Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is joining a coalition of campaigners urging the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to make the release of political prisoners in Burma his personal priority.
The call for urgent action follows the significant impact of the Global Day of Prayer for Burma on Saturday 7 March, when Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, the twenty-year-old daughter of a Burmese political prisoner, told delegates in London: “Unless the situation in Burma changes, I will never see my father again.” Her father, Mya Aye, is currently serving a 65 year prison sentence for peacefully protesting against the Burmese military regime.
As part of its Change for Burma! campaign, CSW will also be inviting supporters to sign a new online petition calling for the release of over 2,100 political prisoners.
The target number of signatures set by the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPP) and Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB) is 888,888. This symbolises the 8th of August 1988, when the Burma’s military junta massacred thousands of civilians during the country’s largest-ever pro-democracy uprising. The petition, can be found at: www.csw.org.uk/changeforburmapetition, and will be collated and submitted before 24 May, when Burmese democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is due to be released from house arrest.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has spent over thirteen of the last eighteen years under house arrest. Although her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won 82 per cent of the seats in the 1990 parliamentary elections, she was prevented from taking her rightful position in government. In her words: ‘Political prisoners have not committed any crime other than that of expressing their political beliefs, either through word or through action.’
At the end of 2008, several hundred democracy campaigners were imprisoned, with many being sentenced to jail terms of 65 years or more.
Benedict Rogers, CSW’s East Asia Team Leader said: “We strongly urge the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to make it an immediate personal priority to secure the release of all political prisoners in Burma, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. This new global petition is particularly timely as we approach the regime’s elections planned for 2010. Increased international pressure on Burma’s military regime is urgently needed. Action should be taken to an end to the crimes against humanity committed against Burma’s people every single day. Help us change their lives by visiting www.csw.org.uk/changeforburmapetition“.
Notes to Editors
- CSW launched a joint campaign with Partners Relief and Development last year, to highlight human rights violations in Burma. The Change for Burma! campaign includes calls for a case to be brought to the International Criminal Court. Details can be found at www.changeforburma.org
- For photographs of Wai Hnin contact CSW’s press office.
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