Maradona: Free Suu

Legendary soccer star Diego Maradona, considered by many to be the greatest footballer in history, will release a video online this Friday that calls for the release of the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi.

Says the Argentine in the video, "I am Diego Maradona, and the world knows
that I always rebel against injustice. And what outrages me today is what
is happening to Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi. Does a Nobel Peace Prize recipient
deserve to be imprisoned? Set her free!"

Maradona is popular among all Burmese people, including soldiers. The video
will create an embarrassment for the Burmese dictators, who often build
soccer fields next to military bases in the country.

The video from Maradona is part of a 30-day video campaign by 30 leading
Hollywood celebrities, athletes, and musicians. The major campaign is
designed to draw attention to human rights in the Southeast Asian country of
Burma. Every day for 30 days, participants are releasing a new video
explaining what is happening in Burma and appealing to people to join. The
videos are kept secret until they are released each day.

The videos are released every day at

and

Participants include Will Ferrell, Jennifer Aniston, Sheryl Crow, Woody

Harrelson, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Seagal, Ellen Page, Jackson Browne,

Eva Longoria, and more.

Some of the spots are also directed by well-known directors and actors,

including Judd Apatow (Talladega Nights, 40 Year Old Virgin, etc.) and

Oscar-winning actress Anjelica Huston.

The campaign is timed to lead up to May 27th - the day that Burma's military

regime will either release Suu Kyi or extend her detention. Aung San Suu

Kyi, dubbed "Burma's Nelson Mandela" by the international

media, leads Burma's struggle for human rights and an end to decades of

military rule. Burma burst into international headlines last fall when

hundreds of thousands of peaceful Buddhist monks marched on the streets

calling for the country's military regime to step aside and permit democracy

in the country.

The Burmese military regime carries out brutal human rights abuses against

its own people, including:

- Recruiting more child soldiers than any other country in the world: 70,000

- Locking up Suu Kyi for 12 of the past 18 years, along with up to 2,000

other political prisoners

- Carrying out a Darfur-style scorched earth military campaign against

ethnic minority civilians, purposely targeting medical clinics, schools,

food supplies, and homes. An astonishing 3,200 ethnic minority villages

in eastern Burma have been destroyed by the military regime (to put this in

context, it is twice as many villages as have been destroyed in the Darfur

area of Sudan).

The effort is much different than standards public service announcements.

Instead most of the spots are short scripts or vignettes, intended to be

accessible and compelling for everyday viewers. They use drama, suspense,

and evey comedy to tell the story of the struggle for human rights in Burma.

"Every now and again, a single person or event captures the imagination and

said Will Ferrell in his video, which kicked off

This moment belongs to Burma, and to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Please, honor her courage, honor your compassion and let this be the month

you join an effort to change the world."

"Just as the world came together twenty years ago to free Nelson Mandela and

said

Jeremy Woodrum, co-founder of U.S. Campaign for Burma.

"Our goal is to mobilize one million people to join the U.S. Campaign for

Burma and become agents for change in Burma."

said Jack Healey, founder of the

Human Rights Action Center and former director of the Peace Corps in Lesotho

Now more than ever, people have access to,

and participate in, a multitude of online options to learn and communicate

ve created 30

unique and creative video appeals, designed for the Web, with the goal of

inspiring people to take action, once they learn what is happening in Burma.

For me, that spark came in 1999, when I had the opportunity to meet Aung San

Suu Kyi in Rangoon. I believe this campaign can be the spark that motivates

millions of other people to join her cause."