GRAPE VINE
Burma: Urgent Action
source : U2.com
23.11.00
U2 fans will be aware from the sleeve notes of "All That You Can’t Leave Behind " that the band want to
highlight the plight of the people of Burma who are living under a repressive military dictatorship.
The song "Walk On "is dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader..
Burma’s military dictatorship has one of the worst human rights records in the world:.
- around 8 million men, women and children in forced labour each year
- an 'ethnic cleansing campaign' against half a million Shan, Karen and Karenni people
- more child soldiers than any other country in the world
- more than 1500 political prisoners.
In the last month Aung San Suu Kyi, and her senior National League for Democracy (NLD) colleagues,
have been placed under house arrest..
In December European Union ministers will meet South East Asian ministers in Laos and Burma will also be attending.
Supporters of the pro-decmocracy movement in Burma are urged to lobby EU ministers to refuse
to attend this meeting if Burma's military continues to detain the entire leadership of the National League for Democracy.
.
‘Business should not continue as usual - Don't let your government give legitimacy to the military rulers in Burma
- Tell them not to go to Laos.’
If you are in the UK you can copy the message below to Foreign Secretary Robin Cook
and paste it into the Foreign Office's feedback page at the following address:.
.
_____________________________________________
For the attention of the Rt Hon Robin Cook..
Dear Foreign Secretary,.
Burma's military regime has placed Aung San Suu Kyi and the entire leadership of the NLD under house arrest.
The regime continues to deny the people of Burma their most basic human rights. In light of the ongoing crackdown
against Burma's pro-democracy movement I feel that our Government should NOT attend the EU-ASEAN meeting
in Laos in December. .
To sit at the same table as Burma's military's rulers at this time would imply that their actions are acceptable.
Our Government should only attend such meetings when Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD leadership
are freed from house arrest and are allowed freedom of movement within Burma..
Yours sincerely,.
_____________________________________________
If you are elsewhere in Europe, please send a similar message to the one above to the minister from your
Government who will be attending the Laos meeting. You may be able to find out more from
local pro-Burma campaign groups, and you may find links to them at.
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/
or
http://www.freeburma.org/
If you live outside Europe you can find out more about the pro-democracy struggle
and what action you can take to support the people of Burma by visiting
http://www.freeburma.org/which offers a range of resources promoting the establishment of democracy in Burma.
For further information you might like to read this article,
The Ruin of Burma, which appeared in the the New York Times
earlier this month.
Related story-U2's new disc banned in Burma