U.S. Campaign for Burma Launched to Push for End to Dictatorship in Burma

(Washington, DC) A team of seasoned advocates and Burmese dissidents in exile today announced the formation of the United States Campaign for Burma (USCB), a U.S. based grassroots organization.

Mission

The mission of the organization is to build a broad-based coalition of
grassroots and institutional support for freedom, democracy, and human rights in Burma. USCB's objectives include: 1) To strengthen the position of the rightful leaders of Burma, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratically elected National League for Democracy, by cutting the political and economic lifelines of the ruling military junta;
2) To organize and advocate for international intervention in Burma, and 3) To inform grassroots citizens, international media and policymakers about Burma's political, social and economic crisis.

Campaigns

USCB will conduct five key campaigns at the outset:

Organizing increased governmental pressure via economic and political sanctions on Burma through the United States Government, UN Security Council, and European Union,

Educating and keeping informed members of the United States Congress,

Working with the media to raise Burma's international profile,

Strengthening U.S. grassroots pressure on Burma,

Supporting those struggling for freedom inside Burma.

Through public education, leadership development initiatives, conferences, and advocacy campaigns at local, national and international levels, USCB will work to empower Americans and Burmese dissidents-in-exile to promote freedom, democracy, and human rights in Burma and raise awareness about the
egregious human rights violations committed by Burma's military regime.

Structure

USCB is a membership-based organization, guided by a board of directors. A majority of the board of directors will be elected annually by the membership. The first election will take place within six months from today, and any member may run for the board. In the interim, a six-member board of directors will guide the organization.

The initial staff and interim board, which include former Congressional
staff, Burmese political prisoners, and experienced advocates, are dedicated to increasing the profile of Burma and seeking solutions to the country's decades-long conflict. The envisioned core strength of USCB-individual members and chapters across the United States--is American citizens and Burmese dissidents-in-exile.

To learn more or to join now, go to www.uscampaignforburma.org

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Who's Who in USCB: Founding Board Members (Interim) and Staff

Aung Din, Founding Board Member and Staff Member
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Burma

Aung Din served over four years behind bars as a political prisoner in Burma after organizing and helping to lead the country's nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988. He has been quoted in countless media articles, testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and traveled on speaking tours across the United States.

Andrew Samet, Esq., Founding Board Member
Sandler, Travis, and Rosenberg

Andrew James Samet is Of Counsel to the law firm of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., resident in its Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Samet, former Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor, has two decades of experience in law practice, government policy development, international negotiations and program implementation related to international trade, global labor and corporate social responsibility issues. He served on the staff of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York from 1987-1993, most of that time as the Senator's legislative director.

Veronika Martin, Founding Board Member
Director of Human Rights, Refugees International

Veronika Martin is the Director of Human Rights at Refugees International (RI), a Washington based humanitarian advocacy group. She has conducted field missions to such diverse countries as Afghanistan, Angola, Thailand and Tanzania. Prior to joining RI, she spent seven years in Southeast Asia working on both human rights and development issues with a focus on Burmese refugees. While based in Thailand, Veronika established and directed Women's
Education for Advancement and Empowerment (WEAVE), a Thailand-based non-governmental organization focused on providing maternal child heath care, income generation and early child development programs to displaced Burmese women and children.

U Mya Win, Founding Board Member
Member of Parliament-Elect, National League for Democracy

U Mya Win is an elected member of parliament from the National League for Democracy in Rangoon, Burma. After serving four years in prison in the 1970s as a political prisoner, he helped organize Burma's 1988 nationwide uprising and was an early member of the Rangoon General Strike Committee. He joined the National League for Democracy (NLD) and was elected to serve as a member of parliament in Burma's 1990 election. He was arrested again
in 1990 and sentenced to life in prison for allegedly planning to form a
parallel government. He was released from prison in 1999 and fled the country. He served as a minister of western region of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma until 2002.

Simon Billenness, Founding Board Member
Founder, New England Burma Roundtable

Simon Billenness founded and has led the New England Burma Roundtable since 1994, lobbying for the successful passage of the Massachusetts Burma Law and spurring many Burma groups throughout the country. Simon worked for 10 years at Trillium Assets Management, a socially responsible investment firm, before joining Oxfam America in 2002.

U Tin Maung Thaw, Founding Board Member
General Secretary, Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma

Tin Maung Thaw is a founding member and General Secretary of the Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma. Born in Rangoon, Burma, he graduated from Methodist High School in Rangoon and obtained his degree from the University of Rangoon, Institute of Economics after narrowly avoiding expulsion for participating in student protests against the military regime.
He is a former staff member in the U.S. Congress.

Jeremy Woodrum, Staff Member (Not Board Member)
Former Washington, DC Director, Free Burma Coalition

Jeremy Woodrum has worked on issues relating to Burma for seven years. He founded the American University chapter of Free Burma Coalition and organized the first international grassroots conference on Burma in 1995. From 1999-2003, he worked in the Washington, DC office of the Free Burma Coalition, where the staff organized boycott campaigns pressuring 50 companies to cut ties to Burma and lobbied in support of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003. He has traveled to Southeast Asia numerous times and been interviewed by dozens of media outlets.