2 September 2007
Gordon Brown has condemned the crackdown on protesters in Burma and called on the authorities to release those detained.
In a Downing Street statement, the Prime Minister defended the actions of people who have taken to the streets to protest against rising prices and backed calls for the United Nations to examine developments in the country.
He said:
"I deeply deplore the Burmese government’s violent supression of peaceful demonstrations.
"I call upon the Burmese authorities to release immediately all those detained merely for protesting at the hardship imposed on them by the government’s economic mismanagement and failure to uphold fundamental human rights."
Mr Brown also urged the international community to encourage the ruling military junta to engage in an "early transition to democratic rule, full respect for human rights and genuine national reconciliation". All political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released, he said.
More than 100 people have been arrested in recent days as the dissent provoked one of the most far-reaching crackdowns in Burma since 1988.
Image copyright: Reuters
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