Release Suu Kyi from detention, Burmese people from tyranny, demands TUC.

Release Suu Kyi from detention, Burmese people from tyranny, demands TUC.

In marking the thirteenth year of Aung San Suu Kyi's unjust incarceration on Friday 24 October, the TUC General Council expressed solidarity with her, and with all workers living under the shadow of Burma's military junta.

24 October 2008 represented the thirteenth year that Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has been unjustly incarcerated by Burma's military junta.

Despite increased international attention on Burma since the 'Saffron Revolution' of September 2007 and the terrible toll inflicted by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, the human and labour rights situation continues to be dire.

Since the monks' uprising the number of political prisoners has escalated from 1,300 to an estimated 2,120. Many are labour activists, locked up, tortured and in some cases killed for documenting widespread violations of freedom of association and expression.

The TUC shows solidarity with all Burmese people subject to such tyranny, in particular those labour activists keeping the democratic flame alive. It calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners. It is encouraged by the similar call of Asian and European leaders at the recent Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in China.

In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, military corruption and interference only added to the probable underestimate of 146,000 dead and hundreds of thousands more made homeless. The TUC expresses sympathy and solidarity with the victims and calls for unconditional access to provide humanitarian assistance to those still at risk.

The military junta tortures and imprisons labour leaders and bans all free trade union activity. The Federation of Trade Unions-Burma (FTUB) and its eight affiliated trade unions has been forced to operate clandestinely and abroad ever since its formation in 1991. Smeared as a terrorist organisation by the military regime, its trade union activists have bravely documented evidence of violations of workers' rights, including the denial of collective bargaining and the widespread use of forced and child labour.

Forced labour is extensive in Burma. Under intimidation and violence, tens of thousands of Burmese work without reward supporting the army, on road and railway construction and tourism infrastructure development. The recruitment of children into the armed forces is widely documented. Some 1.5 million Burmese migrant workers seeking a better life often only face precarious and demeaning conditions of employment in Thailand and India.

Foreign businesses, particularly in natural resource exploitation, insurance and tourism are propping up this illegal and repressive regime. The TUC calls on all foreign companies doing business in Burma to respect the demands of the NLD and FTUB and immediately withdraw. It supports tougher and targeted sanctions to cripple the military regime.

The TUC calls on all national governments to allow the Burmese people to live and work in decency and freedom.