Global Day of Action for Burma
Encyclopedia
Burma Campaign UK
Burma Campaign UK founded in 1991 is a London based Non Governmental Organisation that aims to achieve the 'restoration of human rights and democracy in Burma . BCUK campaigns on behalf of the Burmese pro-democracy movement and is the largest campaigning organisation for Burma in Europe...
and The Support The Monks Protest In Burma group on Facebook.com who called, during the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests
2007 Burmese anti-government protests
The 2007 Burmese anti-government protests were a series of anti-government protests that started in Burma on 15 August 2007...
, for October 6, 2007 to be designated a "Global Day of Action for Burma" beginning at 12:00 noon. This event was held in 30 countries and nearly 100 cities including: Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
(Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
and Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
(Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and San Diego (United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
), Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
Spurred by the global outcry as a result of the military crackdown on the peaceful protesters all over Burma, a number of independent groups, social service organisations and individuals had gotten together to support the Burmese populace. The concept for the day was developed by a coalition of Burma groups including - Burma Campaign UK
Burma Campaign UK
Burma Campaign UK founded in 1991 is a London based Non Governmental Organisation that aims to achieve the 'restoration of human rights and democracy in Burma . BCUK campaigns on behalf of the Burmese pro-democracy movement and is the largest campaigning organisation for Burma in Europe...
, US Campaign for Burma, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Avaaz.org
Avaaz.org
Avaaz.org is a global civic organization launched in January 2007 that promotes activism on issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption, poverty, and conflict...
and many, many more.
Much of the coordination for the protests was done through Facebook.com, where a group called Support the Monk's Protest in Burma (now called Burma Global Action Network
Burma Global Action Network
The Burma Global Action Network, also known as BGAN, is a worldwide Internet-based organization at http://www.burma-network.com, its main website. It was founded by the "Support The Monks' Protest In Burma" group on Facebook.com with 400,000 members...
was later formed), working closely with Burma Campaign UK
Burma Campaign UK
Burma Campaign UK founded in 1991 is a London based Non Governmental Organisation that aims to achieve the 'restoration of human rights and democracy in Burma . BCUK campaigns on behalf of the Burmese pro-democracy movement and is the largest campaigning organisation for Burma in Europe...
and Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, had steadily grown to over 440,000 members in a matter of weeks. It was and a hotbed of protest related news and as a flashpoint for Burma related activity on the Internet.
An online petition hosted by Avaaz.org was being sent to the Chinese president Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
and the UN Security Council, urging them to "oppose a violent crackdown on the demonstrators" and "support genuine reconciliation and democracy". The petition includes a pledge to hold them "accountable for any further bloodshed". Initially it aimed to receive 500,000 signatures, having achieved that, a new target of 1,000,000 has been set. As of January 2008, it had 834,718.
International Bloggers' Day for Burma, a campaign for bloggers to not post to their blogs, was held on October 4. They were asked to simply put up one banner, underlined with the words, "Free Burma!".
Besides the larger and more public protests held in these major cities, numerous smaller organisations and groups of individuals participated in this event in places where a more formal demonstration was not possible either due to local government opposition or lack of adequate infrastructural support.
The protests were all peaceful in nature, aimed at more at promoting awareness about the plight of the Burmese people and to activate public support for their cause. Protesters used various means to show solidarity, with some wearing red and saffron clothing, sporting red Buddhist sacred threads, usage of the Peacock Flag
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy is a Burmese political party founded on 27 September 1988. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi serves as its General Secretary. The party won a substantial parliamentary majority in the 1990 Burmese general election. However, the ruling military junta...
and other iconography associated with the movement.
The events were considered a success and organizers hoped that public involvement would force international community to take appropriate action.