Hundreds of Amnesty International Activists to March in Solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and the People of Myanmar
March and Rally in San Francisco on Friday, Nov. 5
(San Francisco) – Approximately 200 Amnesty International activists march and rally in solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Myanmar this Friday, November 5, starting at 5:30 p.m. Held on the eve of the historic November 7 elections in Myanmar, activists holding illuminated posters of Aung San Suu Kyi will call on the Myanmar authorities to release her and the 2,000-plus prisoners imprisoned for peaceful activism. The march will begin at the corner of McAllister and Hyde Streets at 5:30 p.m. and will end with a rally at the steps of San Francisco City Hall, with projected images of Aung San Suu Kyi as the backdrop.
The demonstration kicks off Amnesty International USA's (AIUSA's) annual regional human rights conference, which will continue on November 6 and 7 at UC Hastings College of Law. Speakers include several prominent Burmese human rights defenders, including: Toe Lwin, a youth leader for the National League for Democracy and a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's Security Team; Nyunt Than of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance; Yasmin Vanya of the Burmese American Women's Alliance; and Maung Maung Latt, an exiled Minister of Parliament. AIUSA Field Organizer Kalaya’an Mendoza will emcee. A Burmese drum troupe will perform traditional music at the event.
The military rulers of Myanmar have jailed thousands of people in their continuing efforts to crush all dissenting views. Most prominent of those detained is Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been the beacon of hope and change for nearly two decades in Myanmar. November 7, 2010, marks the first time the Myanmar government has held elections since 1990.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.8 million supporters, activists and volunteers who campaign for universal human rights from more than 150 countries. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
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What: Solidarity March and Rally for Aung San Suu Kyi and the People of Myanmar
Who: Amnesty International USA and Burmese human rights defenders
Where: U.C. Hastings (at the corner of Hyde and McAllister); march ends at the steps of San Francisco City Hall (1 Doctor Carlton B. Goodlett Place)
When: Friday, November 5, 2010, 5:30 p.m. Rally and program begin at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall.
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For more information, please visit www.amnestyusa.org.
Contact: Wende Gozan Brown, 212-633-4247, wgozan@aiusa.org or Kalaya’an Mendoza, 917-815-7107, kmendoza@aiusa.org
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