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On February 8th, the documentary on Burma that took five years to create was screened at the Directors' Guild of America Theatres in New York City. The screening event was organized by Dr. Zarni, the founder of Free Burma Coalition (FBC), to promote the awareness of the dreadful human right violations taking place in Burma. The documentary titled, 'Anatomy Of Terror' is narrated by Oscar Award winning actress Susan Sarandon, who was at the event to support Burma's struggle for freedom. A week later, the documentary was screened again at Free Burma Coalition's sixth annual working conference in Washington DC. Lorne Craner, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor, gave the opening address of the conference, emphasizing the importance of realizing what is going on in Burma and to give support to the Burmese people. It is important to realize that Burma is a country with several ethnic groups ruled by a ruthless dictator. The regime controls all the political and economical activities in the country. The civilians are not allowed to form any type of political organization. What about students? Do they have a chance to start up a club or a union? No. Everything has to be done secretly and if the government finds out, the union members are imprisoned or sentenced to death. “I got the death penalty on December of 1989 because of my involvement in politics," says Moe Thee Zun, one of the student activists during the 1988 Burma nationwide demonstration and was the chairman of Democracy for New Society. In fact, the regime resembles a paranoid person who sees everyone that is outside of their inner circle as potential enemies. These potential enemies include elderly women, children, monks, and religiously affiliated people. This regime has violated human rights many times just to keep them in power. During the 1988 nationwide demonstration, in which an outbreak started from the killing of two students by officials, an estimate of 30,000 died and 40,000 ran away into the jungles. In a speech given to the public during the protest by the dictator general Nay Win, he emphasized, " the military shoots so that it hits and kill." Universities and schools were closed for four years after the incident. Those who went into the jungles got in touch with minor ethnic groups and kept on fighting the military regime for fourteen years. The lifestyle of Burmese people could be observed through the country’s economy. Three years ago, the currency exchange for one dollar in US money was around 100 kyats. Today, the exchange rate is around 1,000 kyats. This is the black market value. The official exchange rate according to the government is 6 kyats because it gives them the advantage when kyats are converted into dollar. The people suffer from inflation too. Inflation is triggered by the increased production of money by the government whenever it is needed. While the salary for a clerk is 10,000 kyats, a shirt might cost 3,000 kyats. Burmese citizens in the country side also become victims of forced labor. Nearly more than 90% of the village population in the country sides is forced to work for the military. They perform tasks such as carrying weapons, building roads, factories, mining, and any inhuman work that is possible. The required blue collar labor for state owned factories comes from porters. The profit goes into strengthening the weaponry that will be used upon its own citizens and expanding its alliance with drug lords. These drug lords have expanded their territory into the cities. Their sphere of influence has developed onto a level that cannot be stopped or ticketed if they ran through a red light. Ordinary people can establish any type of industry or companies they desire. However, their businesses have a limit and to bypass that limit, the connection with a higher level military official is necessary. “I accidentally put info on the political and economical situations in Burma. The next day, the intelligence is knocking on my door," says one of the managers of a web design company in Rangoon.
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