Burma - the Fight for Freedom
first-hand stories from the frontlines
 



Speaker: Ben Rogers
Chaired By: Anthony Best
22nd October, 19.00 (D502)

 
   

Benedict Rogers is a human rights activist and journalist. He serves as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, and works for the human rights organisation Christian Solidarity Worldwide. He specialises in Asia, particularly Burma, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, East Timor, China and the Maldives. He is the author of A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of Burma's Karen People, published in 2004 by Monarch and described by a former Time journalist as one that "should be read by every responsible citizen claiming to espouse the principles of global justice". Lord Alton, a former Liberal Democrat, called it "a first hand account of suffering and bravery - written by someone who has regularly put his own life on the line". In 2003, Ben co-authored New Ground: Engaging People with the Conservative Party through a bold, principled and imaginative foreign policy with James Mawdsley - www.newground.org.uk. He stood as the Conservative Party Parliamentary Candidate in the City of Durham in the General Election in 2005.

Ben travels regularly to Burma's border areas, including visiting the internally displaced people in the conflict zones of eastern Burma, as well as other parts of Asia. He is a regular speaker in conferences around the world, and has spoken at the White House, the US Congress, Yale University, Columbia University, the National Young Leaders Conference, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong, the Conservative Party Conference and the International Christian Human Rights Conference. He appears regularly on television and radio, and has contributed to publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Tablet, Christianity Today, Crisis and www.conservativehome.com.

In specializing in human rights research, Ben has travelled to the border regions of Burma eleven times, frequently crossing into Burma illegally to visit internally displaced people. He has also lived in and travelled to East Timor and China. In 1994, he visited Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh with Congressman Frank Wolf and Baroness Cox. He regularly briefs UK Members of Parliament, the European Union, United Nations officials and US Congressional Offices and the State Department on human rights and religious freedom in Asia, and has participated in meetings at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

Ben lived in Washington, DC from June 2003-February 2004 and recruited the new Board of Directors for CSW-USA. From 1997-2002, he lived in Hong Kong, where he worked as a journalist. He was Editorial Writer and columnist on the Hong Kong Standard, and has been a regular contributor to secular and Christian media, including The Asian Wall Street Journal, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, Crisis and Christianity Today.

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.