About a dozen Northwestern students huddled in a circle around The Rock at a vigil Wednesday night, holding lighters in place of candles to express solidarity for monks in Myanmar.

The event was organized by the Campus Activists, a political organization formerly known as the Campus Greens.

In mid-September, tens of thousands of Burmese citizens took to the streets to protest fuel subsidies, which led to a rise in energy costs. On Sept. 26, the government began to crack down, arresting demonstrators and shutting off Internet access. According to official reports, 13 people have been killed as a result, though dissidents and some media organizations put the death toll much higher.

Campus Activists invited political science professor Jeffrey Winters to speak at the vigil and discuss the causes and possible solutions to the situation in Myanmar.

“I was invited to speak, but I would have come anyway,” he said.

Winters discussed the roots and history of political unrest in Myanmar, which has been under continuous military rule since 1962. He said the best way to help ease tensions in Myanmar is to encourage foreign governments to pressure the country’s rulers to increase freedoms and implement democratic reforms.

“Burma is one of the few countries the U.S. has taken a hard line with on human rights grounds,” he said, referring to the country by its former name, which is preferred by those who oppose the current regime. “A country that tortures, however, has lost all its sway with the international community on human rights issues.”

Winters said he was encouraged by the Sept. 28 announcement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which said it was “appalled” by the crackdown. He said the statement will put pressure on China and India to use their influence with the Burmese government and improve conditions in the Southeast Asian nation.

Activists overseas who express solidarity with the Burmese monks and dissidents by rallying, divesting holdings of companies doing business in Myanmar and writing letters send a powerful message to the country’s military leaders and encourage pro-democracy advocates, Winters said.

“They don’t know your faces and they don’t know your names, but they know there are vigils like this one all around the world,” he said.

Campus Activists changed its name this year to reflect its more nonpartisan agenda, said Weinberg and Music sophomore Hugh Roland, the group’s treasurer.

“What sets us apart is that we’re more issue-centered than focusing on getting people elected or the party platform,” he said. “We focus on issues we feel are important around the world – civil rights, social rights and political change.”

The group is choosing to concentrate on issues that are “political, but not divisive,” said its president, Nithya Krishnan. The Weinberg junior said the vigil and similar events the group is planning serve to raise awareness and bring together like-minded people on campus.

Krishnan said she was disappointed by the relatively low turnout Wednesday night.

“It’s a pretty sad story that there aren’t more people here,” she said.

The Campus Activists also plan to attend a major anti-war rally in Chicago on Saturday, coordinating with Northwestern Opposing War And Racism and student activist groups at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Loyola University Chicago.

But NU students still expressed interest in working for political change on campus.

Weinberg sophomore and Daily staffer Daniel Shin said he attended the event because he wanted to learn more about the situation in Myanmar, even though he is not involved in any campus political organizations.

“I just couldn’t believe that in 2007 there’s still a part of the world that’s under such a repressive regime,” Shin said.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Reach Stephen Blackman at [email protected].