As many of you know Burma is a country close to my heart but, despite my father being Burmese, I can’t believe I would not be as outraged and upset as I am by such injustice. Please read below and act as you can. It is unbelieveable that someone can be held under arrest for such a long time with her crime being an overwhelming victory in a Burmese general election.This is a woman that has not seen her children for years, could not attend her husbands funeral and, cannot have communication without the outside world … and the world sits by and watches. Add this to the brutality we saw last year towards peaceful unarmed buddhist monks by brutal armed soldiers and I believe it makes a strong case for UN military intervention.

Aung San Suu Kyi to reach 13 years in detention – protest!

On October 24th Aung San Suu Kyi will have spent a total of 13 years in detention.

On the same day leaders of Asian and European countries are having a summit meeting in China.

We want the leaders to back UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in securing the release of ALL political prisoners when he visits Burma in December.

JOIN OUR PROTEST!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Time:
12:00pm – 1:00pm

Location:
Chinese Embassy

Street:
49 Portland Place, near Oxford Circus tube

We’ll be delivering a giant key to the Chinese Embassy, representing the key to freedom that world leaders hold, if they work together to pressure the regime. The key will have the names and pictures of Burma’s 2,130 political prisoners

The number of political prisoners in Burma has almost doubled in the past year, despite calls from the United Nations Security Council for their release. These people have committed no crime. They have been locked up for calling for freedom.

We have never had a UN Secretary General visit Burma to discuss political problems before, and we have never had European and Asian government joining forces to pressure the regime to release prisoners. They all say they want it. We must make them work to make it happen.

For too long the UN has fallen for the lies of the regime. They must secure real change. The release of political prisoners should be the minimum benchmark for progress that Ban Ki-moon aims for in December.

Join the protest! send a message to world leaders than they must turn words into action. Don’t leave Burma’s democracy activists suffering in Burma’s jails.

This protest is organized by a coalition of campaign groups and Burmese community organisations in the UK.

IF YOU ARE NOT IN LONDON – YOU CAN STILL TAKE ACTION

WE ARE HAVING AN IMPACT

Two weeks ago we asked you to email the UN demanding they work for the release of political prisoners. The UN has received thousands of emails, and last week Ban Ki-moon stated that he wanted to see the release of political prisoners as a sign of progress for when he visits Burma in December. It is the first time he has linked his visit with the release of political prisoners. We are getting this issue onto the agenda of world leaders, but we need to keep it there.

If you haven’t taken the action please do here.

Please also ask your friends to support this campaign.