The following is taken directly from the Avaaz email that was sent to me. Burma, which to me is preferable to Myanmar, has provided both insights and inspiration for this blog and Milestones for a New Millennium. Many times though it is just a matter of helping to get the word out. I am only going to reach a small number of people, but if everyone kept passing this along awareness would increase exponentially. They were at 143,838 participants supporting the Burmese when I signed up. Help them get to 888,888.
Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now! from FBPPN on Vimeo.
Dear friends,
| Burma's peaceful pro democracy activists are calling on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to secure the release of political prisoners. Stand with them - |
Burmese pro democracy leader and Nobel peace prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has spent 13 years detained by the Burmese military junta. She and thousands of fellow monks and students have been imprisoned for bravely challenging their brutal regime with calls for democracy. This week a glimmer of hope has risen for their release, and it's time for us to stand with them.
Risking danger to speak out for their jailed friends, Burmese activists this week demanded the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners and called on the world to help. As the global economic crisis makes aid flows more essential, Burma's generals are becoming more vulnerable to international pressure, but we need a flood of petition signatures to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to make this a top priority. Follow the link to sign the petition, and forward this email on to make sure she and her fellow prisoners are freed:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/free_burma_political_prisoners
The Burmese organizers have set a goal of 888,888 signatures. The number 8 is powerful in Burmese culture, and the ruling junta is extremely superstitious - such a large and significant number might have a special influence on them. But this issue isn't in the headlines, so to build our numbers we need to forward this email and persuade our friends to help.
Aung San Suu Kyi is the international face of the struggle for democracy in Burma. She has been detained over and over again since 1988. She is now under house arrest and is allowed no contact with the outside world.
But growing international pressure is working -- In December, 112 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 50 countries sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to press for the release of all political prisoners, and 20 political prisoners were released in February after a United Nations envoy visited the country.
Sources now say that the military regime is fearful of this unified and massive online call to the UN -- over 160 Burma exile and solidarity groups in 24 countries are participating in the campaign. But it will take all of us and all our friends signing this petition to get Mr Ban's attention. Avaaz has done it before for Burma – we can do it again. Click here to stop the arrests and brutality:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/free_burma_political_prisoners
This is one of those times where if enough of us act we can truly make a difference. Let's join the courageous Burmese democracy activists in jail and in hiding and help end this violent repression.
In hope and solidarity,
Alice, Ricken, Pascal, Graziela, Veronique, Iain, Paul, Luis, Paula, Brett and the whole Avaaz team
For more about the Global Campaign visit:
http://www.fbppn.net/?page_id=582
For more about Burmese political prisoners visit:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46118
Article on torture in Burmese jails:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/02/AR2006010201865.html
Some prisoners release after UN envoy visit February 2009:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/22/AR2009022201188.html
Letter from former presidents:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/burma/news/Letter-from-112-Former-Presidents-and-Prime-Ministers-to-UN-Secretary-Gener
For more about Aung San Suu Kyi visit:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/aboutburma/aung_san_suu_kyi.htm
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ABOUT AVAAZ Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva. Call us at: +1 888 922 8229 or +55 21 2509 0368 Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages!
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