To all leaders, organizations and people of conscience worldwide: Now is the time to unite in solidarity for the people of Burma (Myanmar)

On February 1, 2021, Burma’s democratically elected government was overthrown and imprisoned through a rogue military dictatorship’s coup d’etat

Subsequently, the dictatorship has engaged in a genocide of democracy, displacing 2.5 million people and imprisoning 20,000 political prisoners. Without the guidance of wise, democratic civilian leadership, Burma faces the escalating horrors of nationwide war, atrocity, and institutionalized torture

Join us in the GLOBAL campaign to Use Your Freedom

For the sake of Burma's future and its people's dignity, the immediate release of its 20,000 political prisoners is not just an urgent necessity—

it is a moral imperative.

Elected for a second term as State Counsellor in a landslide national election in 2020, Aung San Suu Kyi and the leadership of her political party, The National League for Democracy, were imprisoned before they could form a government.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been held incommunicado in solitary confinement ever since, denied access to family and even legal counsel.

FREE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE AUNG SAN SUU KYI! FREE President Win Myint! FREE all unlawfully imprisoned elected leaders!

Aung San Suu Kyi sought unity among Burma’s many diverse factions, its tapestry of ethnicities, religions, languages and histories. Guided by the principle of National Reconciliation, she sought to redress imbalances of power through dialogue, choosing non-violent political action to bring democracy to her Southeast Asian homeland.

For this, she was imprisoned by the dictatorship and slandered by the international press, falsely accused of silence over the plight of the Rohingya and complicity with genocide.

“She’s had death threats, and attempts on her life, over and over, and that’s never stopped her from doing what was right. That people believe that she's somehow flipped is unbelievable”, says her son, Kim Aris, in an interview with the Use Your Freedom director, Fergus Harlow. “One of the things the international community can do is to change the narrative. She was never silent about the Rohingya.”

“Many in Myanmar have condemned what they perceive as seriously flawed Western criticism of the Burmese ex-leader,” writes former UK ambassador to Thailand and Vietnam, Derek Tonkin. “U Win Htein commented: “They are false judgements. They are misperceptions. They are from the uninformed and misguided … Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met.””

“Those shocking actions against you reveal a blatant double standard” writes Dzongar Kyentse Rinpoche in an open letter to Aung San Suu Kyi, “Watching the self-righteous western actions against you in recent months, I've become convinced it's finally time to tell the truth about the colonial structures and worldview they imposed on us and that persist to this day.”

Now is the time to act in unity, for the sake of Burma's future and the principles that are the bedrock of our shared humanity.

In a world increasingly divided, there comes a time when we must transcend our differences and unite for a cause greater than any individual viewpoint, where we must have the courage to care for things larger than our own self-interest. Today, that  cause is the dire situation in Burma (Myanmar), where the decades-long fight for democracy, human rights and freedom has reached a critical juncture.

Burma's elected leaders, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, along with thousands of other political prisoners, languish in detention under a brutal military regime. Their imprisonment is not just a tragedy for them and their families but a devastating blow to the principles of democracy and human rights that we hold most dear.

The Use Your Freedom Global Campaign was launched in 2023 by The Buddha Sasana Foundation (BSF) (US 501(c) (3) registered nonprofit corporation) advocating for democracy, human rights and rule of law in Burma since 1988.

Founded by author, correspondent, investigative journalist and former Buddhist monk in Burma, Alan Clements, the Buddha Sasana Foundation has created and distributed books, interviews, video, radio, podcast and other media in support of Burma's grassroots nonviolent movement for democracy for decades.

In 1996, Alan Published "The Voice of Hope: Conversations with Aung San Suu Kyi", a bestselling account of six months of underground dialogue with Suu Kyi, capturing her spiritual and political philosophy in an intimate and definitive format.

Clement's most recent work includes the definitive, four-volume set of feature interviews with key members of Burma's democratic movement from 2013 - 2020, Burma's Voices of Freedom, co-authored with Fergus Harlow. In early 2023, Aung San Suu Kyi from Prison - and a Letter to a Dictator was released, before Clements and Harlow opted to make the work freely available through this website.

• Read former ambassador Derek Tomkin's "In Defence of Aung San Suu Kyi", based on our work, in The Lowy Institute's The Interpreter, 2024
• Read "The Silencing of Aung San Suu Kyi", Use Your Freedom Campaign Director Fergus Harlow's feature interview with Suu Kyi's son, Kim Aris, 2024
• Read "The Rohingya Crisis Merits Reconciliation" in The Bangkok Post, by Alan Clements, September 2024
• Read "Dhaka's role in Myanmar's crisis," an op-ed by Alan Clements in The Bangkok Post, August 2024
• Read a review of Burma's Voices of Freedom in The Irrawaddy
• Read a review of Burma's Voices of Freedom in The South China Morning Post

Our mission with the Use Your Freedom Global Campaign is unequivocally clear: to secure the immediate release of Burma's democratically elected leaders and all political prisoners. This mission transcends political affiliations and ethnic divides. It is a call to every individual who believes in justice, rule of law, and the intrinsic value of human freedom.

This campaign is not about one person or one group, it is about the collective struggle for a free and democratic Burma, where all ethnicities and communities can live together in peace.

We urge global leaders, governments, artists, authors, influencers and citizens of all nations worldwide to demand their immediate release, stop the military's mass violence against all ethnic groups, and pave the way for democracy, rule of law, peace, and prevention of social collapse.

Why Your Support is Crucial

International Awareness: By joining us, you help amplify our call to the international community, making it impossible for the plight of Burma's 54 million people and 132 ethnicities to be ignored.

Human Rights Advocacy: Your voice adds weight to our demand for the respect of universal human rights, and the urgent need to end the systemic oppression of Myanmar.

Solidarity in Action: Your participation is a testament to global solidarity, showing the we stand together against tyranny and injustice.