We Are Burmese And We Are Proud Of It

'We are Burmese and we are proud of it.' said U Myint Aye, the leader of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters network, in his significant and courageous speech in the event to mark the International Human Rights Day,on 10th December, Yangon.

'We are going through the darkest age of our country's history and that has been caused by the human rights violations . It is wrong to kill people, it is wrong to arrest people and throw them in prisons , it is wrong to say the country is in peace and it is wrong to say we win and we have a great success.'

'I do not believe that the country's constructive development structure could be built successfully in unity, harmony and peace if the people are so fearful and worried and the families torn apart.'

'I believe that our nation's success can only be brought on by implementing the human rights and equal opportunity laws.'

'This human rights abuse will be chronicled as the darkest period of our country's history and I feel that we are all responsible for it. This happened because we were naive and ignorant. This happened because we were unaware, uninformed and uneducated of the human rights. We must acknowledge our failure and weakness in this and we can therefore work hard on its improvement, development , growth and progress.'

'On this anniversary of the International Human Rights Day, I am grateful to say that we, Burmese (Myanmar), like any other nationality, can celebrate the event in honour of our country, our people, our government and our political parties and I am extremely proud of it.'

(Original source - Maung Htoo, DVB, Thailand)