Campaigning for Freedom
by Katie Meyer (Ontarion, University of Guelph)
(Note: "Ontarion" is the name of the student-run newspaper at University of Guelph)
Min Ko Naing was a student, but now he is a political prisoner. For the last twelve years he has spent his life in solitary confinement suffering physical and mental torture because he wanted something that you and I take for granted every day.
Students at the University of Guelph and other campuses and organizations around the country are now involved in a nation-wide campaign for Min Ko Naings' release.
"We want freedom for Min Ko Naing and we want to raise awareness for Canadian students so they can put pressure on the Burmese military government," says Julia MacIsaac a 4th year Biology student and a member of the University of Guelph's OPIRG (Ontario Public Interest Research Group) branch in the South East Asian Working Group. MacIsaac returned from Thailand last Tuesday where she met and interviewed Ko Bo Kyi, a colleague of Min Ko Naing during her five-week stay in Mae Sot on the Thai/Burma border.
The campaign was initiated by Burmese and Canadian activists through the International Centre for Human Rights and Democracy Development (ICHRDD). Amnesty International and Canadian Friends of Burma are two of the groups working with ICHRDD to raise awareness in Canada.
"Amnesty International has a year-long campaign against torture and at the moment we're concentrating on Burma. The first case we're focusing on is Min Ko Naing because he should have been released by now and he has been severely tortured," says Brian John, the Myanmar National Coordinator for Amnesty International's Canadian English-speaking branch.
The national campaign reached the University of Guelph's OPIRG who will be distributing post cards this week asking for Min Ko Naing's unconditional release and that of "all other prisoners of conscience."
"We're giving 100 cards to each residence hall president. They will get signatures and OPIRG will collect them," says MacIsaac. Off-campus students will be able to sign cards and put them into boxes located on the Ontarion racks in the UC.
"60,000 cards have been produced in Canada," says MacIsaac. "Then in February (March) the signatures will be presented to Ambassador U Nyunt Tin at the Burmese Embassy in Ottawa."
The campaign also involves a series of lectures and seminars, some of which took place in Guelph last November.The campaign is going on in Guelph, Charlottetown, Ottawa, at the University of British Columbia, University of Western Ontario and the University of Alberta.
Tin Maung Htoo was a Burmese student who spent three years in a Thailand prison for his political beliefs. He has since come to Canada where he is a student and activist at the University of Western Ontario. Now he is the General Secretary of the Burmese Students' Democratic Organization (BSDO) another active group in the campaign.
"I know the feeling of being a political prisoner. I am now free in Canada but I cannot forget the past memories," says Tin Maung Htoo."Sometimes it frustrates me that the movement is taking so long-12 years now, but it still doesn't push me out of the movement. We still know that there are civilians and students risking their lives for democracy."
Min Ko Naing is one of a reported 2500 political prisoners in Burma, but he has gained international attention over the last few years because of his devotion to the Democratic movement in Burma.
"If he admits what he did was wrong then he would be released. He doesn't believe in violence and what he did was right for the people.That is why I admire him," says Tin Maung Htoo.
"Some students fled to the border or fed the military a line. Not Min Ko Naing. He stayed in Rangoon and encouraged people to fight in the struggle for democracy."
On December 10th 1999 Min Ko Naing was awarded the John Humphrey's Freedom Award by the ICHRDD which spearheaded the campaign for his release and raised more awareness about the political situation in Burma today.
"Prison conditions in Burma are appalling...The few people who have seen Min Ko Naing have reported that he is in poor condition. He was made to stand in water for two weeks until he collapsed. They say he suffers from nervous tremors and a gastric ulcer," says John.
Activists in Canada and Burma are asking that economic sanctions be carried out on Burma. "If we invest in Burma, we give the military money and strengthen their power. We have to cut off our relationship with the military," says Tin Maung Htoo.
Former Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Llyod Axworthy passed a resolution in 1997, imposing voluntary economic sanctions to be placed on Burma until their human rights record improves. This means that though the government discourages investment in Burma, Canadian companies can still negotiate trade with the Burmese military.
"This measure has been completely ineffective in promoting democracy because since that time import trade has more than doubled," says Corinne Baumgarden, Executive Director of Canadian Friends of Burma.
"Child labour, forced labour and other human rights violations are imposed on the people," says Tin Maung Htoo. "That's why we're asking countries not to invest in Burma because that's not investing in the daily lives of civilians in Burma. The profit for the military is not going to the people, its going to strengthen the military power."
"The most effective way for student to effect change is to show solidarity as students," says Baumgarden. "By signing the postcards, holding talks, passing resolutions or asking their student councils to pass resolutions making sure that the University isn't doing business with companies that support the Burmese military."