A LETTER FROM JEREMY WOODRUM OF U.S CAMPAIGN BURMA

Dear Maung,
While most of the time we contact you to let you know about an opportunity for action, in this instance we just want to share some good news. Because of your efforts, 55 members of Congress signed on to a letter asking for a United Nations Security Council investigation into crimes against humanity committed by Burma's military regime. See letter and signatures here. This is the first time that members of Congress have called for such action by the UN in regards to Burma. A similar effort was recently joined by 60 British parliamentarians. The move by Congress follows the release of a groundbreaking report by Harvard University, commissioned by five of the world's top judges, which calls for the UN Security Council to take action to end mass atrocities in Burma. The report draws on six years of UN documentation to show that there is enough evidence to warrant a Security Council investigation. The report finds: "Epidemic levels of forced labor in the 1990s, the recruitment of tens of thousands of child soldiers, widespread sexual violence, extrajudicial killings and torture, and more than a million displaced persons. One statistic may stand out above all others, however: the destruction, displacement, or damage of over 3,000 ethnic nationality villages over the past twelve years, many burned to the ground." After the release of the report, two of the judges wrote a strong opinion piece in the Washington Post which succinctly sums up the reports conclusions.In the past, the UN Security Council has voted to establish a "Commission of Inquiry" to investigate abuses of a major magnitude -- such as in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and the Darfur region of Sudan. The Commission of Inquiry then makes recommendations to the UN Security Council for action. However, no such Commission of Inquiry has been created for Burma. The efforts by the US Congress -- and the team of judges working with Harvard is important because for the first time people are calling for a Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses in Burma.Thank you for all of your efforts in encouraging the United States to support this effort. Right now, Congress is awaiting a reply from President Obama...
Sincerely,
Jeremy Woodrum
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First, through a concerted, non-violent protest by all citizens of the country at home and international fora. If it is responded by repression and harsher measures, then, through an armed revolution. Such moves are sure to be supported by all democratic and peace loving countries of the world. (modest)

(The question for above answer was asked by Min Myo Naing using another name in June of 2006.)

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An exiled journalist from Burma, I have taken refuge in the United States with my family thanks to CPJ in New York, UNHCR (Cambodia) and the States Department. I was detained for one and a half year in 1969 for burning effigy of the late dictator Ne Win in the Rangoon University campus during SEA Games Strike. I was also actively participated in 8888 nationwide uprising by taking charge in publishing The Guardian Daily as independent newspaper for 22 days before I resigned from the newspaper as Assistant Editor in September,1988. Fortunately, I was escaped from arresting by the military regime. In 1990, I left for Bangkok where I had an assignment to translate the "Outrage: Burma's Struggle for Democracy". The book was originally written by Bertil Lintner, a Swedish journalist. I fled my country in December 2005 after my life was threatened by the military intelligence service for involving in political movements and had given assistance to foreign journalists who came to Burma. I am still active with the movement for restoring democracy in Burma.