TUC supports call for release of all Burmese political prisoners.

TUC supports call for release of all Burmese political prisoners.

In Burma, more than 2,100 political and trade union prisoners are locked away in atrocious conditions for doing nothing more than exercising their basic human rights.

Labour activists are behind bars for such crimes as attending a workshop on their rights, reporting on forced labour, organising workers, or having made contact with Burmese trade unions in exile.

Since the monks uprising in 2007, Burma jails have been rapidly filling with opponents of the regime. There, they face horrific torture, including electric shocks, rape, iron rods rubbed on their shins until the flesh rubs off, severe beatings and solitary confinement. Many prisoners are kept in their cells 24 hours a day, given inadequate food and are in poor health.

Su Su Nway: jailed for resisting forced labour, tyranny.

Labour rights activist Su Su Nway was sentenced to 12 ½ years in prison in November last year for participating in the 2007 democracy uprising. Due to terrible conditions in jail, her health is deteriorating and she has just been admitted to hospital.

She bravely filed a complaint with the ILO in Rangoon, after she, along with other villagers, were forced into working on a road construction project by the local Village Tract Peace and Development Council. Her efforts resulted in the first successful conviction against those practicing forced labour. But she also received an 18-month sentence for defaming them.

Add your signature to the global petition

It is time for us to take a stand. The TUC is supporting a global signature campaign demanding the release of all of Burma's political prisoners. The campaign is being led by former political prisoners from Burma, with over 160 Burma exile and solidarity groups in 24 countries taking part.

The petition calls on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to make it his personal priority to secure the release of all political prisoners in Burma, as the essential first step towards democracy in the country.

The campaign aims to collect 888,888 signatures before 24 May 2009, the legal date that Burma's democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest. The target of 888,888 signatures symbolises 8 August 1988, the day the junta massacred some 3,000 people who courageously took part in Burma's largest democracy uprising.

If just 1 in 9 trade unionists in the UK took a minute to sign the petition, we'd reach this target in no time. Spread the word and sign the petition at http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/fbppn.htm