Aung Kyaw Soe works with the organisation The Human Rights Defenders and Promoters, which he co-founded in 2002 to raise awareness among the people about their rights. The goal of the organisation is to promote awareness of human rights and to assist people to take a stand for their rights, practice tolerance and respect the rights of others. Aung is responsible for International relations and Human Rights Education.

The organisation carries out this work under pressure from the governing authoritarian military regime, who repeatedly crack down upon human rights activities, making them almost impossible within Burma. Freedom of assembly, association and expression are drastically limited. Pro-democracy activists advocating civil and political rights, defenders criticising government action (including denouncing forced labour and land confiscation by local authorities) and those who defend the rights of political prisoners or ethnic minorities are targeted.

Since 2006 over a dozen activists from this organisation have been detained and some imprisoned. Aung Kyaw Soe was arrested twice since 2005 and again on 1 May 2007.

"Thanks for the invitation of Front Line to the Fourth Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders workshop and the message of support to our Human Rights Day’s ceremony in Burma.

I feel very pleased that no one is lonely and isolated in the spirit of human rights and we have achieved our solidarity by protecting and promoting universally recognised rights. I believe all the questions of the day can be solved by means of human rights.

As a human rights defender in Burma, I pass my daily life like a hungry soul crying for freedom and justice. Even though we face the oppression of state terrorism; extra-judicial killing, torture, arbitrary arrest, criminal charges and state-sponsored gang attack, we have proved that we are the masters of our rights and showed the unconquerable soul which is deeply rooted in fundamental rights.

Since 2002, we started our underground activities promoting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and brought human rights violation cases to the International Community; UN, foreign media and human rights NGOs. The authorities at all levels have disturbed our activities by various strategies; arbitrary arrest, detention and criminal charges against human rights defenders.

Finally, the authorities have organised the criminals and tried to attack human rights defenders. I was accused of criminal charges and detained twice on December 10, 2005 and May 1, 2007 while I was promoting human rights in Burma. On the second time, I was sent to a labour camp which is situated in the Malaria zone.

Since September 2006, 20 Human Rights Defenders from our group have been arrested and imprisoned in Burma. They were not given equal protection of the law and they did not get the remedy even though they were innocent."