This monk (U Pyinya Zawta),. needs you

Dear Juan,

With your help, Thursday, December 1 could be the greatest opportunity in a generation to bring about genuine democracy and human rights in Burma.

On that day, Hillary Clinton will become the first American Secretary of State to visit Burma in 50 years -- a move meant to reward Burma’s military regime (which craves international recognition) for recent elections but also assess how much has actually changed.

But the military and pro-democracy forces inside Burma both know that change can’t happen when 1,600 of the country's most promising leaders, including Buddhist monks, are held as political prisoners. It’s a living nightmare -- political prisoners are held in dog cages and experience torture, beatings, and even years of solitary confinement without a single day outside their cells.

U Pyinya Zawta is a Buddhist monk from Burma who knows exactly how hard these conditions are to survive -- he was imprisoned for 10 years for his political activities. Now, as a refugee and Buddhist leader in New York, he has started a petition on Change.org to push Secretary Clinton to get real results from her visit. Sign Buddhist monk and former political prisoner U Pyinya Zawta’s petition asking Secretary Clinton to call for the unconditional release of 1,600 political prisoners and an end to attacks against ethnic minorities during her historic visit to Burma this Thursday.

Burma's military leaders have responded to international pressure before, releasing key political prisoners. If Secretary Clinton pushes for the release of all political prisoners and other key measures for a more genuine democracy, the Burmese government will really listen.

And to her credit, Secretary Clinton has been open to calls to action by the public: Just this summer, over 22,000 people signed a petition on Change.org that resulted in Secretary Clinton calling for the right for women to drive in Saudi Arabia -- which she then did during an official visit.

As the first visit from an American Secretary of State to Burma in over 50 years, December 1 will be the biggest opportunity in many of our lifetimes to create sweeping change in Burma. Please sign U Pyinya Zawta's petition asking Secretary Clinton to call for the release of all political prisoners in Burma during her historic visit next week, and then send it to everyone you know:

http://www.change.org/petitions/u-s-secretary-of-state-demand-release-of-political-prisoners-an-end-to-hostilities-in-burma

Thanks for being a change-maker,

- Weldon and the Change.org team

 

P.S. Thousands of people are changing the world through petitions on Change.org every week. Here are some that need your support now:

• Franca Ogbu was doused in acid by a fellow student she refused to date. Her school in Nigeria expelled her attacker, but he was never prosecuted. Join the campaign to charge Franca's attacker and demand the government regulate the sale of acid as a weapon.
• Clay Treska is a 13-year Marine veteran who's beat cancer twice -- but now the VA hospitals say that they won't authorize potentially life-saving trial treatments for Clay or other veterans not on active duty. Sign the petition to allow veterans access to the same treatments as active-duty soldiers.
• Fast food giant Chick-fil-A is trying to bully a small, eco-friendly t-shirt company, claiming its "Eat More Kale" slogan could be "confused" with the fast food chain's "Eat Mor Chikin" ads. Jeff Weinstein started a petition to save his friend's small business.
• On November 30, a court in Belarus will decide whether to sentence Vladislav and Dmitry to death -- based only on confessions allegedly obtained through torture. Vladislav’s mother has started a petition to try to save her son’s life and get a real investigation into the attacks he and Dmitry are being blamed for.
• Alix Dunn created a petition on Change.org asking the Combined Tactical Systems Corporation (CTS) to stop selling tear gas that's being used to kill activists to Egypt's military.
• Carin Zellerman started a petition to save the last dolphins in Switzerland, after two died following a rave held for two days just yards from their tank.

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Update 12-03-11 10:12 AM

Dear Juan, In just 48 hours, more than 50,000 people (including you) signed the petition to Secretary Clinton started by former political prisoner and Buddhist monk U Pyinya Zawta. And Secretary Clinton heard you -- throughout her three-day visit as the first American Secretary of State to visit Burma in 50 years, she called for everything you and U Pyinya Zawta asked her to, and pushed especially strongly for the release of Burma's 1,600 political prisoners. Secretary Clinton even got Burma's president Thein Sein to lay out a plan for their release despite the fact that, before her visit, he refused to even acknowledge that they existed. Although we still have to wait to see if the government of Burma will make good on its commitments, Secretary Clinton’s visit is bringing hope to activists in Burma who have been working for democracy for decades. U Pyinya Zawta has a message for you and the other 50,000 people who joined his call: "To have your support and now the support of Secretary Clinton in upholding human rights and a just political process gives us all hope that a peaceful and prosperous future for our people is possible. We are very grateful to have the voices of so many people calling for positive changes in the lives of Burmese people. Thank you very much." You don't have to be a monk or a former political prisoner to make an impact. Thousands of people start winning campaigns on Change.org every month, and change their world for the better. What do you want to change in your world? Start your own petition now. Thanks for being a change-maker, - Weldon and the Change.org team