Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the policing of peaceful protests in Yangon, Burma, on 12 May; and what efforts have been made to ensure the release of those detained during those protests.

We are concerned by the arrest in Rangoon on 12 May of peaceful demonstrators calling for an end to fighting in Kachin, and the violence they were subjected to. On 14 May the Minister for Asia and the Pacific urged the Burmese authorities to drop the charges against the demonstrators, and withdraw legislation limiting peaceful assembly. We urge the government to investigate those responsible for the violence.