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People around the world are rallying behind Aung San Suu Kyi. However, we need to do more. Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi are now the feature of one of the world's leading news stories. It looks like the Burmese military regime will try and sentence Aung San Suu Kyi this coming Monday. To make matters more difficult, the regime just "disbarred" one of her attorneys, effectively revoking his law license.
Yet, with your support, we and many allied organizations around the world have pressed governments to speak up and form a united call for change in Burma. We are starting to see many activities come together to press for change:
1) There is a worldwide effort to collect 888,888 signatures on a petition to UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisonsers in Burma. If you haven't signed already, please do so today.
2) On Monday, May 18th, demonstrations will be held in support of Aung San Suu Kyi around the world including in Singapore, Thailand, Spain, and the United States. Below is a list of locations in the U.S.
3) Many of you, as well as some great members of Congress, have weighed in with the Obama administration urging him to keep sanctions on Burma. Great news - yesterday President Obama announced that he will continue U.S. sanctions on Burma.
4) We now have over 460 people throughout the country signed up to "arrest themselves" in solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi in the coming months. If you haven't signed up yet, be sure to do so today. It is a simple yet very effective way to contribute to the movement to free Burma.
5) Leaders throughout the world, including some from Asia, are demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. See a very brief list below. We are glad that Singpaore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan are all calling for Aung San Suu Kyi's release. Yet, China has remained silent. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she will raise the issue with China. We will need to make sure she keeps her promise. As a world leader, China must to more for international justice.
6) Many countries are criticizing the arrest, but not proposing specific action. Yesterday, we started to bring some focus to next steps, calling for a global arms embargo on Burma and the creation of a commission of inquiry at the United Nations to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.
We are going to be calling on you for a great deal of help this coming week, so please stay tuned...
Best regards,
Jeremy Woodrum
