CSW Joins London Protest to Call for Release of Burmese Democracy Leader

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) will join a protest to take place on 17th June 2005 from 2-3 p.m. outside the Burmese Embassy in London. They will be accompanied by the people of Burma and coalitions such as the Free Burma Coalition UK and the Burma Campaign UK. Similar protests are to be held in front of at least 50 Burmese embassies all around the world.

The protests are part of a Global Day of Action for Burmese Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and will take place two days ahead of her 60th birthday.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy has been imprisoned under house arrest for most of the past 16 years. She is now serving her third term of house arrest as the last detention took place on 30 May 2003 after the regime's militia attacked her convoy where at least 265 people were arrested, and up to 100 killed or disappeared.

She was known for her dedicated to the work for peace and democracy in Burma and has received more than 50 international awards, including the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament in 1990, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the United States in 2000. In 1991 she also received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Burma was assigned as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) after serious human rights abuses continues to occur while Burma’s military regime has been in force. Abuses include violations of religious freedom, and it has been reported that all religious organisations are being closely watched by the government.

The human rights record has deteriorated even further in the past year, as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has reported and recommended Burma as a CPC.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, in a press release expressed: "The ongoing house arrest of this Burmese heroine is illustrative of the contempt in which the military regime holds human rights and democracy and of the impunity with which it acts before the international community. It is our privilege to once again stand with the people of Burma to highlight the evils of an illegal regime which inflicts such suffering on its own people."