သာသနာ့

သ Uေသွ
ေ ်ာင္. Aျပည္
A ျပည္ဆု
ဆိင္ရာ ျမန္
န္မာရဟန္းေတာ္
ေ မ်ားA
Aဖြ႕ဲ ခ်ဳပ္
SÃSANAMOLI

I N T E R N A T I O N A L B U R M E S E M O N K S O RRG
GANIZATION
84‐32, Apt#2A,   GRAND AVE,   ELLMHURST, NY 11373, U.S.A. Tel & Fxx: (718) 426‐3959 www.burmesemo
onks.org 

For Immed
diate releasee Contactt: IBMO Offfice: 7718-426-39599
Ashin Nayaka
N 3
347-665-53233
Ashin Candobhasaca
C ara 7
716-512-3801
Margareet Howe 7
707-360-84522
September 27,
2 2009
BUR
RMESE MONKS
O TAKE
E THEIR CASE
A TO WORLD
O LEAD
DERS IN PITTSBURGH
I H
Pittsburgh, PA:P Burmeese monks wiill arrive in Pittsburgh to take their casee before the worldw leaders amassed
for the G-20 Economic Su ummit. Veneerable U Koviida, who marrched in Burm ma’s 2007 Saaffron Revoluution, and
is now in exille in the US, will
w lead the delegation
d of at
a least 20 moonks in Pittsbuurgh, along with
w Venerablee U Agga
Dhamma, whho was repeattedly torturedd during his 5 years in Burm mese jails.
Joined byy a busload off Burmese froom neighborinng states, the saffron robedd monks will commemorate
c e the 2nd
anniversary of
o the 2007 Saaffron Revoluution in Burmaa, when 100,0000 monks stoood up to one of the most repressive
r
regimes in thhe world, riskiing their livess in their call for freedom and
a dignity. AsA one of the leaders of thee Saffron
Revolution saaid “We marcched because we w believe in freedom and democracy annd (were) willling to make sacrifices
to reach those goals. The Burmese
B miliitary regime brutally
b t uprising, leaving dozenns killed,
crackked down on the
thousands arrrested, and monasteries
m em
mptied.
A Humann Rights Wattch report beiing released this t month chhronicles the doubling
d of thhe number off political
prisoners in Burma to ov ver 2000 in thhe last 2 yeaars, as well as a the declininng living stanndards of thee monks.
Thousands of o monks rem main unaccounnted for, overr 200 remain imprisoned,
i a monks coontinue to be harassed
and
and arrested. Over 20 mon nks from the Saffron
S Revoolution are currrently living in exile in the U.S.
Ashiin Nayaka, a visiting
v Profeessor at Colum mbia Universsity, states theeir case plainlly, “The worlld leaders
must respondd more vehem mently to thee suffering off the Burmesee people. It iss unconscionable to not taake more
effective actiion immediateely. Only lastt week Venerrable U Gaw Thita T was arrrested at the Rangoon
R Airpport, after
he returned too Burma fromm a fundraisinng trip to Taiw wan for Cycloone Nargis vicctims. This kinnd of harassm ment must
end.” The monks
m comingg to Pittsburghh are not ablee to return too Burma and are using theeir freedom too call the
international community to o take more decisive
d actionn. The monkss appeal to thee world leadeers to support their call
for basic hum
man freedomss in their counntry through:
1. Insissting on the release of Aung San Suu S Kyi, ass well as thee other 20000 political prisoners
p
inclu
uding over 20 00 monks an nd nuns;
2. Back king a comprrehensive gloobal arms em mbargo again nst the Burmmese regime;
3. Pressing for the regime
r to alllow the ICRCC full access to the prison ns and labor camps;
4. Startting a UN Seccurity Counccil investigatioon into crimees against hummanity comm mitted by the regime.
r
______________________ ___________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday 9/23
• 7pm Burma VJ V film (docuumentary of Saffron
S Revoluution) sponsoored by City of
o Asylum/P Pittsburgh
at The Maattress Factorry, 500 Sampssonia Way
• Panel disscussion & reeception after film with moonks from Safffron Revoluttion.
Thursday 9//24
• 9am Press con nference withh testimony frrom Saffron Revolution
R onn roof of City of Asylum/PPittsburgh
330 Samp psonia Way
• 10am m Peace Wa alk from 3300 Sampsonia Way
W to Point State Park
• 3pm Venerablee U Kovida too speak at Peoople’s Voicess/Public Trib bunal
Friday 9/25
• 12 noon Monks
M join inn The People’s March to thhe G-20.