By: Priscila Néri, Posted: Sep 23 08

Regions: Myanmar

Issues: Arbitrary arrest, Freedom of opinion & expression, Freedom of religion & belief

Tags: all-burma monks' alliance, burma, Editor's Pick, monks uprising, saffron revolution, torture

Our latest Editor's Pick commemorates the first anniversary of the Burmese Saffron Revolution.  Last September, monks led thousands through the streets of Rangoon in the largest pro-democracy marches since 1988.  The peaceful protests were met with a brutal government crackdown that left at least one hundred people dead and hundreds more injured.
Since then - despite global outrage and mobilization - the political crackdown has intensified.  In the last year alone, over one thousand political prisoners have been arrested in Burma - more than the total number of political prisoners detained in the preceding 19 years combined.  Freedom of expression has also been attacked online - last week dissident Burmese websites came under cyber attack and were brought down in the lead-up to the anniversary of the protests.
The human rights situation continues to deteriorate in Burma, where 90% of the population lives below the poverty line and communities affected by Cyclone Nargis grapple with the ongoing humanitarian crisis.  Meanwhile, the government's proposed "roadmap to democracy" has been called a "fake political process" by the UN and Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy opposition leader, remains under house arrest.
Click here to sign this petition and demand that the UN Security Council take immediate action on Burma. To learn more and find other ways of getting involved, click here.