Three Buddhist monks gave a chilling account of the brutality inflicted by the military regime during the 2007 Saffron Revolution in Burma which resulted in more than 450 of their fellow monks imprisoned and countless others tortured, killed and exiled.

In a program entitled “A Conversation with Three Monks: The Struggle for Democracy in Burma”, the monks – U Pyinya Zawta, U Gawsita and U Agga - spoke personally and movingly of being beaten by “intoxicated and drugged soldiers” during protests in the fall of 2007 throughout Burma. Tens of thousands of monks had been mobilized to lead the demonstrations – the first major protest in modern time for the military ruled country.

Sponsored by Amnesty International NYC Group 9/280, the presentation was made before a rapt audience at the Columbia University Law School on April 18, 2011. Maureen Aung-Thwin, Director of the Burma Project/Southeast Asia Initiative of the Open Society Institute, served as moderator and Aung Moe Win was translator.

Burma Relief - Amnesty International - Conference - October 17, 2010

On October 17th, 2010, Burma Relief - Amnesty International held its Inaugural NYC all-day conference (co-organized by Network 355), at the Liederkranz Foundation, a beautiful space on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The event lived up to its billing, “Raising Burma Awareness,” drawing nearly 100 attendees to the hall. The first short documentary, This Is My Witness, was produced by the Nobel Women’s Initiative and detailed the Burmese military’s systematic use of sexual violence to brutalize the country’s women. Following a short break, the panel on Human Rights in Burma outlined the many crimes against humanity perpetrated by the junta against different ethnic groups there — clear violations of international humanitarian law. The panel included Tom Van Dyke from Free Burma Rangers, former NLD youth leader Nay Tin Myint, author Mac McClelland (For Us Surrender Is Out of the Question) and was moderated by Amnesty International’s Zack Michaelson.

On October 17th, 2010, The Free Burma Alliance - Amnesty International held its Inaugural NYC all-day conference (co-organized by Network 355), at the Liederkranz Foundation, a beautiful space on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The event lived up to its billing, “Raising Burma Awareness,” drawing nearly 100 attendees to the hall.

On Saturday, October 16th, 2010, The Free Burma Alliance held its semi-annual benefit gala at the venerable Friar’s Club on Manhattan’s Upper East Side co-organized with Network 355. The four-hour event offered many memorable moments and a unique crowd that included Burmese former political prisoners and a multinational community of activists, artists and humanitarian supporters. In attendance were Ms. Mac Maclelland, author of For Us Surrender Is Out of the Question, who was a panelist at the following day’s conference.