OSI-Supported Website Promotes Burma Rights and Democracy

MAE SOT, THAILAND, AND NEW DELHI, INDIA—A new website launched today aims to aid Burma’s democracy movement by opening channels of communication into one of the world’s most repressive states.

The Burma Guide to Rights and Democracy (www.burmaguide.net) is designed for easy access to a collection of resources for people interested in Burma’s future as a democratic country where the rights of all peoples are honored under the rule of law. News on Burma and tools for promoting a peaceful democratic transition are available in English, as well as the six different languages spoken in Burma (Burmese, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Mon, and Shan).

The launch of BurmaGuide.Net comes on the eve of the 17th anniversary of the massive “8-8-88” pro-democracy uprising in Burma, when thousands of demonstrators were killed by the Burmese military junta. Today, the junta continues its repressive rule. By providing hundreds of summaries of key issues and reports that are crucial to the process of democratic transition, BurmaGuide.Net seeks to counter the junta’s efforts to restrict access to information.

“Access to information is crucial for people to understand their rights, and to promote and defend them,” said Aung Myo Min, executive director of the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, an organization based on the Burmese-Thai border that has helped manage research and translation for the project. “BurmaGuide.Net offers democracy and human rights resources for different peoples of Burma to in their own languages.”

The website, which is funded by OSI's Burma Project and the United States Agency for International Development, was developed in cooperation with the Burma Information and Technology Team and the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma.

The Burmese-language version of this site is known as “Lanpya.Net” (lanpya means “guide” in Burmese), and offers access to a new Burmese Unicode font developed by the Burma Information and Technology Team, an organization of Burmese refugees based in New Delhi that will provide technological support for the website. The Unicode font will be accessible to many types of computer systems.

“BurmaGuide.Net will be an important resource for both the Burmese Diaspora and people within Burma as internet access expands,” said Maureen Aung-Thwin, director of the Burma Project. “The process of creating the website and researching its content has also built new capacities among Burmese that will promote the country’s future democratic and economic development.”

###