Monks under close watch

Monastery monks were placed under close watch by the Myanmar’s military government and had their cell phone service turned off. All this occurred when the monks preformed a peaceful march. The purpose of this march was to get the government to lower the rising fuel prices and the high cost of consumer goods. The march began on August 19 and it started with hundreds of people participating. However the crowed decreased rapidly when people began to be detained and people feared their freedom. Soldiers attempted to stop the march by firing their guns in the air. The monks developed a group called the National Front of Monks over the weekend. The major goals of the monks were to get the government to apologize for the violence, reduce the fuel prices, and release political prisoners. A prominent labor activist Su Su Nway stated the “this is a complete violation of human rights.” He went into hiding after he narrowly escaped becoming arrested at a protest in Yangon. A statement implied that the United States has been giving money to groups that are trying to promote democracy. A spokes man for the United States Embassy in Yangon stated that “We reject the accusations and again urge the regime to stop arresting, harassing, and assaulting political activist for the organizing or participating in peaceful demonstrations.”
This is an example of how one country is willing to treat their own people to try and keep as much power in the hands of the government. They will harm and arrest a group of people who peacefully march just to keep the country the way it is. I just hope that this will change one day and the people have all their human rights restored.
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Sep10/0,4670,Myanmar,00.html