ေတာင္အာဖရိက မွ ၈၈၈၈ လွဳပ္၇ွားမွဳ

Free Burma Campaign (SA).
8 - 8 - 88 UPRISING ANNIVERSARY.

Dear comrades & colleagues.

Friday the 8th August 2008 is the 20th Anniversary of the National uprising in Burma ( Myanmar ) when the people of Burma made a bid to rid their country of the malign and sadistic brutality of the Illegal Military Government who had run and ruined their country with a bloody mailed fist for 26 years. Tragically between 3000 and 4000 unarmed people (many of them students) were brutally shot down in the streets in a few days of madness. Many of you will have seen the completely peaceful demonstrations in Burma last September by the Buddhist monks and nuns. You will also be aware that many monks and nuns were also shot down in the streets - again by the brutal military.
In 1990 a general election was held. The Generals thought that they had cowed the people of Burma into political submission and that they would win the election by fear.

They lost by a landslide. The NLD [National League for Democracy] led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi won 82% of the Parliamentary seats. They were never to rule. The Military imprisoned over 100 of the Elected MP’s, and Suu Kyi already at that stage under ‘house arrest’ was kept under lock and key by order of the military. She has been illegally incarcerated now for more than 13 years out of the last 18 because the Generals are scared of her popularity with the voters.

Recently the Generals held a ‘sham referendum’ for a new ‘sham’ constitution. They ‘fixed’ the referendum and soon - in 2010 they will hold a ‘sham’ general election that they will ensure that they win [by illegal means – the same way they ‘won’ the referendum] which will entrench their illegal ‘hold’ over the country and ‘legitimise’ it.

You may be aware of the recent cyclone – CYCLONE NARGIS – that devastated Burma – over 100 thousand people died and lost their homes – and as you read this many thousands of Burma’s poorest people are starving to death because of the DELIBERATE NEGLECT and MALICIOUS REFUSAL of the Military regime to take proper steps to ensure the safety and security of their own people OR indeed to take proper steps to help them in their most urgent hour of need. This is a deliberate and willful form of genocide. WE NEED TO SHOW THIS DISGUSTING REGIME OUR STRONG REJECTION AND DISGUST AT THEIR BEHAVIOUR. We need to show our strongest disapproval of this so called government.

The Free Burma Campaign (SA) would like to hold - WITH YOUR HELP – the biggest demonstration yet held outside the illegal military regimes embassy in Pretoria .

WE NEED YOU to put this notice out on your e – mail lists and send it out to your friends and colleagues and beg them to come and join in this demonstration.

WE NEED TO SHOW the strongest disapproval and rejection of this regimes presence in our country. We need to demand that our government stop blocking UN Security Council action against this brutal regime. WE NEED TO DEMAND THAT OUR GOVERNMENT STOP SUPPORTING THIS REPULSIVE JUNTA.

LET US JOIN HANDS ON THE 8TH AUGUST AT 12HOO NOON 2008, OUTSIDE THE MYANMAR EMBASSY IN PRETORIA AND SHOW AS SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRATS THAT WE WANT THIS REGIME OUT OF SOUTH AFRICA . AND THAT WE REJECT OUR GOVERNMENTS POLICY OF ‘QUIET DIPLOMACY’ OR REAGAN / THATCHER TYPE CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH THESE MILITARY MURDERERS.

WE NEED YOUR HELP - PLEASE GIVE UP A FEW HOURS OF YOUR TIME. We are planning a ‘street theatre’ commemoration of the 1988 massacre – join us.

Enquiries:
Graham Bailey
Ex Com Free Burma Campaign (SA)

Tel: (011) 618 1200 (h)
082 622 3451 cell
086 672 2998 fax

PO Box 28376 Kensington 2101
Johannesburg, South Africa.