Cambridge City AI: Burma (Myanmar) Campaign

Amnesty International: working for the release of prisoners of conscience, fair trials for political prisoners and an end to torture, extra-judicial executions, 'disappearances' and the death penalty.

Myanmar (Burma) The Imprisoned Land

See our leaflet on-line giving a quick history of Burma with some profiles of leading Prisoners of Conscience. More ...

Burma Events

We organise the following regular annual events:

11 - 19 June (from the International Day of the Student to the birthday of opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi): a display in Gt St Mary's church focusing on the human rights situation in Burma. On the last day, a local dignitary cuts a birthday cake for Daw Suu, and people from all over the world sign a birthday card for her.

8 August: a silent vigil and distribution of leaflets to commemorate the massacres throughout Burma on 8 August 1988, when troops opened fire on unarmed civilians demonstrating for a return to democracy.

10 December Human Rights Day: an event to celebrate human rights and remember those struggling for freedom of expression in Burma.

Cambridge City Amnesty International Group currently sponsors Burmese Prisoner of Conscience Thet Win Aung and campaigned for his release from prison.

Backgroup

Burma has been ruled under martial law by an authoritarian military regime since 1988, when the army seized power after harshly suppressing a pro-democracy movement. The ruling military allowed a relatively free election in 1990 but then suppressed its results when 80% of the parliamentary seats were won by the democratic opposition, led by the National League for Democracy under Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Since then the ruling executive has used a mixture of intimidation, detention and house arrest to suppress political dissent.The range of human rights abuses being committed in Burma at present - primarily by the ruling military but also by insurgents - includes harassment, intimidation, 'disappearances' of persons, arbitrary arrest and detention, the physical abuse of those in custody, extrajudicial killings, rape, the extensive use of forced civilian labour (for example for public works), the forced use of citizens as porters for the military, the forcible relocation of individuals and villages, the confiscation of property, denial of fair trials, restrictions on movement, severe restrictions on political activity, restrictions on contact with foreigners, surveillance, restrictions on basic rights of free speech, press, assembly, and association, and severe discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities. These abuses and denials of rights are documented more widely in reports from the organization Human Rights Watch, as well as Amnesty International's own reports on Burma.

The scale of abuses is indicated by the widely circulated estimate that the government currently holds more than 1000 political prisoners.

If you'd like to get involved in our Burma campaign, contact us here.