Burma anniversary 8/8/88

Dear Blogger, 

This Sunday marks the 12th anniversary of the famous 8/8/88 protests in Burma, when hundreds of thousands of peaceful protestors took to the streets to call for human rights and democracy. It was to end in bloodshed – a brutal crackdown by the ruling military junta would leave an estimated 3,000 people dead in the weeks that followed. 

It is a massive milestone for the Burmese people and it would be great if you could blog about it and keep an eye on the comment pages for other stories about the anniversary. 

The leader of the protests back then was Min Ko Naing. He was also involved in organising the protests in 2007. He is now in jail and is one of Amnesty’s priority cases. 

Sadly little seems to have changed over the years and the junta’s reaction to the protests back in 2007 only reinforced the point. Burma is a country where torture, slave labour and unfair trials are all common place. And there are estimated 2,200 political prisoners there. 

An overview of the current state of play in Burma can be found in our annual review entry on the country here. 


If you fancy adding a bit of video content, we also have the moving testimony of Waihhin. She is a Burmese student living in London, and her father Ko Mya Aye was also involved in both protests. He is currently serving a 65-year jail sentence. Her video can be viewed here 

There’s a good timeline of the events in Burma on Dipity 

Anything you can do to help raise awareness of the plight of Burma’s citizens would be a huge help. 

Thanks and best wishes 

Harriet 
      from the AIUK Media Unit ‘Project Blog’ Team   

News from West Midlands Amnesty

Amnesty Brings Acclaimed Film To Malvern


July 20, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Amnesty Malvern Hills group’s major event for 2010 is a presentation of this important new documentary film, followed by a discussion and public forum led by two former Guantánamo prisoners, Moazzam Begg and Omar Deghayes, and the film’s co-director, Andy Worthington. The date is Tuesday 19 October at 7.30pm, at The Forum, Malvern Theatres.



Keep reading →

Walsall Amnesty Group

Hi

As a local group we have not met much recently. 2 very active members now have a new baby to look after and Ian has duties as a local elected councillor in Walsall. However we would welcome some comments .. we wish to resume campaign meetings... please give us some encouragement... meanwhile we continue to write letters and takepart in the urgent action scheme.

regards

Ian Robertson

email robertsonic@hotmail.co.uk