Security Tightens as 8.8.88 Anniversary Campaign Begins - Red Campaign

By VIOLET CHO
The Irrawaddy News

A Burmese student movement has launched a so-called “Red Campaign” ahead of the anniversary of the 1988 uprising, spraying red paint on the walls of schools and other public places in Rangoon to remind people of the event.

The campaign, organized by the student-based “Generation Wave,” despite stepped up security by police and troops.

“The army and riot police are everywhere,” said Burmese clerk who works for an international non-governmental organization in Rangoon. Security was also reportedly tightened in Mandalay.

The anniversary of the uprising and its brutal suppression falls on August 8. Up to 3,000 protesters are thought to have died in clashes with the authorities, while 2,000 arrested during and after the uprising are still in prison.

Moe Thway, a leading member of “Generation Wave” told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the movement had organized the “Red Campaign” to raise awareness among young people of the significance of August 8, 1988.

“We are doing this as evidence that we are not defeated, despite military suppression,” he said. “We young people will continue our struggle for justice and freedom for all Burmese citizens.”

The campaign kicked off as the UN Human Rights Council investigator for Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, arrived in Rangoon on his first mission to the country.