Free Zarganar Campaign....

Burma's most famous comedian, Zarganar is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence, after criticising the Burmese government's handling of Cyclone Nargis in 2008. The cyclone devastated the country - more than 140,000 people died and millions were made homeless. Zarganar organised relief for many villages which had received no official help. He was convicted of "public order offences".

You can help Zarganar by letting the Burmese ruling Generals know people are concerned about him. Get the campaign's free, pre-printed postcards from Equity (the UK trade union for performers) and send them to the Burmese Government. Artists and non-artists around the world are joining in the postcard campaign - get yours now from Equity. Ask for a bundle so your family and friends can join in too. For more information have a look at the film featuring UK comedian Andy Parsons talking about the campaign.

 

(Ref: http://www.freezarganar.org)

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged her supporters not to give up hope!!!

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged her supporters not to give up hope, a day after her release from house arrest.

"There is no reason to lose heart," she told thousands outside the headquarters of her political party in Rangoon.

Ms Suu Kyi was released by the military when her sentence ended on Saturday.

World leaders and human rights groups have welcomed her release. She had spent 15 of the past 21 years either under house arrest or in prison.

US President Barack Obama welcomed her release as "long overdue", while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Ms Suu Kyi was an "inspiration", and urged Burma to free its 2,200 political prisoners.

Aung Sang Suu Kyi had to struggle through the throngs of jubilant supporters to reach the podium where she was supposed to speak. Thousands had gathered to hear her.

They were probably expecting Ms Suu Kyi to make clear what she planned to do now that she was free - in the event she asked for help. She said she could not do it alone, and was "ready to work with all democratic forces" - an appeal perhaps to an opposition bitterly divided over the recent election here to unite once more.

She told the crowd she believed in the rule of human rights and the rule of law and felt no antagonism to those who had kept her detained for much of the past two decades. The basis of democratic freedom, she said, was freedom of speech. But she cautioned that if her supporters wanted to get to where they wanted, they had to do it the right way. "Do not give up hope," she added.

Ms Suu Kyi's words were measured and careful, she will know that the military leaders who rule this country will be scrutinising her every move and today she was careful not to provoke them.

Ms Suu Kyi has told the BBC in her first interview that she is willing to meet Burma's leader, Senior General Than Shwe, to help work towards national reconciliation.

"I think we will have to sort out our differences across the table, talking to each other, agreeing to disagree, or finding out why we disagree and trying to remove the sources of our disagreement," she said.

"There are so many things that we have to talk about," she added.

Her release came six days after Burma held its first elections in 20 years, which was won by the biggest military-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), but widely condemned as a sham.

Ms Suu Kyi's now-disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last election in 1990, but was never allowed to take power. She has been under house arrest or in prison almost continually ever since.

On Saturday, lawyers said no conditions had been placed on her freedom. But it is not yet clear what political role she will be able to play.

(Ref: http://www.bbc.co.uk)

THE DAY THAT WE ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR HAS FINALLY COME!!!!!

The number 13 has now become one LUCKY number for all of us around the world and mainly Burmese people who have been fighting for the freedom and the democracy of their beloved country. On Nov 13rd, 2010, our National Leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from her house Arrest!!!! Couldn't express how joyful I am! May she be healthy and live a long life.....for years more to come......!
(AFP/Getty Image)

A Film by Jeanne Hallacy and the Democratic Voice of Burma

Yayzan Lan :
The courage, determination and the struggle of the political prisoners in Burma.

Friday Nov 19 2010 – 7-10pm
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall
1924 Cedar (at Bonita), Berkeley, CA

Program:

7:00 - 8:00p Happy Hour; light supper (Burmese food) included
8:00 - 9:20p Film Screening
9:20 -10:00p Q&A/Discussion with the Film’s Director
$15-20 Sliding Scale Donation

All proceeds will benefit the Film Project and the Burma Education Fund

Solidarity March and Rally Standing with Aung San Suu Kyi and the People of Burma

Amnesty International Solidarity March and Rally.....

Friday, November 5 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: San Francisco City Hall
Date: Friday Nov 5, 2010
Time: 5pm

March starts at 5pm in front of UC Hastings
(Hyde Street and McAllister)

Rally starts at 6pm in front of the steps of SF City Hall
(Polk Street /1 Doctor Carlton B Goodlett Place)

For More Info:
Kalaya’an Mendoza;  kmendoza@aiusa.org;
Office: 415.288.1800; Mobile: 917.815.7107

This is an opening action of the Amnesty International 50th anniversary Conference:   http://www.amnestyusa.org/regional-conferences/west/page.do?id=1691093

Locked up for 15 years!!!!

Today, Aung San Suu Kyi reaches a total of 15 years in detention, most of it under house arrest.  My heart and prayers are with her....   My heart just aches whenever I think about her and all of our freedom-fighters who have been struggling so hard for so long fighting for the freedom of our people...

Let's keep our heads high..
Let's not give up hope...
Let's continue with doing whatever we can to get there.....

Peace will eventually win the Hate, Guns, and Torture.

May peace be with you all......

Solano Stroll Parade/Booth to spread awareness

Join Burma Supporters at Solano Stroll Parade/Booth to spread awareness

Come Raise Awareness about Burma, Join Solano Stroll Parade and Burma booth (Sunday Sept. 12)

San Francisco Bay Area Burma supporters to join the Solano Avenue Street fair and the Parade this year again to speared awareness about  Burma and her culture. Come be a part of this wonderful community event and support Burma!!!!

36th Annual Solano Stroll "A Global A-Faire"
Sunday - September 12 2010, 10am - 6pm
Solano Avenue in Berkeley & Albany, CA

Burma supporters will join the parade in the mooring and at a Burma broth (at 1377 Solano Ave; in front of City bank) all day long.  

More info on Burma Parade/Booth: www.badasf.org; Call 415 420 1504 OR 510 485 3751 for questions/information on joining in / volunteering at parade and booth. 

More info on Stroll: Organized by The Solano Avenue Association and Stroll  / http://www.solanoavenueassn.org/strol.htm

IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

* Parade begin at 10 AM with about 100 participating groups (Burmese will be one of them); it usually last about 1 to 1-1/2 hour;

* Parade participants to gather at 8:30 am; no later then 9:00 a.m. SHARP at the corner of FRESNO AVENUE and SOLANO AVENUE, Berkeley CA 94707;

  * Look for people with Burmese dresses and drums. Bring sings and banners and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi photos. All Burma Supporters are welcome to join in.

Over five hundred vendors, non-profit organizations, food booths and entertainers! 26 blocks of fun; One mile of Unique Shops, Professional Services, Restaurant and Specialty Stores.

This alcohol-free event promotes the unique traits of Solano Avenue, helping local businesses, local artists, and community organizations to thrive. The Stroll solidifies community spirit, neighbors find old friends, and families enjoy an afternoon in the sun.

Solano Stroll is the East Bay's largest street festival! The Solano Avenue Merchants Association invites you to come and see what makes Solano Avenue such a wonderful place. Participants and the event guests visit from everywhere throughout California; as well as neighboring states from Nevada to Maine. Every cuisine imaginable ** Filling the streets with hundreds of thousands.

DRESSES, SIGNS AND BANNERS


1.  Please wear your national dress to celebrate our culture

2.  We will have flags, banners and signs for you to carry and help spread the awareness about situation in Burma

3. We will need some of you to volunteer and carry some banners and signs

.

Transportation information for Fair goers
 

More information here: http://www.solanoavenueassn.org/strol/stroll_shuttle.html

Come raise awareness and funds for Burma!

Run for Burma on July 25 at SF Marathon
 

This July 25th, Burma Humanitarian Mission (BHM) and BADA will participate in the San Francisco Marathon Event.  The Event includes a 5k run/walk, a progressive marathon, a half marathon and a full marathon.  BHM is an all volunteer non-profit dedicated to providing medicine and helping to train backpack medics.  The medic teams hike into eastern Burma and provide emergency trauma care and community health service to the isolated villages and internally displaced people whom the Burmese junta has chased from their homes. 

 

To help raise awareness and raise funds for the backpack medics, BHM and BADA have formed an official charity team in the San Fran Marathon event.  The event includes:
 

- a full marathon

- half marathon

- progressive marathon (where you run or walk 23.1 miles prior to July 25th and run the last 3.1 miles on July 25th)

- a 5k run/walk (Group run with Free Burma Banner will be one option!!!)

 

There's something for everyone!

NLD Banned by the Burmese Government!!!

Today, on May 6th, the Burmese military government announced that Aung San Suu Kyi's party, National League for Democracy, in Burma has been banned and has been taken out of the list of legal and lawful political parties in Burma.

Nobody knows what that means and where this is going to lead us..

I am just hopeful that things won't take dramatic turns in anyway.....

Arrest Yourself for Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma

On June 19, 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi will be spending her 65th birthday under house arrest. She has been locked up for 15 of the past 21 years because of her pivotal role in one of the world's most inspiring freedom struggles.

Every year for Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday, we ask our supporters to give up 24 hours in solidarity with her and the people of Burma. We call this event: Arrest Yourself, honoring Aung San Suu Kyi's unparalleled courage and determination.

Now more than ever, Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burma movement need your help putting Burma at the top of the international agenda. The pending sham elections, mounting government tension with cease fire groups, and growing international concerns over human rights violations make this year an especially critical one in Burma's history.

In the international community, there is growing momentum toward ending Burma's war crimes. Earlier this month, the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in Burma called on the United Nations to hold the military junta accountable for its commission of rape and torture as weapons of war. A few weeks ago, the UN Special Rapporteur to Burma, Mr. Quintana, joined this call by urging the UN to initiate a Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma.

In the coming months we must move quickly to capitalize on the energy generated by these recent developments. With this year's Arrest Yourself, we will inspire more people to get involved in this growing movement as well as raise critical funds for advocacy.

Aung San Suu Kyi once said, "Sometimes, 24 hours can bring a total revolutionary change." And that's all it takes to Arrest Yourself and make your mark on Burma's freedom movement.

Waste no time. Sign up now to Arrest Yourself in solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma!  Visit the links of the organizations listed on this site for more info.

And learn more about how to Arrest Yourself.

With all the "Arrest-Yourself" Events going on around the world, below is the flyer for the event happening in Chiang Mai.  (ref: thebestfriend.org)

Annual Burma Human Rights Day Event 2010 in San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco-based non-profit organization, Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA) is holding its tenth annual event to commemorate the struggle for democracy in Burma on Saturday March 13, 2010 at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall in Berkeley from 6 pm to 10 pm.

Ever since Ko Phone Maw, a Rangoon Institute Technology student, was brutally killed by the military junta on 13th March 1988, the day has been marked by activists all across the world.

The evening will start with Burmese food, films and talks by notable guest speakers. Dr. Sein Win, Prime Minister of National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) will talk about the current situation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her party. Toe Lwin, a former political prisoner, who was with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi when she escaped from an assassination attempt coordinated by the junta in 2003 will talk about his life in Burma as an activist and his personal experience from the De-peyin Massacre and inside the Khantee prison.

“We need to raise the awareness about the brutal dictatorship and the suffering of the people of Burma, BADA continues to hold Burma Human Rights Day event each year in honor of brave men and women who have lost their lives or given up so much fighting for democracy in Burma, ” said Nyunt Than, President of BADA.

Place: the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar in Berkeley
$15 Suggested Donation (dinner included) to benefit BADA

For more information, visit http://wwww. badasf.org

Burma Human Rights Day Event....

Each year, the people from Burma around the world commemorate March 13 as the Burma Human Rights Day to make the death of the engineering student Ko Phone Maw as he was murdered by the Burma's military in his school campus. The killing set off the historic 1988 nation-wide pro-democracy uprising in Burma after 26 years of oppression. However, the regime brutally cracked down the peaceful protests and continued hold on to power for decades.

In September, 2007, yet another historic and massive, but peaceful protests for democracy led by the students and monks took place; but, as always, the regime brutally murdered the innocent protesters and monks. The Peoples' endless and painful struggle for freedom, for over four decades, continues to this day.
The world has yet again witnessed the brutality of the regime when the Cyclone Nargis devastated the lower delta region of Burma on May 2nd, 2008. Hundreds of thousands left for dead by starvations denying much needed urgent help despite international appeals and pressure.

To continue to raise the awareness about the brutal dictatorship and the people's suffering in Burma, and to discuss planning actions, this year again, BADA will hold its ninth Annual  Burma Human Rights Day event on Saturday March 13, 2010 at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists hall, 1924 Cedar (@Bonita) in Berkeley from 6 pm to 10 pm. 
  
2010 is the most important year yet for the people of Burma and their beloved leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all prodemocracy forces in Burma. Our speakers will discuss the current political situation in Burma as well as human rights issues and, most importantly, how you can help. Therefore, please join us for a dinner, film and outstanding speakers on Burma and human rights issues. 

Free Burma; Free Aung San Suu Kyi

10th Annual Burma Human Rights Day Benefit Held
(A public outreach and awareness activity in support of Burma's people!)

Saturday, March 13, 2010; 6:00pm-10:00pm
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall,
1924 Cedar (at Bonita), Berkeley, CA 94709-2022, USA

KO TOE LWIN, former Political Prisoner
and NLD Youth Leader Speaking at March 13, 2010 event

DINNER * SPEAKERS * FILM

FILM: Orphans of Burma's Cyclone ( Undercover, award-winning documentary that Burma's military regime doesn't want you to see )
Filmed covertly over the course of a year by two Burmese cameramen, who risked an instant 30-year jail sentence if caught, Orphans of Burma's Cyclone exposes the official intransigence of one of the world's most brutal and secretive regimes and, for the first time, reveals what day-to-day life is like for the ordinary people of Burma.

Dr. Sein Win: Burma's Elected MP and Prime Minister of NCGUB, Government in Exile
Title: The current political situation in Burma and the position of National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)

Toe Lwin: Burma’s former political prisoner and Youth Leader of NLD
Title:  My Experiences from Depayin Massacre and Khantee (Prison) Hell

Chivy Sok: International Human Rights Advocate
Title: Beyond Survival: Transformative Journey in International Human Rights Advocacy
$15 Suggested Donation (dinner included) to benefit BADA
Draft Program: Dinner (6-7 pm), Speakers (7-9 pm), Film (9:00-9:30), Q&A (9:30-10:00)
Dinner is vegetarian friendly; Talks will be in English; Contents are OK for children

Organized by: 
Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA)
Co-sponsored by:
 Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee,  
Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF),  
Burmese American Women's Alliance (BAWA),
Clear View Project,  
Amnesty International (USA),
 Ginetta Sagan Fund Organization
and Free Burma Project
Contact: Anil Verma: 510 485 3751
Email: badaonline@badasf.org; Website: www.badasf.org

The event will feature a Burmese style dinner and a Burma documentary film along with three outstanding Speakers on Burma.

UN Arbitrary Detention Group Issues a Judgment on Aung San Suu Kyi's Detention

Today, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issues a judgment declaring that the ongoing detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is illegal and in violation of both Burmese and international law.  I sincerely hope that the military government will release her from the house arrest soon!!!!  Although you never know what to expect with them!