59 years in jail, reduced to 35 years, for satire? It sounds like a bad joke. But this is the sentence handed down by the regime in Burma in 2008 to popular comedian Maung Thura, better known as Zarganar. And his case is a good example of why the international community continues to call on the Burmese regime to release unconditionally all political prisoners, and commit to a genuine and inclusive process of dialogue and national reconciliation.
On 18 March, the British Embassy Human Rights Movie Day was launched in Budapest cinema Toldi Mozi with a showing of “This Prison Where I Live” – which tells Zarganar’s story. And director Rex Bloomstein was there to introduce the film and discuss it with the audience. His documentary recounts how Bloomstein and German stand-up comic Michael Mittermeier visited Burma secretly to try to get close to the jail where Zarganar is held.
This is not the first time that we have used moving and inspirational films to flag up the importance of human rights. In October 2009, together with the Central European University and the Czech Embassy, we screened the film “Burma VJ – Reporting from a Closed Country”, which was followed by a lively debate involving NGOs and students. It was a great success. But our Movie Day was much more ambitious – two of the directors of the films we screened were present, as well as many other participants from relevant organisations. The event was timed to fall during the Europe-wide Action Week against Racism; and in advance of the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March.
We also screened “Brown Skin” by Bela Varadi, about the discrimination the Roma face on a daily basis; and “Happily Ever After” by Gabor Nemeth, about a drama and social dialogue project with a Roma community in North-East Hungary. Mr Varadi joined us for the discussion. And the day ended with “Prayers for Bobby”, the story of gay rights crusader Mary Griffith. The day was a good opportunity for me to tell the audience about the British Foreign Office’s work on human rights – but also to draw attention to relevant projects that we have run from the Embassy in Budapest: the “Music Against Racism” campaign; the launch of a Roma Law Enforcement Initiative and youth education project in partnership with the Hungarian branch of the Fraternal Association of European Roma Law Enforcement Officers; and support for the LGBT community in Hungary.
The success of our event put me in a suitable frame of mind to join in a free tour on 19 March (organised by Minority Rights Group and Rockhoppers) all about the influence of ethnic and religious minority communities on Budapest, past and present – and a very rich influence it is. (The Hungarian Government has sponsored a rather good book about the influence of other European countries on Budapest in conjunction with their EU Presidency.) My tour focused on the Castle Hill and one the following day on the VIIIth District. But if you’re interested you can still catch the final (also free) tour of Central Budapest at 10.00 on Wednesday 23 March: the tour group meets in front of the Dohany Street Synagogue, which His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales visited last March.
So what links all these issues? Kofi Annan put it well, in a quotation we used as a strapline for our Movie Day – “We may have different religions, different languages, different coloured skin, but we all belong to one human race”.