The Union of Burma became independent in 1948 only after extensive negotiations led by General Aung San, who convinced most ethnic minority groups to join the new union. The Panglong Agreement of 1947 outlined minority rights and specifically gave the Shan and Karenni peoples the option to secede from the union a decade after independence. These constitutional guarantees were never realized. Almost immediately upon independence, Burma was thrown into a series of brutal ethnic wars that have continued with varying intensity to this day. Since 1962, Burma has been in the grip of Southeast Asia's longest-running dictatorship. A country of around 50 million people is ruled by fear. A military machine of 500,000 soldiers denies a whole nation its most basic rights. Burma has one of the largest armies in Southeast Asia, yet has no external enemies. The current rulers came to power after crushing a nation-wide pro-democracy uprising in 1988, forming the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Although there were multi-party elections in 1990 in which Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide, the outcome was denied. The SLORC, renamed State Peace and Development Council (SPD) in 1997, has jailed more than 1,500 pro-democracy activists who are subjected to torture. It has kept NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, under conditions of strict house arrest for more than ten years and has recently extended that for 12 months. The NLD, ethnic nationalities, students and monks continue to resist the regime despite a highly repressive political environment. The campaign for a democratic Burma has become international and continues to grow in strength. According to Burma Watch, UK: Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal and corrupt regimes in the world, responsible for: - the widespread use of forced labour - 1.5 million people forced from their lands - around 1300 political prisoners, many of whom are routinely tortured - as many as 70,000 child soldiers - more than any other country in the world - rape as a weapon of war against ethnic women and children - nearly half the government budget spent on the military - one in ten babies die before their fifth birthday.