Looking at recent events in Myanmar...

Wendy D — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:25:01 -0500

For the past month, Buddhists monks have been marching and practicing civil disobedience in Myanmar (formerly Burma).This past weekend (September 23) the marches gained more participants, and attention. The Associated Press reports that upwards of 100,000 people led by hundreds of Buddhist monks marched through the streets of Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. Some protestors marched for over 12 miles, and 1,400 people walked right up to riot police blocking their path. The protestors chanted prayers and calls for peace in front of police, and near the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy leader long detained under house arrest.

Monks are well regarded and respected in Buddhist Myanmar, and their voices act as a moral authority. Since the monks are leading the protests, other sympathizers feel safer and more compelled to participate. The marching by the monks is civil disobedience at its best. The repressive military government is hesitant to crack down on marchers because of the public scorn it will garner both nationally and internationally.

The last large demonstration in Myanmar was in 1988 when hundreds, if not thousands, of people were injured or killed by military government forces suppressing the protest. With history like that and a culture of iron-fisted military rule many people in Myanmar are hesitant to speak or act against the government for fear of swift retribution. However, with the monks leading the protests, people are noticing a change in the tides. Also, the monks act as a visible safe guard for other protestors, who can feel confident that the government will try to avoid confrontation with beloved public figures.

Interestingly, Myanmar’s ally China is believed to be playing a role in the Myanmar government’s reaction to the protests. With so much international scrutiny on China for the upcoming 2008 Olympics, Chinese officials are believed to be urging Myanmar to withhold any sort of violent reactions. In doing so, China would avoid association with further human rights abuses. However, Myanmar military officials are issuing more heavy-handed denouncements of the marches and monks as the protests continue.

As far as new tactics are concerned, using the Olympics as a leverage point has proven to be widely utilized in the case of China and 2008 Olympics. Various activist groups have pressured China to revisit their positions on many issues, most notably their relationship with Sudan, and its impact on Darfur. China receives a large percentage of their oil from the Sudanese government.

In Myanmar, tensions have been running high for the last month, since the government raised fuel prices to outrageous rates. This acted as a catalyst for the long simmering public discontent to be manifested.

The marches put international pressure and scrutiny on Myanmar, and reinforce the idea that citizens of that country are not happy with the situation and want change. The monks’ participation and leadership in the marches symbolizes a breaking point for the country and its people. While marching in protest isn’t necessarily a New Tactic in human rights, it is powerful and yet simple grassroots tool.

Let me know what you think about these developments in Myanmar. Does anyone know of any other cases where religious figures were particularly instrumental in starting and leading political protests? I’m sure there are many examples, but I’m curious about some of the most successful.

Follow these links for the news stories in major U.S. and international outlets:

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/09/24/myanmar.protest.ap/index.html

Msnbc: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20935091/

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7010839.stm

New Tactics Community Members

Human Rights Advocacy Utilizing Religious Perspectives and Opinion Leaders

bharris — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:08:03 -0500

by Mashadi Said

Download full notebook below. [*note]

The National Working Group for Human Rights Dissemination and Promotion (NWG) in Indonesia developed a human rights education curriculum for all age levels in both public and private schools. In order to create support for such a human rights curriculum that also encompassed religious educational institutions, an effective tactic was to engage key and respected leaders–community and religious leaders as well as teachers–in the development and training of the human rights curriculum.

By taking the time and effort to engage opinion and religious leaders in the process, the NWG was able to develop their critical support and integrate their needs and concerns in order to overcome barriers and challenges to human rights education. To date, 400 opinion leaders including community and religious leaders and teachers as well as 1,000 civics teachers in both government and private schools have been trained by the Department of Education in using the curricula. There have also been 31 provincial committees on human rights that have been set up to provide training and on-going support to the trainers. Guidelines and reference materials have been developed and are soon to be published. These materials address human rights values as in the Indonesian cultural and religious context and designed with the consultation and assistance in order to overcome the perception that human rights values are Western concepts that impinge upon Indonesian cultural and religious values. Instead, the process has lead to a mutual recognition of basic human values.

*Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the files marked with an asterisk (*). You can download a free version of this program from www.adobe.com.

religion

Looking at recent events in Myanmar...

Human Rights Advocacy Utilizing Religious Perspectives and Opinion Leaders