Amnesty International Raises Burma Awareness

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 5:30 p.m., Amnesty International and the Department of Political Science held a Burma Awareness Day Event in McPhail's. The event included a screening of a documentary entitled Crossing Midnight, which tells the tale of health care workers in eastern Myanmar, or Burma. Following the film a discussion panel was held by Susan McCarthy, Ph.D., and Paola Cesarini, Ph.D., both of the Department of Political Science, which addressed American foreign policy and international treatment of human rights. Crossing Midnight follows a community of refugees from Burma struggling to help their own people fight persecution on the border of Thailand and eastern Burma. Currently, there are about one million displaced people trying to avoid the constant armed conflict from the military dictatorship that is controlling the country, and are struggling to stay alive in the jungles of eastern Burma. These people live on the run, constantly risking their lives as they try to find food to nourish and sustain their families. Additionally, more than two million others have escaped Burma to the borders of Thailand due to the decades of oppression they have faced from the militaristic state. In 1998, a large student uprising in Burma was violently put down by the military dictatorship. Dr. Cynthia Muang and several students fled to the border of Thailand and established the Mae Tao clinic. Today, over 20 years later, the clinic has grown to include more than 500 health care workers, a school for refugee children, and a group of cross-border backpack medics who travel throughout the jungle attempting to provide aid to those who are living on the run. "Amnesty International has been planning this event for a few months in conjunction with a non-profit, U.S. campaign for Burma," said Andy Kowal '10, president of Amnesty International at Providence College. "The main goal for Amnesty is to raise awareness about social and human rights abuses throughout the world and to inform students of the various ways they can help. We thought the best way to inform the PC community about the atrocities going on in Burma would be to show a documentary and then have professors with more knowledge about the subject be there to give a broader picture of very complex issues." Following the documentary, McCarthy spoke about some prevalent issues regarding Burma. She briefly gave an overview of the region's history, noting that it is incredibly wealthy in terms of its natural resources. Burma was a parliamentary democracy for about 10 years from 1948 to 1958, but was overtaken by a military coup in 1958. "Burma can really be considered a failed state, or close to one, and it is powerful in its ability to oppress its population," said McCarthy. She said that the Burmese government's oppression is not widely heard of because neighboring countries want to maintain business interactions with Burma regarding its wealthy natural resources and abundance of oil and gases. Cesarini spoke next about international law and human rights and the violations taking place in Burma. She said that the only rights, the people of Burma have stem from international human rights treaties, such as a body of legislation referred to as the International Human Rights Regime. The problem is that unlike domestic law, international law is very difficult to enforce. There is an international police force to ensure that the Burmese government is abiding by these laws. "The only thing that can legally protect them is a set of legislation that cannot be enforced," said Cesarini. Yet the "International Human Rights Regime survives because it has the consensus of civilized nations throughout the world," she said. In the United States the majority of citizens turn solely to American documents to enforce human rights, rather than regarding the international human rights legislations that would protect people like those who are facing constant persecution in Burma. "There is a tendency on the part of Americans to associate human rights with American documents [such as] the Constitution and the Bill of Rights," said Cesarini. Cesarini argued that if Americans were to recognize the importance of international treaties to the Burmese people it would be a step toward making changes which would protect the citizens of Burma. "One of the things that can be done is to convince our own government to give a little more enthusiastic support for these international laws," she said. The international treaties serve as the only source of protection for people such as those that were shown in the Crossing Midnight documentary. Cesarini also addressed the progress that has been made since the Obama administration has taken office. "For the first time, this president gives a lot of hope around the world, and he gives a lot of hope in Burma," she said. At the end of the event, all those attending could decorate a peace cookie, "to lighten the mood but also to send the message that we can do something about sustaining peace." "We hope that students were able to learn from various different resources, such as the film and speakers, about the conflicts occurring in Burma," said Mary Bogan '11.