicz
Former Prime Minister of Poland (1996-1997)
19. The Honorable Emil Constantinescu
Former President of Romania (1996-2000)
20. The Honorable Roberto Dañino
Former Prime Minister of Peru (2001-2002)
21. The Honorable Joseph Deiss
Former President of Switzerland (1994)
22. The Honorable Philip Dimitrov
Former Prime Minister of Bulgaria (1991-1992)
23. The Honorable Abdou Diouf
Former President of Senegal (1981-2000)
24. The Honorable Jacques Delors
Former President of the European Commission (1985-1995)
25. The Honorable Mikuláš Dzurinda
Former Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic (1998-2006)
26. The Honorable Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin
Former Prime Minister of Mongolia (1998, 2004-2006)
27. The Honorable José María Figueres
Former President of Costa Rica (1994-1998)
28. The Honorable Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
Former President of Iceland (1980-1996)
29. The Honorable Vicente Fox
Former President of Mexico (2000-2006)
30. The Honorable César Gaviria
Former President of Colombia (1990-1994)
31. The Honorable Eugenijus Gentvilas
Former Prime Minister of Lithuania (2001)
32. The Honorable Árpád Göncz
Former President of Hungary (1990-2000)
33. The Honorable Mikhail Gorbachev
Former President of the Soviet Union (1990-1991)
34. The Honorable Inder Kumar Gujral
Former Prime Minister of India (1997-1998)
35. The Honorable Václav Havel
Former President of the Czech Republic (1990-2003)
36. The Right Honourable John Howard AC
Former Prime Minister of Australia (1996-2007)
37. The Honorable Anneli Jäätteenmäki
Former Prime Minister of Finland (2003)
38. The Honorable Thorbjørn Jagland
Former Prime Minister of Norway (1996-1997)
39. The Honorable Lionel Jospin
Former Prime Minister of France (1997-2002)
40. The Honorable Kim Dae-jung
Former President of South Korea (1998-2003)
41. The Honorable Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar
Former President of Chile (2000-2006)
42. The Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser AC CH
Former Prime Minister of Australia (1975-1983)
43. The Honorable Osvaldo Hurtado
Former President of Ecuador (1981-1984)
44. The Honorable Jaros?aw Kaczy?ski
Former Prime Minister of Poland (2006-2007)
45. The Honorable Girija Prasad Koirala
Former Prime Minister of Nepal (1991-1994, 1998-1999, 2000-2001, 2006-2008)
46. The Honorable Junichiro Koizumi
Former Prime Minister of Japan (2001-2006)
47. The Honorable Wim Kok
Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1994-2002)
48. The Honorable Ivan Kostov
Former Prime Minister of Bulgaria (1997-2001)
49. The Honorable Milan Kucan
Former President of Slovenia (1990-2002)
50. The Honorable Vytautas Landsbergis
Former President of Lithuania (1990-1992)
51. The Honorable Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
Former President of Sri Lanka (1994-2005)
Former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (1994)
52. The Honorable Aleksander Kwa?niewski
Former President of Poland (1995-2005)
53. The Honorable Mart Laar
Former Prime Minister of Estonia (1992-1994, 1999-2002)
54. The Honorable Zlatko Lagumdžija
Former Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001-2002)
55. The Honorable Lee Hae Chan
Former Prime Minister of South Korea (2004-2006)
56. The Honorable Lee Hong-Koo
Former Prime Minister of South Korea (1994-1995)
57. The Honorable Ruud Lubbers
Former Prime Minister of The Netherlands (1982-1994)
58. The Honorable Ferenc Mádl
Former President of Hungary (2000-2005)
59. The Right Honourable Paul Martin
Former Prime Minister of Canada (2003-2006)
60. The Honorable Pandeli Majko
Former Prime Minister of Albania (1998-1999, 2002)
61. The Right Honourable Sir John Major, KG CH PC
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(1990-1997)
62. The Honorable Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Former Prime Minister of Poland (1989-1991)
63. The Honorable Péter Medgyessy
Former Prime Minister of Hungary (2002-2004)
64. The Honorable Rexhep Meidani
Former President of Albania (1997-2002)
65. The Honorable Aleksandër Gabriel Meksi
Former Prime Minister of Albania (1992-1997)
66. The Honorable Ilir Meta
Former Prime Minister of Albania (1999-2002)
67. The Honorable Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Former Prime Minister of Greece (1990-1993)
68. The Honorable Benjamin Mkapa
Former President of Tanzania (1995-2005)
69. The Honorable Alfred Spiro Moisiu
Former President of Albania (2002-2007)
70. The Honorable António Manuel Mascarenhas Monteiro
Former President of Cape Verde (1991-2001)
71. The Honorable Mike Moore
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand (1990)
72. The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney
Former Prime Minister of Canada (1984-1993)
73. The Honorable Fatos Thanas Nano
Former Prime Minister of Albania (1991, 1997-1998, 2002-2005)
74. The Honorable Odvar Nordli
Former Prime Minister of Norway (1976-1981)
75. The Honorable DaviÅL Oddsson
Former Prime Minister of Iceland (1991-2004)
76. The Honorable Karl Auguste Offmann
Former President of Mauritius (2002-2003)
77. The Honorable Viktor Orbán
Former Prime Minister of Hungary (1998-2002)
78. The Honorable Andres Pastrana
Former President of Colombia (1998-2002)
79. The Honorable Göran Persson
Former Prime Minister of Sweden (1996-2006)
80. The Honorable Lojze Peterle
Former Prime Minister of Slovenia (1990-1992)
81. The Honorable Petr Pithart
Former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (1990-1992)
82. The Honorable Romano Prodi
Former Prime Minister of Italy (1996-1998, 2006-2008)
Former President of the European Commission (1999-2004)
83. The Honorable Fidel V. Ramos
Former President of the Philippines (1992-1998)
84. The Honorable Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Former President of Chile (1994-2000)
Senator for Life (2000-Present)
85. The Honorable Konstantinos Simitis
Former Prime Minister of Greece (1996-2004)
86. The Honorable Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
Former President of Greece (1995-2005)
87. The Honorable José Ramos-Horta
Former Prime Minister of Timor-Leste (2006-2007)
President of Timor-Leste (2008-Present)
88. The Honorable Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
Former Prime Minister of Denmark (1993-2001)
89. The Honorable Mary Robinson
Former President of Ireland (1990-1997)
90. The Honorable Roh Moo-Hyun
Former President of South Korea (2003-2008)
91. The Honorable Arnold Rüütel
Former President of Estonia (2001-2006)
92. The Honorable Michel Rocard
Former Prime Minister of France (1988-1991)
93. The Honorable Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé
Former President of the Republic of Bolivia (2005-2006)
94. The Honorable Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
Former President of Bolivia (1993-1997, 2002-2003)
95. The Honorable Amos Claudius Sawyer
Former President of Liberia (1990-1994)
96. The Honorable Jennifer Shipley
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand (1997-1999)
97. The Honorable Vladimír Špidla
Former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (2002-2004)
98. The Honorable Levon Ter-Petrossian
Former President of Armenia (1991-1998)
99. The Honorable Malam Bacai Sanhá
Former President of Guinea-Bissau (1999-2000)
100. The Honorable Petar Stoyanov
Former President of Bulgaria (1997-2002)
101. The Honorable Andres Tarand
Former Prime Minister of Estonia (1994-1995)
102. The Right Honourable Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(1979-1990)
103. The Honorable Alejandro Toledo
Former President of Peru (2001-2006)
104. The Honorable Ung Huot
Former Prime Minister of Cambodia (1997-1998)
105. The Honorable Cassam Uteem
Former President of Mauritius (1992-2002)
106. The Honorable Vaira V??e-Freiberga
Former President of Latvia (1999-2007)
107. The Honorable Richard von Weizsäcker
Former President of the Federal Republic of Germany (1984-1990)
Former President of Germany (1990-1994)
108. The Honorable Abdurrahman Wahid
Former President of Indonesia (1991-2001)
109. The Honorable Lech Wa??sa
Former President of Poland (1990-1995)
110. The Honorable Kåre Willoch
Former Prime Minister of Norway (1981-1986)
111. The Honorable Albert Zafy
Former President of Madagascar (1993-1996)
112. The Honorable Ernesto Zedillo
Former President of Mexico (1994-2000)