MP Urges Action on Burma

Neil Gerrard, MP for Walthamstow, is urging local people to join him in protesting about the actions of the regime in Burma to suppress dissent.

Mr Gerrard said “Who can forget the blood-soaked images of Burma? Thousands of monks filling the streets of Rangoon in peaceful protest opposing a regime where child soldiers, torture and detention without trial are all commonplace.

The reaction from the Burmese Government was brutal. The police and military charged in with baton and gunfire and admitted to killing 10 and arresting 2,000 – independent groups such as Amnesty International suggest both figures are far higher.

We in Britain take the right to peaceful protest for granted. Most of us have at one point or another voiced our dissent over one issue or another. In Burma people have been arrested and imprisoned simply for laughing at an anti-government joke.

On Wednesday (24 October), the United Nations will celebrate UN Day and on the same day, Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League of Democracy in Burma, will complete her 12^th year under house arrest.

To mark the milestone Amnesty have named the day in her honour and have called on the UN to implement an arms embargo on Burma.  If the UN really wants to be proud of itself, then it has to deliver.

I will be urging the Prime Minister to maintain as much pressure as he can on to the Security Council to ensure that the embargo becomes a reality. That means keeping up the pressure on other key global players such as China.

But it is not all about high politics, everyone can help to make a difference. The day will also see a call for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, but she is not the only prisoner of conscience in Burma. At the end of 2006, Amnesty International was aware of 1,185 – and that was before the current crackdown. Amnesty’s website has addresses of key Burmese officials you can write to call for the release of all prisoners of conscience.

It may sound like a small gesture, but a sackload of mail or a flood of emails can make a difference. It says to the Burmese authorities that the eyes of the world are watching. “

October 2007

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