AI NYC Myanmar Action Team
Ongoing
NY, NY
The AI NYC Myanmar Action Team
With the support of the Northeast Regional Office and the Myanmar Country Specialist, members of Amnesty International local groups 9, 11, and 280 in New York City have formed the AI NYC Myanmar Action Team. These local AI groups have been working for the release of prisoners of conscience (POCs), Dr.Than Nyein (9), U Win Tin (11), and Myo Min Zaw (280), who are being held under the most brutal conditions in the Union of Myanmar (Burma), solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. The Action Team was formed so local groups could coordinate efforts on behalf of their POCs and expand their work on Myanmar.
Amnesty International continues to receive many reports of torture, rape, extrajudicial executions, forced labor, conscription of children, and forcible relocation, which has resulted in the internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. According to a 2005 World Food Program report, 40% of children are malnourished in this nation rich in natural resources.
This past year, in a highly unusual departure from its normally neutral stance, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) publicly denounced what it says are major human rights abuses by Myanmar's military government. This statement is the harshest public criticism from the Swiss-based ICRC since it denounced the genocide in Rwanda more than a decade ago. The actions of Myanmar's military government have "resulted in immense suffering for thousands of people in conflict-affected areas." Thousands of prisoners are being forced to work as porters for the armed forces; often deprived of food, some prisoners also are killed. The ICRC statement also noted that communities living along Myanmar's border with Thailand - where the military is fighting ethnic rebels - are being deliberately targeted by troops. Soldiers are accused of destroying food stocks, making arbitrary arrests, killing civilians, and forcing thousands to flee their villages. All these events have been witnessed by ICRC staff or documented in private interviews with civilians. Despite repeated entreaties by the ICRC, the authorities consistently have refused to enter into a serious discussion of these abuses with a view to putting a stop to them.
In a 1997 speech smuggled out from the country, as reported by the Free Burma Coalition, Aung San Suu Kyi said: "The cause of liberty and justice finds sympathetic responses in far reaches of the globe. Thinking and feeling people everywhere, regardless of color or creed, understand the deeply-rooted human need for a meaningful existence. . .Those fortunate enough to live in societies where they are entitled to full political rights can reach out to help the less fortunate in other parts of our troubled planet. . . . Please use your liberty to promote ours."
The AI NYC Myanmar Action Team has undertaken an Informed Travel campaign, the purpose of which is to increase awareness of the human rights situation among travelers and travel and tourism industry professionals. The campaign neither encourages nor discourages travel to Myanmar; it is hoped that those who do visit will return from their travels as advocates for the oppressed peoples of Myanmar.
Human Rights information to potential travelers to Myanmar and to U.S. based travel companies »
Sign petitions for Dr.Than Nyein, U Win Tin and Myo Min Zaw »
