About 70 Burmese people and human rights activists marched from Berkeley Square, London W1 to the Burmese Embassy in Charles Street this Friday, to commemorate the demonstration in Rangoon on August 8, 1988 which resulted in a massacre of thousands of protestors.

Members of the Burmese community in London were dressed up as soldiers, and others wore traditional ethnic national costumes, holding aloft banners commemorating those who were killed. CSW supporters joined the protest, with visual aids including a map of Burma in chains, pictures of landmine victims, burned-out villages and forced labour, and a wooden cage containing pictures of detained Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoner Min Ko Naing. Noisy singing and political chanting emphasised to the Burmese Embassy the demand for human rights and freedom for the people of Burma.

Embassy staff refused to accept a box of numerous reports from various organisations documenting human rights violations.

The SPDC is currently holding a National Convention to prepare a new constitution, but this has been boycotted by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy and most ethnic groups, and dismissed as a sham by the international community. It is engaged in ceasefire talks with the Karen, but CSW is calling for a nationwide ceasefire and the withdrawal of Burma Army troops from ethnic areas.

Dr Win Naing, a representative of the National League for Democracy in Europe, said: "We are still fighting for democracy and human rights in Burma. We will carry on protesting until we get democracy. We are calling for the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the 1,400 political prisoners and for the opening of all NLD offices in Burma. There must be a transfer of power to the people mandated as soon as possible."

CSW's Advocacy Director Alexa Papadouris said: "It was a privilege to stand today with the Burmese community in calling for freedom and democracy in Burma. The need for radical change by the regime is long overdue. CSW will continue to stand with the people of Burma until their cries for democracy become a reality."

For more information or pictures of the protest, please contact: Richard Chilvers, Communications Manager, CSW at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or  visit www.csw.org.uk

CSW is a human rights charity working on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs. We also promote religious liberty for all.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Burma has been ruled by successive military regimes since 1962, when Ne Win seized power in a coup. The current junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has been in power since 1988. Elections were held in 1990, and the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won over 80 per cent of the parliamentary seats but has never been allowed to form a government. The SPDC has imprisoned at least 1,400 prisoners of conscience, has the highest number of child soldiers in the world, and stands accused of widespread use of forced labour, human minesweepers, systematic rape, destruction of villages and crops, religious persecution and extrajudicial killings in ethnic areas such as Karen, Karenni and Shan states.