Call to Action: UN Must Act

November 20, 2009

Subject:

Dear UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon

Dear Secretary-General, Across Burma, citizens are demanding -- in the face of violence and repression -- the basic respect for human rights that their government owes them. I respectfully urge you to take a lead role in supporting UN Security Council action to address the current situation in Burma as soon as possible, with particular attention to the escalating humanitarian and human rights crisis in eastern Burma. In his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, has confirmed that "reliable and independent sources estimate that between 1996 and 2006, 3,077 separate incidents of destruction, relocation or abandonment of villages have been documented" in the east of the country, and that for "many independent and reliable observers" the current situation in the east is "the worst humanitarian situation" in ten years. In the past year over 30,000 people have been freshly displaced just in northern Karen State and a section of Karenni State, and Special Rapporteur Pinheiro observes that "among the most appalling features of the military campaign in ethnic areas is the disproportionate effect on civilian populations." Given the scale of this crisis, I urge you to call for an immediate end to these attacks on civilians and unfettered access for humanitarian aid, as well as open political dialogue across Burma to ensure that citizens' voices are heard and respected. Please support action within the United Nations at the Security Council, and by Burma's neighbors in the ASEAN region, to ensure the rights of citizens of Burma, and the stability of the region. Respectfully,
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