Military Junta, Withdraw from Burma Politics!
Dear friends of Burma,
In solidarity with the peoples of Burma, the Program on Alternative Development, University of the Philippines Center for Integrative & Development Studies (UP CIDS AltDev), is circulating this statement of support for your endorsement. We hope that you can sign on as organizations or individuals. Kindly put your name and affiliation in this link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uQ0rZnGkcQuHT6pcbHSnNTK1TmKvSqKZ_H_ewbtC1Aw/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uQ0rZnGkcQuHT6pcbHSnNTK1TmKvSqKZ_H_ewbtC1Aw/edit?usp=sharing
Restore Democracy! End Elite Rule!
We, the grassroots communities, peoples’ organizations, civil society organizations, scholar-activists, and concerned individuals strongly condemn the Burmese military coup for their onslaught of arbitrary arrests of elected government officials, pro-democracy activists, and members of civil society, for the elimination of the democratic space in Burma, and violent dispersals of peaceful protests.
We stand in solidarity with the peoples of Burma and we register our calls:
We demand that the military cease interfering with Burma politics and return to the barracks where they rightfully belong.
We demand that the civilian government be reinstated, but not only to return to the hands of the elite. Having failed the human rights test by justifying the massive atrocities against Burma’s ethnic minorities, especially the Rohingya genocide, Aung San Suu Kyi should give way and make room for the emergence of progressive and multi-ethnic leadership.
We demand that a new constitution be enacted once a civilian government is restored and progressive leadership emerges that will expunge all references to the military’s involvement in politics, specifically its 25% entitlement of seats in parliament which effectively makes any constitutional amendments towards a genuine democracy impossible. The crafting of a new constitution should lead to new elections that will genuinely be participative, inclusive, and democratic.
As a safeguard against a return to elite rule, we call on non-NLD democratic and progressive forces to step up and organize themselves into an alternative political force that will contest political leadership in Burma.
We demand that the military junta be held accountable for countless cases of human rights violations and atrocities suffered by the peoples of Burma and to face prosecution before the International Criminal Court and other international tribunals.
We demand that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) strongly censure Burma’s military rulers and suspend the country’s membership in the regional body until democracy is fully and meaningfully restored.
We call on the international community to exert pressure on the regional partners of the military dictatorship namely, Russia, India, North Korea, Japan, and China (Myanmar’s key protector within the UN Security Council) to halt their military and economic support until democracy is fully in place.
We express our solidarity with the health workers, teachers, civil servants, factory workers, and other essential workers, peasants and farmworkers, along with grassroots activists in the country who engage in civil disobedience to protest the military takeover and to fight for the fundamental freedoms and the rule of law not only for the peoples of Burma but also for the peoples of Southeast Asia!
Endorsing Organizations:
- University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies Program on Alternative Development (UP CIDS AltDev)
- Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT)- Burma
- Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
- Kanlungan Centre Foundation, Inc.- Philippines
- K’dadalak Sulimutuk Institute- Timor Leste
- Mokatil- Tovimentu Kamponezes Timor Leste
- Movimentu Popular Reforma Agraria (MPRA)- Timor Leste
- Uniaun Agrikultores Covalima (UNARCO)- Timor Leste
- Uniaun Agrikultores Ermera (UNAER)- Timor Leste
- Institutu Edukasaun Popular (IEP)- Timor Leste
- Aksyon sa Kahandaan sa Kalamidad at Klima (AKKMA)- Philippines
- Urban Poor Alliance Philippines (UP ALL)
- Luzon CMP People’s Organization Network (LCMP PO NET)- Philippines
- PASDEV Development Center- Philippines
- Sustainability and Participation through Education and Lifelong Learning (SPELL)- Philippines
- The Right Association- Timor Leste
- ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC)
- Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee( Pakistan)
- National Union Confederation ( KSN ) Indonesia
- Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)
- Peace Women Partners
- Stop the War Coalition- Philippines
- WomanHealth Philippines
- Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau (WLB)- Philippines
- Freedom from Debt Coalition- Philippines
- TEA group (Togetherness for Equality and Action),Thailand
- Working People’s Party (PRP) Indonesia
- Federation Of Karya Utama Union (FSBKU) – Indonesia
- Gender and Development Advocates (GANDA) Filipinas
- Society of Transexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP)
- Partido Manggagawa (Workers’ Party, Philippines)
- Rural Poor Institute for Land and Human Rights Services (RIGHTS), Inc.
- Feminist’s Liberation Front (FLF) , Thailand
- Europe solidaire sans frontières (ESSF), France
- Focus on the Global South, Thailand, Philippines, India
- North South Initiative, Malaysia
- Alab Katipunan (AK), Philippines
- Federation of Free Workers, Philippines
- Bandung Women’s voice community (SPB) Bandung Indonesia.
- Kilos Maralita (KM), Philippines
Endorsing Individuals:
- Tony Salvador, labor lawyer (Philippines)
- Su Su Wai, Peace Practitioner (Myanmar)
- Andrew Aeria, Civil Society Activist, Malaysia
- Christian Ramilo, Musician, Philippines.
- Jenny Romero Llaguno (Philippines)
- Monina Geaga (Philippines)
- Luzviminda Santos (Philippines)
- Girlie Amarillo, Professor (Philippines)
- Maria Dulce F. Natividad (Philippines)
- Jun Borras, Professor, ISS, Den Hague
- Bonn Juego, Academic, (Philippines/Finland)
- Maria Karina A. Bolasco, Publisher (Philippines)
- Rene E. Ofreneo, Professor Emeritus, UP (Philippines)
- Rosalinda P. Ofreneo, Professor Emeritus, UP (Philippines)
- Mary Ann Manahan, Scholar-Activist, Ghent University (Philippines/Belgium)
- Roger Daenekindt (Belgium)
- Teodoro C. Mendoza, PhD. Agronomist (Philippines)
- Noli Buhay, Sweden
- Eduardo C. Tadem, Retired Professor, University of the Philippines
- Pierre Rousset, France
- Andy Rutherford, United Kingdom
- Nathaniel Candelaria (Philippines)
- Francisco Nemenzo, Professor Emeritus and former President, University of the Philippines
- Teresa Encarnacion Tadem, Professor of Political Science, University of the Philippines
- Nathan Gilbert Quimpo (Japan)
- Valentin da Costa Pinto, Director, Fundasaun HTL, Timor Leste
- Prof. Anuradha Chenoy (Retired, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
- Mohiuddin Ahmad, Writer/columnist, Bangladesh
