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Bush, Brown renew call on Myanmar to end violence

US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown renewed a call to the Myanmar junta Friday to stop its violent suppression of pro-democracy protestors.

by Michelle Vu, Christian Today Correspondent
Posted: Saturday, September 29, 2007, 11:02 (BST)
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According to reports, the military regime on Friday appeared to have cut public Internet access to block images and reports of the violence from leaving the country.

The United States in response to the brutal crackdown has tightened sanctions against the regime, saying Thursday it would freeze all assets held by 14 top officials in the junta within U.S. jurisdiction, and ban U.S. citizens from conducting business with them, according to AP.

Japan and China have also agreed to cooperate to resolve the crisis in Myanmar.

China is Myanmar's main economic and political ally, while Japan is its largest aid donor.

However, China has thus far refused to condemn or impose sanction on Myanmar, calling the protest an internal affair that did not threaten regional or global stability.

Myanmar is one of the world's most repressive as well as one of the poorest countries in Asia.

The junta is accused of persecution of ethnic minorities, child labor, human trafficking, squashing freedom of speech, assembly and worship, and holding more than 1,000 political prisoners - including Nobel Peace Prize laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military regime is accused of sanctioning sexual violence against women of ethnic minorities as well as ordering crosses and churches destroyed.

Nearly half of the reported cases documented against women of the Chin ethnic minority were gang rapes, and at least a third were committed by officers, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

"These horrors are being sanctioned by the state in Burma," said Cheery Zahau, a spokesperson for the Women's League of Chinland, in a released statement. "How can the civilised world accept this junta among their ranks? And how can countries like India and China be arming these rapists?"

The Chin population in Burma is about 90 percent Christian and is severely persecuted by Burma's traditionally pro-Buddhist military regime.

Burma has one of the world's worst religious freedom records and is repeatedly designated by the State Department as a "country of particular concern" (CPC) - the worst religious freedom violator label. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent U.S. government agency, advised Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in May to again include Burma on this year's CPC list.

According to AP, the U.N. special envoy will arrive in Myanmar as early as Saturday to discuss the crisis.



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Added: Saturday, September 29, 2007, 17:03 (BST)

May every Nation rise up against this suffering and my it be stopped forever, no more injustice may those who are the instigators be bound and removed from any position of authority. May God bless the Nation of Burma and pour out His spirit on all people. His will be done!!

Jacqui, Cirencester UK

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