September 25, 2007

Myanmar: government antidemocratic measures

The military government banned assemblies of more than five people and imposed curfews in Myanmar's two largest cities, after thousands of Buddhist monks and sympathizers defied orders to stay out of politics and protested once again. Truckloads of soldiers converged on Yangon after the monks; cheered on by supporters, marched out for an eighth day of peaceful protest from Yangon's soaring Shwedagon Pagoda, while some 700 others staged a similar show of defiance in the country's second largest city of Mandalay. President Bush announced new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar; formerly known as Burma, accusing the military dictatorship of imposing ''a 19-year reign of fear'' that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship.

No comments: