Action Item on Myanmar

Via Democrats.com and Amnesty International USA comes the plea for signatories on a petition asking President Bush "to urge the UN Security Council members, especially the Permanent members like China, to immediately deploy a UN Security Council mission to Myanmar."

Amnesty International has long-standing concerns at the deprivation of basic rights in detention in Myanmar. Laws criminalize peaceful expression of political dissent. People are frequently arrested without warrant and held incommunicado. Torture and other forms of cruel, Inhuman and degrading treatment are common during interrogation and pre-trial detention. Proceedings against political detainees have failed to meet internationals standards of fairness. Defendants are often denied the right to legal counsel or to legal counsel of their own choice. Prosecutors have relied on confessions extracted through torture.

On 14 August, the Myanmar authorities raised petrol prices by two-thirds, doubled diesel prices and raised the cost of compressed natural gas five-fold. The sudden price increases left many unable to afford bus fares to get to work and to purchase essential commodities such as rice. A string of peaceful protest rallies against the price increases ensued in different parts of the country. Some of the protestors have also called for the release of detained political activists and an end to the protracted political deadlock in the country.

The protests, as we know, resulted in a violent crackdown by the military junta with deaths estimated to be, at minimum, in the hundreds.

The petition asks that an urgent UN Security Council mission be sent to Myanmar to "assess the situation on the ground and engage urgently with authorities to avert further violence and bloodshed. This Security Council should impose an arms embargo on Myanmar." Make your voice heard here.