Burma: Rights group tallies growing ranks of political prisoners

The number of political prisoners held by the ruling military junta in Burma has reached 2,200, according to a report released here by Human Rights Watch Wednesday. It calls attention to the dramatically increasing number of political prisoners in the South East Asian country - the number has doubled in two years - who are held for participating in peaceful demonstrations in 2007 and for providing aid to civilians in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in 2008. "Burma's Forgotten Prisoners" was released at a Capitol Hill news conference and showcases dozens of prominent political activists, Buddhist monks, labor activists, journalists and artists arrested since peaceful political protests in 2007 and sentenced to lengthy prison terms in trials that failed to meet international standards. "The Burmese junta, which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council, is intent on continuing to rule Burma with an iron fist and with complete disregard for the basic human rights of its people, maintaining its place on the list of the world's worst human rights offenders," said Sen. Barbara Boxer at the news conference.