Thursday, October 04, 2007



Free Burma

Free Burma!

Today is the International Bloggers' Day for Burma. More than three thousand bloggers around the world are participating to raise awareness of the Burmese junta and its oppression of Burma's people. The protests may have been stamped out, and the monks murdered or imprisoned, but the international community must continue to pressure the Burmese regime to improve its human rights record and restore democracy.

If you haven't already, I suggest you sign the Avaaz petition calling on the UN Security Council and the Chinese government to take action. It has half a million signatures already, and they're aiming for a million. If you want to take more concrete action, Amnesty International will be holding protests in Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin this Saturday as part of the Global Day of Action for Burma. Alternatively, you could also email the Burmese embassy expressing your disapproval, or write to or email members of the Burmese regime urging them to respect human rights and release political prisoners. But if you're reading this, please do something. We can't do a lot from so far away, but every email, letter, and voice raised helps.

(Time tweaked to keep this at the top of the page all day)