USCFB Acts: MASSIVE WAVE IMPRISONMENTS: BURMA, FAMOUS Comic; etc..

USCFB Acts: MASSIVE WAVE IMPRISONMENTS: BURMA, FAMOUS Comic; etc..
MASSIVE WAVE OF IMPRISONMENTS IN BURMA, MOST FAMOUS COMEDIAN SENTENCED
MASSIVE WAVE OF IMPRISONMENTS IN BURMA
Dear all,

We wanted to update you about the massive wave of imprisonments inside Burma and tell you what people are doing to respond.

Nearly every day, Burma's military dictator Than Shwe is sending dozens of human rights activists to long terms in prison. Those sentenced to many years behind bars include poets,

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5129509.ece

actors, comedians, students, journalists, volunteers who helped victims of Cyclone Nargis, hip-hop artists, and members of the political party of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. These sentences are the biggest news to come out of Burma in a long time, and we have been posting all the news about the arrests on our blog.
More importantly, we are working around the clock to galvanize a strong international response. Here is some examples of what the Burma movement has done so far:
We are pressing the United Nations Security Council to convene an immediate, emergency meeting on Burma in order to impose an international arms embargo on Burma's military regime

https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1189/t/5102/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KE

Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kay Bailey Hutchison, leaders of the United States Senate Womens' Caucus on Burma -- which includes all the women in the U.S. Senate -- issued a demand for the arrests to stop

http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=97da5de3-cae2-4580-1b34-61dc11832696&Region_id=&Issue_id=

Our members have sent thousands of messages to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to travel to Burma and demand the immediate release of all political prisoners in Burma (mystifyingly, the Secretary General has done basically nothing about this crisis -- so keep sending those messages)

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1189/t/5102/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1407

We have been providing the news media with round-the-clock updates on those sentenced to long prison terms in Burma. There have been thousands of news articles on the arrests


A coalition of 40 organizations sent a letter to the leaders of the Southeast Asian countries urging them to demand the release of all Burmese political prisoners at the upcoming ASEAN summit on December 15th in Thailand. This meeting represents a strong opportunity for Asian leaders to tell the Burmese military regime that the sentencing of political activists must stop


Members of parliament from all over Asia are galvanizing a strong effort (more on this coming soon...)


Many world leaders are preparing a major push to free all political prisoners in Burma (more on this coming soon...)


Our allies throughout the world have successfully pressed the governments of the United States, the UK, Estonia, Slovakia, Germany, Canada, and the European Union to condemn the arrests
We have much more work to do and you are going to see some even bigger actions in the weeks ahead, but we wanted to let you know some of what we are doing. And, we wanted to thank you because none of our work would be possible without your support.
Sincerely,

Aung Din, Jeremy Woodrum, Jennifer Quigley, Jacqui Pilch, Michael Haack




Over 100 Innocent Human Rights Activists Imprisoned
Dear james m,

You might have already seen the articles on this in the Washington Post and New York Times.

Over the past few weels, Burma's military regime has sentenced over 100 of the country's leading human rights activists to very long terms in prison. Most of those imprisoned are young, prominent human rights activists who participated in last year's Saffron Revolution

http://uscampaignforburma.org/learn-about-burma/saffron-revolution

in Burma (during which hundreds of thousands of monks took to the streets calling for an end to dictatorship in Burma).

Meanwhile, the military regime continues its attacks on ethnic minority civilians in eastern Burma, destroying 12 villages and driving 2,000 people from their homes in the past two weeks. The regime's scorched-earth ethnic cleansing campaign has forced over 1 million people to flee in recent years, and an additional 1/2 million who struggle to survive as internally displaced persons

We and others have been pressing governments around the world to take action. Already, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States have condemned the arrests. Two days ago, the European Union Foreign Ministers met and called for the release of all political prisoners.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to visit Burma in December, but there are fears he may back out of the visit because of the difficulties in negotiating with the regime. These prison sentences make it all the more important that Ban Ki-moon goes ahead with his visit. There have been 37 visits to Burma by low-level UN envoys, but things have only got worse. We need the Secretary General's personal engagement on Burma.

Take action. Please send an email to the UN Secretary General

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1189/t/5102/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1407

urging him to visit Burma and make the release of political prisoners his top priority.

Aung Din, Jeremy Woodrum, Jacqui Pilch, Jennifer Quigley, Mike Haack


Support 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi and the struggle for freedom and democracy in Burma:

Become a member of the United States Campaign for Burma today.

https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1189/t/5102/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=2116

Or, make a donation today.