Burma: English PEN Statement
Published: September 27, 2007
English PEN joins the international community in urging restraint by the military government of Myanmar (Burma) in its handling of the current crisis. We watch with alarm the use of violence to suppress peaceful protests, some of which have been led by groups of poets and other writers. We also call on the government to lift all restrictions on the National League for Democracy (NLD) and release NLD leader and writer Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, alongside all those detained in violation of their right to freedom of expression and association.
PEN's Writers in Prison Committee is currently campaigning for the release of nine Burmese writers serving sentences ranging from 7 to 21 years imprisonment. All are detained for their peaceful opposition activities. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has spent the large part of the past eighteen years in detention, and, as the author of several books, is an Honorary Member of English PEN.
On 25 October, English PEN will be hosting an evening event to demonstrate our support for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the other persecuted writers of Burma. For more information and to book tickets, please click here.