The coordinated demonstrations, in which more than 1,000 participants called for an end to the conflict in Kachin state, were the largest protests seen in Burma since the 2007 Saffron revolution.

“The Burmese government will quickly lose its new reformist label if it acts like past military governments by arresting and prosecuting peaceful protesters,” said HRW's deputy Asia director Phil Robertson in a press release on October 1st.

The charges leveled against the protest organizers stem from the fact that they pressed ahead with the protest without having the necessary permits. Their requests for permission to organize the protest were rejected in the weeks leading up to the planned event.

At a news conference following the demonstration, Rangoon's Police Chief Major Myint Htwe declared that the organizers would be punished. “We are going to sue these people in 10 township police stations because they broke the law,” Major Myint Htwe said.
“We did not grant permission for those activities because they involved a lot of people who created disturbances and caused traffic jams," added the police chief.
 
According to Human Rights Watch, on the evening of September 19 and morning of September 20 Burmese authorities attempted but failed to arrest four of the march organizers at their homes in advance of the demonstration.

It remains unclear if the charges will be dropped as HRW and other groups have demanded. Burma's Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has yet to comment publicly on the case, disappointing Kachin activists.

In June 2011, armed hostilities broke out between the Burmese government and the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), ending a 17-year-ceasefire between the two groups. Since the conflict began, an estimated 85,000 to 100,000 people have been displaced by the fighting that continues on a regular basis.