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2012 Annual Burma Human Rights Day Benefit
Come share the experts' opinions on if real change taking place in Burma and what you can do to help?
 

Dinner, Speaker, Film, Cultural Dances and Panel Discussion

Featured film, Director:
“Into The Current” FILM about Burma’s Political Prisoners followed by a panel discussion.

Cultural Dances:
Burmese, Kachin and Karen Cultural Dances, Food and Dinner: Authentic Burmese Food: Chicken Potato Curry, Bean Soup, Burma Super Star's Tea Leaf Salad and Noodle Salad, and drinks and snacks. Discount Tickets: tickets are available online and student, members and group discount available. Sliding scales suggested donations: $15, $20.
 

SATURDAY, March 10, 2012; 6pm-10pm
Oakland Asian Cultural Center

388 9th Street, #290, Oakland, CA
(Inside the Pacific Renaissance Plaza in downtown Oakland with parking underground; 
close to 12th Street BART at Broadway. More info: http://www.oacc.cc/visit/directions.html )

Come enjoy the taste of Burmese food and culture while helping the people!

Tickets are available online: http://2012burmahumanrights.eventbrite.com.au/?ebtv=C
Make a donation: http://www.badasf.org/2012/donate-now.htm

Download Flyer  Poster  Read More

$20 Suggested Donation (dinner included) to benefit political prisoners and BADA.
Draft Program: Dinner (6-7 pm), Dances and Speakers (7-8:10 pm), Film (8:10-9:30), Q&A (9:30-10:00)
(Dinner is vegetarian friendly; Contents will be in English; Contents are OK for children)

Contact: 415 772 2907; 510 485 3751
Email: badaonline@badasf.org; Website: www.badasf.org

Organized by Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA) co-sponsored by  Amnesty International (AI)Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC)Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF), Burmese American Women’s Alliance (BAWA), Clear View Project, Ethical TravelerBurma Refugee Family Net Work (BRFN), Community Health for Asian American (CHAA)

Background:

Each year, the people from Burma around the world commemorate March 13 as the Burma Human Rights Day to make the death of the engineering student Ko Phone Maw as he was murdered by the Burma's military in his school campus. The killing set off the historic 1988 nation-wide pro-democracy uprising in Burma after 26 years of oppression. However, the regime brutally cracked down the peaceful protests and continued hold on to power for decades.

After five decades of oppression and military rules, there have been some signs of change towards reforms. Come share the expert opinions on if real change has begun or if it is just an illusion. However there are more than 300 political prisoners still remain in Burma's prisons. Let's call for the release of all reaming political prisoners Burma.

Featured film and Director:

“Into The Current” FILM about Burma’s Political Prisoners followed by a panel discussion with the film’s director, the main Character, special guests and internationally known human rights defenders on Burma current situation in Burma.

Speakers and Panelists:

BO KYI:
Former political prisoner and founder of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoner in Burma (AAPP).

Bo Kyi is an award-winning human rights advocate and joint-­-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners–Burma (AAPP-­-B, www.aapp.org). He is also a former political prisoner, spending over 7 years behind bars for his work with the underground democracy movement in Burma. AAPP advocates for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Burma. The organization documents human rights abuses that political prisoners are subjected to, as well as the desperate prison  conditions they are held in. This information is used  to advocate for their release and for prison reform on the international level.

MIN ZIN:  A leading freelance journalist on Burma and forma student activist in exile

Min Zin is a freelance journalist who has written for the Foreign Policy, Far Eastern Economic Review, The Bangkok Post, The Irrawaddy and other publications while pursuing a PhD in Political Science at UC Berkeley. He became involved in student activism in the 1988 uprising as a 14-year-old high school student. He went into hiding in 1989, and his underground activist/writer life lasted for nine years until he fled across the Thai-Burma border in August 1997. Min Zin then worked for the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine and the Washington-based Radio Free Asia (Burmese Service). He holds a MA degree in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley.

DR. SEIN WIN:  An elected Member of Parliament, the Primer Minister of Government in Exile, NCGUB -- formed by the exiled members of parliament from Burma.

Dr. Sein Win earned his Doctorate in Mathematics from Hamburg University in Germany.  He taught at Colombo University in Sri Lanka, Nairobi University in Kenya, and Rangoon University in Burma.  He became involved in politics when the military launched a bloody cracked down on the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. He was an elected representative  in Burma’s 1990 general elections. When the military junta refused to honor the election results and  started arresting NLD leaders and elected representatives throughout the country, the NLD caucus held a series of secret meetings and decided to send some of its MPs to the liberated area along the Thai-Burma border to form a provisional government.  The main task of that legitimately elected government is to bring about democracy, freedom and genuine national reconciliation in Burma.