[5 May 2021] Protection International joins the Women’s League of Burma and 147 other individuals and organizations in calling on the ASEAN to urge that the Myanmar military immediately and unconditionally release Thin Thin Aung, a friend of India & all women Human Rights defenders in Burma/Myanmar.

On 8 April 2021, leading women’s rights advocate, Thin Thin Aung was arrested and taken away in Yangon by plainclothes members of the the Myanmar military. She was in critical health conditions at the time of her arrest. We have not seen her since then. Thin Thin Aung is a founding sister of the Women’s League of Burma & the founder of Women for Justice, formerly known as the Women’s Rights & Welfare Association of Burma. She is co-founder of Mizzima News, an independent media organization founded in exile in 1998 and which was the first exile media to move back inside Burma/Myanmar after the country opened up to democratic change in 2011. In 2014, Thin Thin Aung founded along with a range of organizations and networks focusing on women’s rights, gender justice, and the peace process, the Alliance for Gender Inclusion in the Peace Process (AGIPP).in these roles she has contributed immeasurably to the realization of women’s human rights.

Thin Thin Aung has dedicated her life to the fight for peace, equality, democracy & human rights in Burma/Myanmar since she became involved as a young student in the 1988 uprising.

She has spent innumerable hours advocating locally and internationally for justice for survivors of gender-based violence and gender equality in Burma/Myanmar. She has built systems for advocacy and engagement that have resulted in improvements for women and worked in solidarity & sisterhood with others throughout the region.

For the full list of undersigned organizations and individuals, please view the original document below.