Burma

Human rights violations in Burma are widespread and systematic. At the end of 2008 there were more long-standing political prisoners behind bars than at any other time since the mass pro-democracy uprising in 1988. Despite the welcome release of Aung San Suu Kyi in late 2010 and an estimated 200 political prisoners in October 2011, as many as 1,800 could still be languishing behind bars simply exercising their right to peaceful protest

There are laws that criminalise peaceful expression of political dissent. People are frequently arrested without warrant and held incommunicado. Judicial proceedings against political detainees fall short of international standards for fair trial and torture is common, especially during interrogation.

Despite this, ordinary Burmese people continue to call for democracy. In 2007, mass anti-government protests swept through Burma. However, the uprising was brought to an end in a violent crackdown by the military junta with some activists receiving 65 year jail terms after grossly unfair trials.

Burma Petition Event

On Saturday 24th March volunteers from the Cardiff Amnesty Group, university and local schools groups joined forces to call for the release of Burma's political prisoners. We did this by asking the public to "Give Us a Hand" - literally by drawing around their hand and signing our petition wall.

Hundreds of people signed and our wall and many were photographed showing their support. We now hope to deliver the petition to the Burmese embassy in London.

Photos of the day are on our Facebook page or available as a slideshow

For more details see www.amnesty.org.uk/burma