Urgent action for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma

For many years the United Nations has ignored widespread and systematic crimes committed by Burma’s military junta, including the destruction of more than 3,300 villages in eastern Burma, widespread use of rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minorities, the forced displacement of over 1 million refugees and internally displaced people, tens of thousands of child soldiers, and millions used as slave labour.

Despite these appalling crimes, no government is speaking out on this issue. The British Government should urge the United Nations to establish a Commission of Inquiry, which would investigate these crimes and could lead to prosecutions. So far the British Government has remained silent.

Please write to your MP and ask them to support the call for the United Nations to investigate crimes against humanity in Burma.

Take action here:
http://www.burmacam paign.org.uk/index.php/campaigns/crimes-against- humanity/ 13/132

Or you can post a letter to your MP. Below are suggested points for you to include in your letter:

* State your concern about crimes against humanity in Burma. There is well documented evidence including from UN General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions over many years of widespread torture, forced displacement, sexual violence, extra-judicial killings and forced labour and that civilians are deliberately targeted.

* For many years, the United Nations has ignored widespread and systematic human rights violations and war crimes committed by the military regime.

* Ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 238, which calls upon the British Government to urge the United Nations to establish a Commission of Inquiry into these crimes and to support the International Labour Organization referring the dictatorship’s use of forced labour to the International Court of Justice.

You can send your letter to your MP at:
House of Commons
London, SW1A 0AA

UN Arms Embargo Against Burmese Military Government

Campaign Update

Our campaign for a global arms embargo is working!

Thanks to your emails, momentum for a global arms embargo against Burma is growing as Timor-Leste becomes the 32nd country, and the first Asian country, to back an arms embargo.

Switzerland also announced its support for a global arms embargo against Burma in October and in August, Australia announced its support for a global arms embargo for the first time.

We need to build a global consensus on a UN arms embargo against Burma, in order to help overcome expected opposition at the Security Council by Russia and China. We are targeting 10 countries at time, asking them to support a global arms embargo. Please take action here:

www.burmacampaign.org.uk/arms-embargo

Aung San Suu Kyi update

In recent weeks, Aung San Suu Kyi has managed to use sanctions as leverage to persuade the Generals to resume dialogue. She met the regime’s Liaison Minister twice in October and she also met the UK Ambassador and the deputy heads of the Australian and US missions in Burma. However, so far it has only been low level officials talking about talks.
Meanwhile, the number of political prisoners is rising. There are currently more than 2,100 political prisoners and at least 128 political prisoners are in poor health due to the harsh prison conditions, transfers to remote prisons where there are no doctors, and the denial of proper medical care. The dictatorship has also increased arrests and harassment of democracy activists, and is escalating attacks against ethnic civilians.

Want monthly news updates on Burma?

Sign up to our free monthly newsletter Last Month in Burma. To subscribe, simply send a blank email to lastmonth-subscribe @lists.burmacamp aign.org. uk

Previous editions are available here:
http://www.burmacam paign.org. uk/lastmonth

Many thanks for your support.
-Burma Campaign, U.K.-

Garage Sale for Burma’s Children Education

To support the Education of Migrants & refugees Children at Thai-Burma border!


Saturday, October 10/09, 9am-3pm
2002 Barbara Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94303
(near 101 and Embarcadero/Oregon Expwy)

Proceeds going to refugee schools on Thai/Burma border
Where:  2002 Barbara Drive, Palo Alto (near 101 and Embarcadero Rd./Oregon Expwy)
When:  Saturday, October 10 from 9-3

Some of the items featured are: 
McCroskey Airflex Queen box spring,
high end European women's clothing (new),
books, framed Asian art, furniture, toys,
kitchen and household items, Panasonic Microwave,
TV, Burmese handcrafts,
Yoga Studio Gift Certificate,
Restaurant Sent Sove Gift Certificate,
Peets Coffee (first 50 shoppers) and
homemade cookies. 

Come support these most deserving young people and learn about Burma from members of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance (badasf.org)

Help us help the children from Burma!
Proceeds to Benefit: BADA Children’s Education Funds that support the schools at the Thai-Burma border for the education of the children of Burma’s of migrants and refugees.

With your kind support, BADA has been able to support children from two schools at the Border. However, there are hundreds of schools and thousands of children and the need is ever greater due to constant oppression inside Burma and we would like to do more support more schools at the Border.

Founded in 2001, BADA is a 501 (c3) non- profit organization realizing advocacies and actions for the betterment of the people of Burma. For more information, please visit: www.badasf.org.

Harvard Law School Report on Crimes in Burma

Call for Investigation into Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes in Burma
(Ref: http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/hrp/newsid=59.html)

New report from Harvard Law School finds that UN documents on Burma provide grounds for investigation into international crimes; calls for more concerted UN action on Burma

Cambridge, MA - Five of the world’s leading international jurists have commissioned a report from the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, calling for the UN Security Council to act on more than fifteen years of condemnation from other UN bodies on human rights abuses in Burma.

The Harvard report, Crimes in Burma, comes in the wake of renewed international attention on Burma, with the continued persecution of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. The report concludes with a call for the UN Security Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma.


The Harvard report is based on an analysis of scores of UN documents – including UN General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions, as well as reports from several different Special Rapporteurs. These indicate that human rights abuses in Burma are widespread, systematic, and part of state policy – legal terms that justify further investigation and strongly suggest Burma’s military regime may be committing crimes against humanity and war crimes prosecutable under international law. Major abuses cited by the United Nations include forced displacement of over 3,000 villages in eastern Burma, and widespread and systematic sexual violence, torture, and summary execution of innocent civilians.

Yet, despite such documentation from multiple UN organs, the UN Security Council has not moved to investigate potential crimes against humanity or war crimes in Burma, as it has in other areas of the world, including Darfur and Rwanda.

“Over and over again, UN resolutions and Special Rapporteurs have spoken out about the abuses that have been reported to them in Burma. The UN Security Council, however, has not moved the process forward as it should and has in similar situations such as those in the former Yugoslavia and Darfur,” the jurists write in the report’s preface. “In the cases of Yugoslavia and Darfur, once aware of the severity of the problem, the UN Security Council established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the gravity of the violations further. With Burma, there has been no such action from the UN Security Council despite being similarly aware of the widespread and systematic nature of the violations.”

The five jurists who commissioned the report, from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South Africa, are Judge Richard Goldstone (South Africa), Judge Patricia Wald (United States), Judge Pedro Nikken (Venezuela), Judge Ganzorig Gombosuren (Mongolia), and Sir Geoffrey Nice (United Kingdom). Among other accomplishments, Judge Goldstone served on South Africa’s Constitutional Court and was the first prosecutor at both the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. Judge Wald served as Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

 Judge Nikken served as President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Judge Gombosuren served as a Supreme Court Justice in Mongolia, and Sir Nice was the deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the principal prosecution trial attorney in the case against Slobodan Milosevic in the Hague.

Each of the five jurists has dealt directly with severe human rights abuses in the international system, and all five call for the UN Security Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate and report on crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma.
The Harvard report specifically examines four international human rights violations documented by UN bodies over the past fifteen years: sexual violence, forced displacement, torture, and extrajudicial killings. The report focuses on UN documents since 2002, to allow examination of the most up-to-date UN material, although UN reports dating back to 1992 have consistently condemned a wide-range of violations in Burma.

Tyler Giannini, the Clinical Director of the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School and one of the report’s authors, said its findings clearly demonstrate that a Commission of Inquiry on Burma should proceed.

“The UN Security Council has taken action regarding Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sudan when it identified information strongly suggesting the existence of crimes against humanity and war crimes,” said Giannini. “As our research shows, UN documents clearly and authoritatively suggest that the human rights abuses occurring in Burma are not isolated incidents – they are potential crimes against humanity and war crimes. Failure by the UN Security Council to take action and investigate these crimes could mean that violations of international criminal law will go unchecked.”

To view a copy of Crimes in Burma, click here.

For media interviews in the United States, please contact Michael Jones at 617-495-9214 or mijones@law.harvard.edu, or Julianne Stevenson at 617-682-5519 or jstevenson@llm09.law.harvard.edu.

For media interviews in Thailand, please contact Tyler Giannini at +66 89 020 6646 or giannini@law.harvard.edu.

Annual Burma Day to Support the People of Burma

The city of Berkeley and San Francisco have declared August 8 as Annual Burma day and Berkeley would raise Burma flag annually on that day. This year again the city will be raising the Burma flag at the City Hall to honor the people of Burma. Besides, Bay Area activists community is planning other commemorative events. Please kindly join in to show your solidarity and support to the people of Burma and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who have been facing continue brutal oppression for more than four decades.

1. City of Berkeley Annual
Burma Day (Burma) flag raising to honor the people of Burma August 8, 1988 nation-wide uprising
Time: 7:30 am - 9 am (The event to begin at 8 am sharp; Flags to be raised at 8:08 am)
Place: Civic Center Park across Old Berkeley City Hall
( At the Corner of Allston Way & Martin Luther King Jr. Way)

2. 8888 Anniversary Buddhist Swan offering and Commemoration
Time: 10 am - 12 pm (Lunch will be served)
Place: Dhamma Aye Yake Burmese Buddhist Monastery
2523 23rd AVE, Oakland, CA 94606

3. 8888 Anniversary Day Ceremony
Time: 12 pm—3 pm
Place: Dhamma Aye Yake Burmese Buddhist Monastery
Contact: (510) 533-5962,(415)939-0051,(510)409-4517 ,(415)571-6401

Run For Burma at San Francisco Marathon to raise awareness about Burma as well as funds for internally displaced people:

You can join the ‘Run for Burma’ team in the San Francisco marathon series on July 26th! There are a number of events: a full marathon, half marathon, progressive marathon and a 5k run/walk. The runners are training NOW! Join us.

To Join BADA Run For Burma Team, please send an email to: mnicely@nicelydone.com.

Followings are our Marathon Series Calendar.... Hope to see you all there!!!!

Sign a petition to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to call for the Release of Pro Democracy Prisoners!

Free Burma's pro democracy prisoners 

Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest and 2,000 pro democracy monks and activists are being held in inhumane conditions in Burmese prisons. Their crime: peacefully calling for democracy.

Click below to sign a petition to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to call for their release. 

Sign Here    

“To UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:

The military government must immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Khun Tun Oo and Min Ko Naing.

The release of all political prisoners is the first and most important step towards freedom and democracy in Burma.

We, the undersigned, call upon UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to make it his personal priority to secure the release of all of Burma's political prisoners by the SPDC.”

< Signed > Your Name and Signature

Celebration of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday & Burma’s Women’s Day

 

DATE:                      Saturday, June20, 2009; 
TIME:                     10 AM to 2:00 PM; 
LOCATION:            Metta Nanda Vihara (Central)
                             4619 Central Ave. Fremont, Ca 94536

EVENT:                   Celebration of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday and
                              Burma’s Women’s Day

Urgent action at the SF Golden Gate Park for Daw ASSK

Here is what you can do to help free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi! For more information or to download flyers, please visit www.badasf.org.

1. May 17, Sunday: Awareness action at Annual San Francisco Bay to Breaker Run to the 60 K participants. (http://www.baytobre akers.com/). 9:00 am -- 10:30 am at the the Golden Gate Park entrance at the corner Stanan and Fell/Oak, San Francisco. Bring Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Signs/posters. Ware Daw Aung San Suu Kyi T Shirts.


2. May 18, Monday, Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Protest : Place: United Nations Plaza, Civic Center, San Francisco. Market St @ 7th St; Time: 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Date: Monday, May 18, 2009. Flyer

3. May 24. Commemoration of the 19th Anniversary of 1990 Election Victory, Date : May 24th, 2009 (Sunday)
Time : 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m; Place : Jefferson Union High School, 699 Serramonte Blvd, Daly City, CA 94015 Flyer

4. May 27, protest at the Chevron Share Holders Meeting on WED, MAY 27, 2009, 7am to 10:30am More info Flyer

5. June 20, A Celebration of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday & Burma’s Women’s Day
DATE: Saturday, June20, 2009; TIME: 10 AM to 2:00 PM; LOCATION: Metta Nanda Vihara (Central)
4619 Central Ave. Fremont, Ca 94536

THE 3rd ANNUAL MIGHTY MIC HUMAN RIGHTS AWARENESS CONCERT: Benefit for Burma

April 21, 2009
6:00 - 10:00 PM
(Doors open at 5:45)
Ackerman Grand Ballroom, UCLA campus

Los Angeles, CA (April 7, 2009) - On Tuesday, April 21, thousands of students and community members will come together to make history at the 3rd Annual Mighty Mic Human Rights Awareness Concert at UCLA, Benefit for Burma. This student-run non-profit concert attracts about 2,000 attendees annually and is fast becoming a beloved UCLA tradition. Last year, Mighty Mic raised over $20,000 for the refugees of the genocide in Darfur. This year, Mighty Mic will highlight the struggle for human rights in Burma, a country that has been under the rule of an all-oppressive military junta for 43 years, making it the 4th least free country in the world. Learn more about the human rights violations, including the abuse of ethnic minorities, mass rape of women, recruitment of child soldiers, aforced labor, mandatory relocations, and child soldiers. Benefit For Burma's multi-media showcase will feature an eclectic mix of artists from many genres such as rock, indie, and hip-hop while incorporating informative educational content through speakers and videos that will entertain, inform, and inspire attendees.


ARTISTS
Blackalicious
Daphne Loves Derby
Audible Mainframe
Jarell Perry
Brandon Contreras

SPEAKERS
Edith Mirante
Min Zin
The All-Burma Monks Alliance
(U Pyinya Zawta, U Gawasita, U Agga Nya)

The concert will also include an on-site art gallery featuring Burmese artist Maung Maung Tinn as well as UCLA students artists, interactive educational activities, and booth space for non-profits, sponsors, and student-organizatio ns. Although the concert is free, donations are highly encouraged as all proceeds will go towards Doctors Without Borders, USA and US Campaign for Burma. For more information, ticketing, press passes, vendor and sponsorship opportunities visit www.mightymic. org

Not a UCLA student? That's ok. Email Connie at connie@mightymic. org with "USCB Concert Attendee" in the subject line. If you do not have a chance to contact Connie, just specify at the concert that you heard about the event from USCB.