The students were joined on the streets by people from all walks of life: saffron-robed monks, teachers, young children, housewives and doctors. A general strike took place on August 8, 1988, considered an auspicious date. However, the country's first popular uprising was put down the following month in the most bloody and ruthless manner. A brutal repression of the people that has continued to this day, and which we last witnessed in the beating and killing of monks and civilians in November 2008.

It was 8888 that brought Aung San Suu Kyi to the forefront of the struggle for democracy, freedom and civil liberties. She is the best known of Burma's political prisoners, and she is the people's beacon of hope. However, she is currently being subjected to a show trial and faces the prospect of a prison sentence on Tuesday - a date the regime had chosen to avoid the 8888 anniversary, and also because the senior general believes 11 is his lucky number. Relying on numbers, lucky or otherwise, is a poor substitute for a clear strategic choice of an inclusive democracy.

Suu Kyi's plight also highlights the appalling state of the 2,100 or more political prisoners in Burma. It is important that we know their stories, which are heart-rending. They are people with families from whom they have been separated.

Many have been sentenced for decades; two from minority ethnic groups have terms of more than 100 years each. The regime wants to ensure its critics die in prison. They are people from different ethnic backgrounds and walks of life: Shan, Mon, Burman; lawyers, artists, activists, MPs and even a comedian. They are talented people with professional qualifications, and their incarceration shows how much human potential is going unrealised in Burma. Their diversity demonstrates that the regime does not discriminate: all dissent in any form is brutally crushed.

What these political prisoners have in common, and what the regime has against them, is an unwavering commitment to peace and national reconciliation.

On the anniversary of 8888, I want to pay tribute to all of Burma's political prisoners. Their courage and resilience in the face of the abuse of their fundamental human rights are humbling. I also want to repeat the international community's call for the Burmese regime to release unconditionally all political prisoners and commit to a genuine and inclusive process of dialogue and national reconciliation. Until they do so, future elections, such as those they are planning for 2010, will have absolutely no legitimacy.

IVAN LEWIS is deputy minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This article was sent to The Nation by the British Embassy in Bangkok.