Press Release: Terry Evans

27 January

Reports of arrest and torture continue in Burma long after the initial crackdown on protesting Buddhist monks last September. A recent report by Amnesty International has highlighted the arrests of ninety-six activists since the last visit of the UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in November. The ongoing arrests are taking place in spite of the junta's pledge to the UN that the crackdown would stop.

The ruling generals have been particularly aggressive in targeting those who have provided the outside world with evidence of their brutal treatment of Buddhists monks and pro-democracy activists. For decades the military regime had maintained a tight control on media in Burma; however, technically savvy young Burmese bloggers have outwitted the ageing military rulers, and now the junta is exacting a heavy price. The continuing arrests “clearly show that the government’s chief priority is to silence its citizens who would hold them to account”, Amnesty said.

ENDS

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