Who am I? - Chris Gunness, Director of the Myanmar Accountability Project, MAP, using the law and the power of information to hold war criminals from Myanmar to account. 

Summary - Since the coup in Myanmar in February 2021, security forces have killed over 1,300 people & imprisoned over 7,000 in what the UN Rapporteur calls a "brute force terror campaign". This was highlighted by the so called "Christmas Eve Massacre" in which dozens of people were reportedly burnt alive including two Save the Children staff members.

Crimes against humanity are being committed on an hourly basis. Yet the junta is attempting to claim recognition from the UN by sending representatives to international meetings and conferences. These seats in UN bodies righfully belong to the elected democratic government that was ousted. The year-long - "Junk the Junta" - campaign keeps tabs on Myanmar junta officials as they attend global meetings and mounts discete public advocacy camaigns, where possible around MAP's legal cases, to discredit them and hold them to account. 

Call to action - We are raising £10,000 to raise the roof in the media wherever junta officials go, by engaging with local journalists in multiple languages to create awareness-raising campaigns that will show the junta in its true light. With your help, we can prevent them gaining the international recognition they crave.

What are we trying to achieve? - Your support, however small, will help send a powerful message to the UN General Assesmbly which will vote in November 2022 on the credentials of Myanmar. We must bring to the attention of local and international audiences the Myanmar junta's appalling human rights record and ensure the the General Assembly rejects them. 

What is the next step in the case? - Starting in February - and then the rest of the year - the Myanmar junta's representatives will be attending meetings in UN bodies, many in Geneva, New York and other diplomatic centres. We need to get the message out to the media in all countries where the junta is seeking to spread its diplomatic influence, that they are illegitimate. Having ousted the democratic government, these people represent a military government with a human rights record that the UN itself has condemned. 

How much we are raising and why? - Each discrete campaign which we will mount in 10 countres in 2022 will cost £1,000. This will pay for getting press releases translated into local languages, placing adverts in local papers and conducting media relations work to get the message out that the Myanmar junta must be denied the diplomatic recognition it craves.

We work closely with civil society groups inside Myanmar, and on their behalf and on behalf of the people of Myanmar we offer thanks to your for your invaluable support in what ultimately is a life-saving campaign.