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Burma 2007: Protests Against Fuel Prices (pdf)
"My Gun was as tall a me": Child Soldiers in Burma (pdf)
Threat to Peace: A call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma (pdf)
State of Terror: The Ongoing Rape, Murder, Torture and Forced Labour suffering by women living under the Burmese Military Regime in Karen State. (pdf)
Unsafe State: State Sanctioned sexual violence against Chin women in Burma. (pdf)
Freedom From Fear by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
The Gathering Storm: Infectious Diseases and Human Rights in Burma. (pdf)
Women's Rights in Burma
Burma's Secret War(49 min video)
What the Uprising of 2007 has taught, is that is is not the action or inaction of any government or institution that plays any real role in the fight for freedom for the people of Burma. It is the individual, inside or outside of Burma, that makes the case for his and her own freedom according to which they are prepared to lay down. No one has done as much as those in Burma who were seen publicly, had their pictures taken, and their names put on a list for questioning and imprisonment.
Sanctions will only further isolate the junta in Burma, empowering the generals to continue to "govern" in the way they see fit. With ever expanding lucratic trade and no shortage of military support it is the junta in the refuge in excessive liberties. With many more dead than will ever be recorded, now the world is getting an attuned taste of the complex nature of Burma's relationship with the outside world.
ASEAN expressed "revulsion" for the crack down on the peaceful protest but there is a continued declaration by activist who say ASEAN is far too reticent in its approach to Burma. The United Nations expressed this same "condemnation". But what weight does this carry if even China expressed the same rhetoric?
The world witnessed bravery with a drawn out tension that only became more sobering as each day passed. The truth of the matter was that the chance of the miltary junta being removed from power was "99.99% not going to happen".
The 8-8-88 protest created a generation of those who would fight for freedom and democracy in Burma. Over the last 20 years they have languished in prisons for speaking out, they have worked with international NGO's to bring aid and attention to refugees, and they have suffered along side the people - as has Aung San Suu Kyi - waiting for the eventual resolution. Is this the nascency of such an eclipse? No one would know the answer to that question.
But perhaps at an age when internationalism and humanist consciousness is catching up with the realities of the world population and the fraility of global economics, we can begin to see a turning point for greater awareness.
Sunsai Phasuk, a consultant for HRW in Bangkok, outlined how the monks reaction to yet another fuel price hike was directly related to the poverty of the public, saying "The monks are an economic barometer in Burma [...] They feel the deterioration of the economy and the hardship of their followers."
Hundreds marched to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's home giving her the opportunity to step out of her confines and greet the electrified crowd. She spoke for about 15 minutes and is reported, at one point, to have broken out in tears.
"No matter the regime's physical power, in the end they can't stop the people; they can't stop freedom. We shall have our time." - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
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