Burma Action: Aung San Suu Kyi's life on the line

Repeated from last week. This is a critical moment for Burma.

This comes from Amnesty International:

Aung San Suu Kyi faces her oppressors this week on charges that could land her in jail for five years.

The trial comes just days before she was set to be released from house arrest.

Her life is on the line. Aung San Suu Kyi's health is at risk, and five years of torture and abuse at the infamous Insein prison1 could spell disaster.

Our rapid response to these developments started last week in Australia (a member of ASEAN) when the Amnesty section there mobilized and generated over 7,000 letters to ASEAN.2 Just a few hours ago, the chairman of ASEAN called on Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi.

With the international pressure snowballing,3 it's time to focus on General Than Shwe, leader of the military junta.

Please write General Than Shwe and urge him to release Aung San Suu Kyi and then forward this email to your friends and networks.
Help free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

We know influencing the general is an uphill battle, but you and I have faced these odds before. Last year, we sent tens of thousands of letters on behalf of Ma Khin Khin Leh, another prisoner of conscience in Myanmar. Today, she is free.

Now it's time for us to do the impossible again for Aung San Suu Kyi.

Will you forward this email to friends and to your networks, so we can reach at least 30,000 letters within the next 24 hours?

The stakes couldn't be higher: Aung San Suu Kyi's life is on the line.

Almost 20 years ago, Aung San Suu Kyi's party won over 80% of the vote, making her the rightful political leader of Myanmar. The military refused to hand over power, brutally oppressing any dissent, and imprisoning Suu Kyi for 13 of the last 19 years.

Since the elections in 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi's very existence has challenged the military's authority, and inspired the people of Myanmar to hope.

In her hour of need, will you do all you can? Will you write General Than Shwe and then forward this email widely to your friends and networks?

Aung San Suu Kyi has kept hope alive for the people of Myanmar, even when all hope was lost.

Let's do the same now for Aung San Suu Kyi.

Thanks for standing with us.
Jim, Nancy, Anil, Laura, Steve and the rest of the rapid response team

P.S. We are gravely concerned about the health of 10 other political prisoners in Myanmar. Our ability to mobilize today for Aung San Suu Kyi could shift the direction for these lives on the brink.

Let me also remind people that there is a boycott of Chevron because of their intimate dealings with the violent junta of Burma. Maybe it is time to emphasize this boycott once again...with a reminder that so far as I can tell, Citgo and BP are the best of the gas station companies, which may not be saying much. Or, for those who have one nearby, Conserv Fuel is a good option.