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, and for the elimination of the democratic space in Burma.
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, other essential workers, and 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 (FDC), 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
- People’s Welfare and Reforms for Social Advancement (PWERSA), Philippines
- Finnish Asiatic Society, Finland
- Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP/Solidarity of Filipino Workers), Philippines
- Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK), Philippines
- Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippines
- Trade Justice Pilipinas
- Laban ng Masa, Philippines
- Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan para sa Karapatang Pantao (AMKP), Mindanao, Philippines
- OutRight Action International
- Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
- Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO-NAGKAISA)
- Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)
- All Nepal Peasants Federation(ANPFa)
- Alyansa ng Kabataang Mindanao para sa Kapayapaan (AKMK)
- Kilusan Para sa Pambansang Demokrasya, Philippines
- National Fisheries Solidarity Movement of Sri Lanka
- LILAK Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights, Philippines
- Center for Migrant Advocacy Philippines
- KATARUNGAN, Philippines
- Mazingira Institute, Kenya
- Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), Malaysia
- Housing and Land Rights Network – Habitat International Coalition, Egypt and Switzerland
- The Corner House, UK
- Centro Internazionale Crocevia (CIC), Italy
- Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), Philippines
- Convergence of Initiatives for Environmental Justice (CIEJ), Philippines
- Baywatch Foundation, Philippines
- Kalipunan ng mga Kilusang Masa (KALIPUNAN), Philippines
- Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT), Cambodia
- Konfederasi Pergerakan Rakyat Indonesia (KPRI – Confederation of Indonesian Peoples’ Movement)
- Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC-KsK), Philippines
- Sigaw ng Kabataan Coalition La Union, Philippines
- Sanlakas, Philippines
- Health and Development Alliance (HEAD), Cambodia
- Thailand Human Rights Campaign, United Kingdom
- Maan Ystävät – Friends of the Earth, Finland
- Asia Monitor Resource Centre
- Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation
- La Via Campesina (International Peasants’ Movement)
- Metro Manila Pride
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, University of the Philippines
- Jun Borras, Professor, ISS, Den Hague, Netherlands
- 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 Tadem, Retired Professor, University of the Philippines
- Pierre Rousset, France
- Andy Rutherford, United Kingdom
- Nathaniel Candelaria, Philippines
- Bro Karl Gaspar CSsR, Professor, 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, India
- Mohiuddin Ahmad, Writer/columnist, Bangladesh
- Olle Törnquist, Professor of Politics and Development, University of Oslo
- Prof. Aurora de Dios, Miriam College, Philippines
- Jai Sen, India and Canada
- Tove Selin, Chair, Finnish Asiatic Society, Finland
- Laurence Davis, Lecturer in Government and Politics, University College Cork, Ireland
- Lisandro E. Claudio, Assistant Professor, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley, United States of America
- Bobbie Sta. Maria, Deputy Director, Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum
- Rasti Delizo, Philippines
- Maria Fatima Villena, MA Student, College of Public Health, University of the Philippines Manila
- Kevin Hewison, Distinguished Emeritus Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States of America
- Ben Kerkvliet, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University, Australia
- Venarica Papa, Assistant Professor, University of the Philippines
- Verna Dinah Q. Viajar, Postdoc Research Fellow, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Philippines
- Robin A. De Los Reyes, Dean, School of Liberal Arts, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Philippines
- Vedi Hadiz, Asia Institute, University of Melbourne
- Valtimore Fenis, Mindanao, Philippines
- Prof.Dr. Attachak Sattayanurak, Department of History, Chiangmai University,Thailand
- Philip Hirsch, Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney
- Ryan Joseph Martinez, Philippines
- Jenny Franco, researcher, IPES-Food, Netherlands
- Reemar Alonsagay, Peace Worker, Mindanao, Philippines
- Yuen Abana, Partido Manggagawa, Philippines
- Natalia Scurrah, Researcher, Thailand
- Frances Cruz, Assistant Professor, University of the Philippines
- Nicola Bullard, France
- Joel Barredo, Director, SHAPE-SEA, Thailand/Southeast Asia
- Althcell Wisdom Tungbaban, Department of Education, Philippines
- Jan Marvi Atienza, Save San Roque, Philippines
- Rafael Dimalanta, Philippines
- Lucia Sihombing, Indonesia
- Rizki Estrada, Digital Rights Defender, Indonesia
- Corazon Valdez Fabros, Vice President, International Peace Bureau
- Temario Rivera, Chair, Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), Philippines
- Prof. Lawrence Surendra (former UN-ESCAP)
- Kristine S. Calleja, Graduate Student, Asian Center, University of the Philippines- Diliman, Philippines
- Chibu. S. Lagman, a retired professor of Latin American Studies
