Enfield and the Barnets UNA offers the opportunity to its partners within the Enfield Civil Society Forum to post entries on this blog. The entry below is posted by Enfield, Barnet and Palmers Green branch of Amnesty International.
Anyone who has not accidentally stumbled upon this site will already know a little bit about the poverty-stricken, dictatorial hell-hole that is Burma (or the "Union of Myanmar" as its ruling generals would prefer it to be called). So I will not bang on about how terrible the place is. There are some links at the end of this blog that can get you up to speed. Suffice to say that it has amongst the worst public health indicators in the world, and if you decide to go there and sing a pro-democracy song in the street, you should be prepared for 14 years, or longer in prison.
What I want to talk about instead is what can we do to help the Burmese people. Our local Amnesty Group is proposing a global day of action on 08/08/08. Now, I realise it may seem a little odd to be planning so far ahead, but remember, this is a global thing and will take some organising. And a benefit of a long build-up is that it gives a chance for pressure to grow as the date approaches.
So why 08/08/08? In the 1980s, increasing poverty and repression led to a growing democracy movement in Burma. This came to a head in the huge student demonstrations, famously held on 8th August 1988 (8/8/88). Thousands of peaceful demonstrators were slaughtered by the armed forces. (Members of our group were recently privileged to attend a meeting of the Islington AI group, where we met and heard the powerful, moving testimony of Ko Aung - an eye-witness to the massacres.) After the killing, the ruling Junta called elections, convinced it would win. It lost heavily, despite its scare tactics. However, it ignored the election results and increased its repression. The elected leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for most of the intervening years, with little practical help from the outside world.
So, 08/08/08 will be the 20th anniversary of the famous pro-democracy demonstrations. It seems like this date is a possibly unique opportunity to bring the world-wide multitude of pro-democracy Burma groups together in joint action. And if it's clear a long time in advance that there are going to be large-scale protests and demonstrations, not just against the Burmese generals but against our own elected leaders' ineffectual policies and against corporate collusion in Burma's massive Human Rights abuses, then whatever the outcome, at very least the Burmese people may gain some hope and courage from our show of solidarity.
So, with this in mind, our Amnesty group (Enfield, Barnet and Palmers Green) are proposing that Amnesty take a lead in bringing together groups across the country and across the world in a joint protest in time for 08/08/08. Our motion suggesting this action goes to Amnesty UK AGM in March, and if passed, hopefully on to the global Amnesty movement. (If you're a UK Amnesty member or group member you can attend the AGM and vote for the motion.)
Burma campaign groups sometimes differ in their opinions about how best to help the Burmese people. To engage economically, or to impose sanctions? Tourism or boycott? Reform the regime or overthrow it? Whatever the differences in these positions, all such groups have essentially the same long-term aim: peaceful democracy in Burma. Natural attention-focusing opportunities such as 08/08/08 come around very rarely. At such a time it is essential that all groups concerned with democracy in Burma express the common ground they share.
We cannot rely on our leaders to do this for us. It took till December 2005 for the UN Security Council to even get around to discussing Burma. Last month China and Russia vetoed the long-awaited Security Council resolution recommending tougher action on Burma, with South Africa also voting against. Self-interest is often more important to the leaders of the international community than promoting democracy. It's up to the real International Community, us, to bring about change.
Democracy may not dawn in Burma on 08/08/08, but we can all do our bit to bring that day a bit closer. We can do it by taking part in something much bigger than ourselves - a global coming-together of like-minded souls, who refuse simply to wallow in our own good fortune, but choose to use some of our liberty to promote others'.
Whether it's letters to MPs and leaders, supporting Burmese aid groups, street protests, sending our support to Aung San Suu Kyi, calling for tougher UN action, lobbying companies, writing to the press - we can do something to bring nearer the change that so many died for on 8/8/88.
Glenn Bassett
Chair, Enfield, Barnet and Palmers Green AI group
Some resources -
AI 2006 report: http://web.amnesty.org/report2006/mmr-summary-eng
Burma Campaign UK: www.burmacampaign.org.uk
Charitable organisations: www.freesuukyi.org
Information and short video: www.witness.org
Brief history of Burma: http://www.burmaissues.org/En/facts.html
New Internationalist special Burma issue: (1996) http://www.newint.org/issue280/
New Statesman special issue article on Burma (August 2006) http://www.newstatesman.com/nslibrary?qs=Burma
Free Burma!
International Bloggers' Day for Burma on the 4th of October
International bloggers are preparing an action to support the peaceful revolution in Burma. We want to set a sign for freedom and show our sympathy for these people who are fighting their cruel regime without weapons. These Bloggers are planning to refrain from posting to their blogs on October 4 and just put up one Banner then, underlined with the words „Free Burma!“.
www.free-burma.org
Posted by: Free Burma! | October 01, 2007 at 05:29 PM