Burma Campaign UK
Burma Campaign UK today delivered 5,300 postcards, letters and petition signatures to the British Foreign Office, calling on Foreign Secretary William Hague to secure a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. A UN Inquiry can be established by the annual resolution on Burma at the United Nations General …
Media Release From European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma The European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma calls upon the European Union to officially support a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity, and include its establishment in the United Nations General Assembly resolution on Burma. The Burma resolution is drafted by the …
Statement by Members of the European Burma Network The undersigned members of the European Burma Network call on the European Union to include the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma, when it drafts the UN General Assembly resolution on Burma for 2011. Since the rigged …
Press release by the Shan Women’s Action Network and the Shan Human Rights Foundation Over 30,000 displaced by Burma Army attacks face humanitarian crisis in northern Shan State Numbers of villagers fleeing Burma Army atrocities have soared to over 30,000 during recent intensified attacks against the Shan State Army North (SSA-N), causing a dire humanitarian …
100 people joined a protest at the Germany Embassy in London today, protesting against Germany’s opposition to a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. The protest was held on the 23rd anniversary of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Burma, where more than 3,000 people were massacred by the …
Media Release from the TUC The TUC is today calling on the UK Government to take the lead in securing consensus for a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity by the regime in Burma. The EU is currently drafting the UN General Assembly resolution on Burma, which is an excellent …
Burma Campaign UK today renewed its call for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to take the lead in international efforts to free political prisoners in Burma, and persuade the dictatorship to enter into genuine high level dialogue. Letters and postcards from 2,500 supporters of Burma Campaign UK will be sent to the UN Secretary General …
Burma Campaign UK today publishes an updated and expanded Briefing Paper – UN General Assembly and Crimes in Burma – highlighting how the UN General Assembly has failed to establish a UN Commission of Inquiry which could help reduce human rights abuses in Burma. The Briefing Paper argues that the European Union, which drafts UN …
Media release from Shan Human Rights Foundation and Shan Women’s Action Network The Burma Army is clearly authorizing rape as a terror tactic in its offensive against the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), according to information documented by the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF). On July 5, 2011, a …
Burma Campaign UK today condemned threats made by Burma’s dictatorship against Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to abandon his ‘wait and see’ policy on Burma. The state-owned New Light of Myanmar today published two articles attacking the NLD. While …
Aung San Suu Kyi is giving two of the 2011 Reith Lectures on the subject of ‘Securing Freedom’. Her lectures, which were recorded in Burma and smuggled out of the country, focus on the struggle for freedom and democracy, the meaning of freedom and dissent and the responsibility of the international community. Lecture 1 Dissent …
Press release from Kachin Women’s Association Thailand Kachin women demand immediate end to Burmese regime’s use of rape as a weapon of war in northern Burma offensive The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) is demanding an immediate end to the Burmese military regime’s widespread use of sexual violence in their offensive against the Kachin Independence …
As Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma’s democracy movement, celebrates her 66th birthday today, Burma Campaign UK calls for a revived UN effort to secure dialogue to solve the political problems in Burma. In an updated briefing paper on Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma Campaign UK argues that the United Nations is failing to …
Jeremy Browne MP, Minister of State at the Foreign Office with responsibility for Burma, has written to Burma Campaign UK stating that the government of Burma should ‘reinstate ceasefire agreements with a view to a lasting political settlement.’ The letter, dated 10th June 2011, comes as the Burmese dictatorship has broken the third ceasefire agreement …
Press release from Burma Rivers Network Recent fighting near the Dapein and Shweli hydropower dams in northern Burma shows how the buildup of Burma Army troops to secure deeply unpopular Chinese dam projects is fuelling conflict. Fighting broke out between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) last week at the Dapein No. …
Burma Campaign UK is deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Miriam Karlin, who died aged 85 on 3 June 2011. Miriam Karlin was long-time supporter of the campaign for freedom and democracy in Burma and a patron of Burma Campaign UK since 1999. Miriam Karlin will be remembered as a friend of the …
The British government has stated in the British Parliament that it is ‘deeply concerned’ about the Burmese Army breaking its ceasefire with the Shan State Army North. It also stated that ‘only a genuine process of national reconciliation leading to a just political settlement can bring peace and stability to the country and its neighbours.’ …
AAPP is deeply concerned over the safety of 7 political prisoners placed in solitary confinement for undertaking a hunger strike. Press release from Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) AAPP has learnt that 7 of the 22 political prisoners who have been on a hunger strike in Insein Prison have been placed in solitary confinement. …
The European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma is extremely concerned by the current situation in Shan State, Eastern Burma, and in other ethnic states, where conflict is increasing. Reports from the Shan Human Rights Foundation and Shan Women’s Action Network have exposed an increase in serious human rights abuses since the dictatorship ruling Burma broke a …
A press release from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) learnt today that 22 Political Prisoners are striking for prisoners’ fundamental rights. Although prisoners are usually allowed 15 minutes per day outside of their cells, the striking prisoners will remain inside their cells as the first step …
Burma Campaign UK today welcomed the release of 34 resistance fighters from Burma, who have been held in India for more than 13 years, despite never having committed a crime. The thirty-four were arrested 13 years ago, on 11th February 1998, on Landfall Island, by the Indian Military. They appear to have been tricked by …
On 13th March 2011 the dictatorship in Burma broke a 22 year long ceasefire agreement with the Shan State Army – North. 3,500 Burmese Army soldiers took part in a military offensive in north-central Shan State, an area with a population of 100,000. Sixty-five clashes were reported in the first three weeks of the dictatorship …
Following an announcement of a limited prisoner amnesty in Burma, but no mass release of political prisoners, the new dictator, Thein Sein, is increasingly showing himself to be as or more hard-line than former dictator Than Shwe. In the first few months of becoming dictator, Than Shwe first acknowledged that there were political prisoners, and …
Burma Campaign UK today urged Vijay Nambiar, the UN Special Advisor on Burma, not to ignore the current crisis in Shan State during his visit to Burma. Nambiar is visiting Burma to assess the willingness of Burma’s new dictator, Thein Sein, to enter into dialogue and implement democratic reforms. There has been a major increase …