The DU chapter of Amnesty International hosted a candlelight vigil this last Wednesday to show solidarity with the pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar. In attendance were not only members of Amnesty International, but also a large group from Campus Crusade and students of varying backgrounds from across campus.

“We’re here to show solidarity with the protesters,” said Rabah Kamal, sophomore, one of the co-presidents of DU’s Amnesty International chapter.

“We’re here to make a statement that there are people all over the world willing to stand up for human rights.” Her fellow co-presidents, Abbas Jaffer, senior, and Anandi Ramaswami, sophomore, helped to plan the event with other members of Amnesty International earlier that week.

“It was really hectic to pull this all together,” said Kamal in a later interview. “We met on Monday and everyone said they wanted to do something for the protests in Myanmar, so we put everything else on the backburner and threw this vigil together.”

BBC World News reported that the estimated death toll is around 3,000 Buddhist monks and nonviolent protesters, although since journalists are no longer permitted in the country, there’s no way to be certain.

The vigil featured a three minute moment of silence to commemorate the fallen.

“We had originally planned this as a rally,” said Kamal. “We changed it to a candlelight vigil because we felt it was more in keeping with the message we were trying to send. We didn’t want a violent reaction, but we wanted to help share the message of peace that the protesters are trying to spread.”

Another goal of the vigil was to send a petition to the Chinese government to lean on the military junta in Myanmar to end the crackdown.

After official news and statistics had been given by Amnesty International members, the microphone was opened to any who felt the need to speak on the issue.

“The open mic part of the vigil went really well,” said Kamal. “People said some really inspiring things. I’m so thankful for everyone that spoke.”

Overall, Kamal says she’s happy with the way the vigil turned out. “I was kind of worried that since it’s midterms week that everyone would be too busy studying,” she said.

“But we ended up with over a hundred attendees. It was really stressful to try and put something together with so little time, but I think we’re all really happy with the way it turned out.

Amnesty International plans to continue pledging its support to the protesters in Myanmar, spreading awareness and fundraising as the crisis continues.

Their meetings take place on Monday at 7:00 p.m. in Jazzman’s and all students are welcome to attend.