TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Activists Protest Myanmar Crackdown

ADVERTISEMENT

By RAPHAEL SATTER, The Associated Press

Published: October 7, 2007

LONDON - Demonstrators in cities across Europe and Asia joined Saturday in protests against the military junta in Myanmar, where some activists held covert vigils for those killed and arrested in the crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrations.

Hoping to send Myanmar's ruling military generals a message that 'the world is still watching,' rights group Amnesty International organized marches in more than two dozen Asian, European and North American cities.

Some observers predicted the protests would have minimal effect on an inward-looking military elite that has largely ignored world opinion and pressure during its 45 years in power.

There were no visible demonstrations in Myanmar's largest city of Yangon, where bans on gatherings of more than five people are enforced by soldiers, but some in the city and elsewhere in the country prayed in their homes at the suggestion of a Buddhist monk interviewed by Radio Free Asia's Myanmar-language service.

The military has acknowledged detaining hundreds of Buddhist monks - who are revered in the deeply religious nation and spearheaded the mass demonstrations - and the party of the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Saturday that 210 of its members were arrested during the crackdown.

Before demonstrations began in London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for new European Union sanctions against the junta, including a ban on future investment in the country, which is also known as Burma.

'The anger of the world has been expressed about the outrages that have taken place against the people of Burma,' Brown said during a televised meeting with Buddhist monks gathered in his 10 Downing St. office.

Myanmar monks scattered flower petals in London's River Thames and led about 3,000 people - some chanting 'Burma, Burma, Free, Free' to a rally in Trafalgar Square, where Amnesty International's chief Irene Khan declared, 'Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month. It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the last 20 years. We will not forget this time round, we will not let the people of Burma down.'

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT