Watching CSI

Eric Szmanda and 25 other celebrities have “sent a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to ‘personally intervene’ to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The letter was organized by the US Campaign for Burma[officially the Union of Myanmar] and Human Rights Action Center and led by Oscar-winning actress Anjelica Huston.”

This summer, Eric went on a humanitarian trip to the Thai-Burma border to learn more about conditions of Burmese refugees who have fled Burma’s military campaign against the Karen ethnic minority.

The letter reads:

Dear United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon,

We are writing to urge you to personally intervene to secure the release of the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Aung San Suu Kyi. As you know, she has been held under house arrest in the Southeast Asian country of Burma for 12 of the past 17 years. On June 19th, she spent her 62nd birthday under house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi is not just a charismatic leader, she is the elected leader of the Burmese people. In Burma’s last election, she won 82% of the seats in parliament, yet the military regime cruelly locked her up along with many members of her party. Meanwhile, according to the United Nations expert on human rights in Burma, the ruling military regime has burned down or otherwise destroyed over 3,000 villages in eastern Burma, forcing over 1 million and a half people to flee their homes.

This courageous, brave woman whom many call “Burma’s Nelson Mandela” should be released and the military regime should end its attacks on civilians. We urge you to take action to secure her immediate release.

Sincerely,
(In Alphabetical Order)

Jennifer Aniston
Anne Archer
Kabir Bedi
Julie Benz
Jane Birkin
Jim Carrey
Jorja Fox
Kris Hahn
Jack Healey
Dustin Hoffman
Anjelica Huston
Eddie Izzard
Mimi Kennedy
Walter Koenig
Christine Lahti
Padma Lakshmi
Laura Linney
Jimmy Miller
Damien Rice
Christina Ricci
Susan Sarandon
Liev Schreiber
Jason Schwartzman
Eric Szmanda
Bonnie Timmerman
Robin Williams
Owen Wilson
Elijah Wood
Robin Wright

Eric has also joined Jorja Fox at events for animal lovers. I’m not sure if he’s a vegetarian or just interested in animal rights. Kudos to Eric for joining these worthy causes.

Photo Source

burma, jorja fox, eric szmanda, csi, myanmar