Aung San Suu Kyi – A clear voice for freedom

Everywhere in the world where there is oppression there is also thought control and censorship. That is why the BBC World Service has been an important life line for freedom and has given societies starved of information that which they crave the most. Witness the testimony of one of freedom’s most wonderful protagonist the Burmese Leader and Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, known in Burma simply as “The Lady.”

There were many poignant moments in Aung San Suu Kyi's Reith Lectures (Radio 4), but one of the most powerful things about it was that as she spoke eloquently about freedom, was the fact this is a clandestine lectures that had to be smuggled out of Burma. As this bravest of women and Nobel Laureate said with the authority and respect her long and lonely campaign for the freedom and dignity of the Burmese People has earned;



“To be speaking to you now, through the BBC, has a very special meaning for me. It means that, once again, I am officially a free person. When I was officially un-free - that is to say when I was under house arrest - it was the BBC that spoke to me. I listened. But that listening also gave me a kind of freedom: the freedom of reaching out to other minds.

Of course it was not the same as a personal exchange, but it was a form of human contact. The freedom to make contact with other human beings with whom you may wish to share your thoughts, your hopes, your laughter, and at times even your anger and indignation is a right that should never be violated.

Even though I cannot be with you in person today, I am so grateful for this opportunity to exercise my right to human contact by sharing with you my thoughts on what freedom means to me and to others across the world who are still in the sad state of what I would call un-freedom.”

Let us not have any false optimism about Burma now that Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been “released” from house arrest. Suu Kyi will only be free when Burma and its long suffering people are free. The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years. It is not yet clear if any conditions have been placed on her release.

Let us also not forget when we see her quiet dignity that she is the only democratically elected leader of Burma since independence. In May 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD convincingly won the polls, despite the fact that she herself was under house arrest and disqualified from standing. But the junta refused to hand over control, and has remained in power ever since. Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the country's independence hero, General Aung San. He was assassinated during the transition period in July 1947, just six months before independence. Aung San Suu Kyi was only two years old at the time.



So it was a Reith Lecture without a lecturer present in front of an audience. This didn't matter to those of us listening on the radio and in fact echoed the role radio played for San Suu Kyi in her years of incarceration. "When I was officially un-free," she said at the beginning of her lecture, "it was the BBC that spoke to me."

Let us say it loud, let us say it clear; Aung San Suu Kyi will only be free when Burma and its long suffering people are free of the Goon Squad Junta. The struggle continues.

For more background see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/11/suu-kyi-will-be-free-only-when-burma-is.html

And articles in my Blog Sidebar under “Aung San Suu Kyi will be free only when Burma is free” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Aung San Suu Kyi – A clear voice for freedom

Everywhere in the world where there is oppression there is also thought control and censorship. That is why the BBC World Service has been an important life line for freedom and has given societies starved of information that which they crave the most. Witness the testimony of one of freedom’s most wonderful protagonist the Burmese Leader and Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, known in Burma simply as “The Lady.”

There were many poignant moments in Aung San Suu Kyi's Reith Lectures (Radio 4), but one of the most powerful things about it was that as she spoke eloquently about freedom, was the fact this is a clandestine lectures that had to be smuggled out of Burma. As this bravest of women and Nobel Laureate said with the authority and respect her long and lonely campaign for the freedom and dignity of the Burmese People has earned;



“To be speaking to you now, through the BBC, has a very special meaning for me. It means that, once again, I am officially a free person. When I was officially un-free - that is to say when I was under house arrest - it was the BBC that spoke to me. I listened. But that listening also gave me a kind of freedom: the freedom of reaching out to other minds.

Of course it was not the same as a personal exchange, but it was a form of human contact. The freedom to make contact with other human beings with whom you may wish to share your thoughts, your hopes, your laughter, and at times even your anger and indignation is a right that should never be violated.

Even though I cannot be with you in person today, I am so grateful for this opportunity to exercise my right to human contact by sharing with you my thoughts on what freedom means to me and to others across the world who are still in the sad state of what I would call un-freedom.”

Let us not have any false optimism about Burma now that Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been “released” from house arrest. Suu Kyi will only be free when Burma and its long suffering people are free. The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years. It is not yet clear if any conditions have been placed on her release.

Let us also not forget when we see her quiet dignity that she is the only democratically elected leader of Burma since independence. In May 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD convincingly won the polls, despite the fact that she herself was under house arrest and disqualified from standing. But the junta refused to hand over control, and has remained in power ever since. Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the country's independence hero, General Aung San. He was assassinated during the transition period in July 1947, just six months before independence. Aung San Suu Kyi was only two years old at the time.



So it was a Reith Lecture without a lecturer present in front of an audience. This didn't matter to those of us listening on the radio and in fact echoed the role radio played for San Suu Kyi in her years of incarceration. "When I was officially un-free," she said at the beginning of her lecture, "it was the BBC that spoke to me."

Let us say it loud, let us say it clear; Aung San Suu Kyi will only be free when Burma and its long suffering people are free of the Goon Squad Junta. The struggle continues.

For more background see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/11/suu-kyi-will-be-free-only-when-burma-is.html

And articles in my Blog Sidebar under “Aung San Suu Kyi will be free only when Burma is free” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Suu Kyi will be free only when Burma is free

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Let us not have any false optimism about Burma now that Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been “released” from house arrest. Suu Kyi will only be free when Burma and its long suffering people are free. The Burmese military authorities have released the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest. Appearing outside her home in Rangoon, Ms Suu Kyi told thousands of jubilant supporters they had to "work in unison" to achieve their goals. The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years. It is not yet clear if any conditions have been placed on her release.

US President Barack Obama welcomed her release as "long overdue". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Ms Suu Kyi was an "inspiration", and called on Burma to free all its remaining political prisoners. Ms Suu Kyi, 65, was freed after her latest period of house arrest expired and was not renewed by the military government. Her release comes six days after the political party supported by the military won the country's first election in 20 years. The ballot was widely condemned as a sham.



The ecstatic crowd swelled to three or four thousand before Ms Suu Kyi, in a traditional lilac dress, finally appeared, about 30 minutes later, on a platform behind the gate of her compound. She took a flower from someone in the crowd and placed it in her hair. Ms Suu Kyi then tried to speak, but was drowned out by the noise of the crowd, many singing the national anthem and chanting her name repeatedly.

"I have to give you the first political lesson since my release. We haven't seen each other for so long, so we have many things to talk about. If you have any words for me, please come to the [NLD] headquarters tomorrow and we can talk then and I'll use a loud speaker," she joked. "There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk," she added. "People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal."

She then went back inside her home for the first meeting with NLD leaders in seven years. She also spoke to her youngest son, Kim Aris, who was awaiting her release in neighbouring Thailand. Ms Suu Kyi had two sons with late husband, British scholar Michael Aris.


Buddist Monks protesting in 2007

During her early years of detention, she was often in solitary confinement. She was not allowed to see her two sons or her husband, who died of cancer in March 1999. The military authorities offered to allow her to travel to the UK to see him when he was gravely ill, but she felt compelled to refuse for fear she would not be allowed back into the country. She has grandchildren she has never met.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the country's independence hero, General Aung San. He was assassinated during the transition period in July 1947, just six months before independence. Aung San Suu Kyi was only two years old at the time. In 1960 she went to India with her mother Daw Khin Kyi, who had been appointed Burma's ambassador to Delhi. Four years later she went to Oxford University in the UK, where she studied philosophy, politics and economics. There she met her future husband, academic Michael Aris.


Suu Kyi as a child with her father General Aung San and mother Daw Khin Kyi

After stints of living and working in Japan and Bhutan, she settled down to be an English don's housewife in Oxford and raise their two children, Alexander and Kim. But Burma was never far from her thoughts. When she arrived back in Rangoon in 1988 - to look after her critically ill mother - Burma was in the midst of major political upheaval.

Thousands of students, office workers and monks took to the streets demanding democratic reform. "I could not, as my father's daughter remain indifferent to all that was going on," she said in a speech in Rangoon on 26 August 1988. Ms Suu Kyi was soon propelled into leading the revolt against the then-dictator, General Ne Win. Inspired by the non-violent campaigns of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King and India's Mahatma Gandhi, she organised rallies and travelled around the country, calling for peaceful democratic reform and free elections.



But the demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the army, who seized power in a coup on 18 September 1988. The military government called national elections in May 1990. Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD convincingly won the polls, despite the fact that she herself was under house arrest and disqualified from standing. But the junta refused to hand over control, and has remained in power ever since.

Less than a week ago, Myanmar's military party swept the country’s first elections in more than 20 years amid heavy criticism and allegations of widespread fraud. As a result, thousands are fleeing the region as violence erupts.




In a famous speech given to the National League for Democracy Suu Kyi brought the concepts of Mahatma Gandhi into clear focus when she said:

“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it… Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavour, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one’s actions, courage that could be described as ‘grace under pressure’ – grace which is renewed repeatedly in the face of harsh, unremitting pressure….

Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure.

A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man’s self-respect and inherent human dignity.


Suu Kyi under house arrest in her family's lakeside villa on University Road, Rangoon

It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.

The wellspring of courage and endurance in the face of unbridled power is generally a firm belief in the sanctity of ethical principles combined with a historical sense that despite all the setbacks condition of man is set on an ultimate course for both spiritual and material advancement. It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute.

At the root of human responsibility is the concept of perfection, the urge to achieve it, the intelligence to find a path towards it, and the will to follow that path if not to the end at least the distance needed to rise above individual limitations and environmental impediments.

It is man’s vision of a world fit for rational, civilized humanity which leads him to dare and to suffer to build societies free from want and fear. It is man’s vision of a world fit for rational, civilized humanity which leads him to dare and to suffer to build societies free from want and fear.

Concepts such as truth, justice and compassion cannot be dismissed as trite when these are often the only bulwarks which stand against ruthless power.”

Let us not forget that the military junta which imprisons the Burmese People, has squandered a fortune on building a make believe “Capital” in the jungle and which enriches itself and its families whilst keeping the people in poverty has over 2,100 political prisoners rotting in its squalid jails. As Daw Suu Kyi has said;



"The release of political prisoners is the most important thing for all those who truly wish to bring about change in Burma."

So let us not let the loathsome Military Junta which still rules Burma off the hook – there is still a long road to travel before the Burmese people enjoy freedom and an economy which meets their needs and aspirations. Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San, would have been the first leader of Independent Burma if he was not assassinated in 1947. Daw Suu Kyi is the democratically elected leader of the Burmese people with her National League for Democracy having convincingly won the 1990 General election. She was denied the fruits of victory by the successors of those who killed her father. By the brave leadership of an “Army” which has only ever fought against and killed its own people. By sham generals with sham medals who have set up an oppressive kleptocracy which flogs off Burma’s natural resources to China, India and others to fatten themselves and their families whilst running Burma with spectacular incompetence.

The struggle is only beginning. Let us say it loud, let us say it clear; Aung San Suu Kyi will only be free when Burma and its long suffering people are free of the Goon Squad Junta. The struggle continues.


Daw Suu Kyi

Born 1945, daughter of Burma's independence hero, General Aung San, assassinated in 1947

1960: Leaves Burma and is later educated at Oxford University

1988: Returns to care for sick mother and is caught up in revolt against then-dictator Ne Win

1989: Put under house arrest as Burma junta declares martial law

1990: NLD wins election; military disregards result

1991: Wins Nobel Peace Prize

1995: Released from house arrest, but movements restricted

1999: Her husband Michael Aris died of cancer in the UK, she could not visit him for fear of being exiled

2000: Near continuous period of house arrest begins

Sept 2007: First public appearance since 2003, greeting protesting Buddhist monks

November 2010: NLD boycotts first election in 20 years and is disbanded; House arrest ends

Radios for Burma from Amnesty International on Vimeo.

Suu Kyi will be free only when Burma is free

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Let us not have any false optimism about Burma now that Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been “released” from house arrest. Suu Kyi will only be free when Burma and its long suffering people are free. The Burmese military authorities have released the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest. Appearing outside her home in Rangoon, Ms Suu Kyi told thousands of jubilant supporters they had to "work in unison" to achieve their goals. The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years. It is not yet clear if any conditions have been placed on her release.

US President Barack Obama welcomed her release as "long overdue". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Ms Suu Kyi was an "inspiration", and called on Burma to free all its remaining political prisoners. Ms Suu Kyi, 65, was freed after her latest period of house arrest expired and was not renewed by the military government. Her release comes six days after the political party supported by the military won the country's first election in 20 years. The ballot was widely condemned as a sham.



The ecstatic crowd swelled to three or four thousand before Ms Suu Kyi, in a traditional lilac dress, finally appeared, about 30 minutes later, on a platform behind the gate of her compound. She took a flower from someone in the crowd and placed it in her hair. Ms Suu Kyi then tried to speak, but was drowned out by the noise of the crowd, many singing the national anthem and chanting her name repeatedly.

"I have to give you the first political lesson since my release. We haven't seen each other for so long, so we have many things to talk about. If you have any words for me, please come to the [NLD] headquarters tomorrow and we can talk then and I'll use a loud speaker," she joked. "There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk," she added. "People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal."

She then went back inside her home for the first meeting with NLD leaders in seven years. She also spoke to her youngest son, Kim Aris, who was awaiting her release in neighbouring Thailand. Ms Suu Kyi had two sons with late husband, British scholar Michael Aris.


Buddist Monks protesting in 2007

During her early years of detention, she was often in solitary confinement. She was not allowed to see her two sons or her husband, who died of cancer in March 1999. The military authorities offered to allow her to travel to the UK to see him when he was gravely ill, but she felt compelled to refuse for fear she would not be allowed back into the country. She has grandchildren she has never met.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the country's independence hero, General Aung San. He was assassinated during the transition period in July 1947, just six months before independence. Aung San Suu Kyi was only two years old at the time. In 1960 she went to India with her mother Daw Khin Kyi, who had been appointed Burma's ambassador to Delhi. Four years later she went to Oxford University in the UK, where she studied philosophy, politics and economics. There she met her future husband, academic Michael Aris.


Suu Kyi as a child with her father General Aung San and mother Daw Khin Kyi

After stints of living and working in Japan and Bhutan, she settled down to be an English don's housewife in Oxford and raise their two children, Alexander and Kim. But Burma was never far from her thoughts. When she arrived back in Rangoon in 1988 - to look after her critically ill mother - Burma was in the midst of major political upheaval.

Thousands of students, office workers and monks took to the streets demanding democratic reform. "I could not, as my father's daughter remain indifferent to all that was going on," she said in a speech in Rangoon on 26 August 1988. Ms Suu Kyi was soon propelled into leading the revolt against the then-dictator, General Ne Win. Inspired by the non-violent campaigns of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King and India's Mahatma Gandhi, she organised rallies and travelled around the country, calling for peaceful democratic reform and free elections.



But the demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the army, who seized power in a coup on 18 September 1988. The military government called national elections in May 1990. Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD convincingly won the polls, despite the fact that she herself was under house arrest and disqualified from standing. But the junta refused to hand over control, and has remained in power ever since.

Less than a week ago, Myanmar's military party swept the country’s first elections in more than 20 years amid heavy criticism and allegations of widespread fraud. As a result, thousands are fleeing the region as violence erupts.




In a famous speech given to the National League for Democracy Suu Kyi brought the concepts of Mahatma Gandhi into clear focus when she said:

“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it… Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavour, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one’s actions, courage that could be described as ‘grace under pressure’ – grace which is renewed repeatedly in the face of harsh, unremitting pressure….

Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure.

A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man’s self-respect and inherent human dignity.


Suu Kyi under house arrest in her family's lakeside villa on University Road, Rangoon

It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.

The wellspring of courage and endurance in the face of unbridled power is generally a firm belief in the sanctity of ethical principles combined with a historical sense that despite all the setbacks condition of man is set on an ultimate course for both spiritual and material advancement. It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute.

At the root of human responsibility is the concept of perfection, the urge to achieve it, the intelligence to find a path towards it, and the will to follow that path if not to the end at least the distance needed to rise above individual limitations and environmental impediments.

It is man’s vision of a world fit for rational, civilized humanity which leads him to dare and to suffer to build societies free from want and fear. It is man’s vision of a world fit for rational, civilized humanity which leads him to dare and to suffer to build societies free from want and fear.

Concepts such as truth, justice and compassion cannot be dismissed as trite when these are often the only bulwarks which stand against ruthless power.”

Let us not forget that the military junta which imprisons the Burmese People, has squandered a fortune on building a make believe “Capital” in the jungle and which enriches itself and its families whilst keeping the people in poverty has over 2,100 political prisoners rotting in its squalid jails. As Daw Suu Kyi has said;



"The release of political prisoners is the most important thing for all those who truly wish to bring about change in Burma."

So let us not let the loathsome Military Junta which still rules Burma off the hook – there is still a long road to travel before the Burmese people enjoy freedom and an economy which meets their needs and aspirations. Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San, would have been the first leader of Independent Burma if he was not assassinated in 1947. Daw Suu Kyi is the democratically elected leader of the Burmese people with her National League for Democracy having convincingly won the 1990 General election. She was denied the fruits of victory by the successors of those who killed her father. By the brave leadership of an “Army” which has only ever fought against and killed its own people. By sham generals with sham medals who have set up an oppressive kleptocracy which flogs off Burma’s natural resources to China, India and others to fatten themselves and their families whilst running Burma with spectacular incompetence.

The struggle is only beginning. Let us say it loud, let us say it clear; Aung San Suu Kyi will only be free when Burma and its long suffering people are free of the Goon Squad Junta. The struggle continues.


Daw Suu Kyi

Born 1945, daughter of Burma's independence hero, General Aung San, assassinated in 1947

1960: Leaves Burma and is later educated at Oxford University

1988: Returns to care for sick mother and is caught up in revolt against then-dictator Ne Win

1989: Put under house arrest as Burma junta declares martial law

1990: NLD wins election; military disregards result

1991: Wins Nobel Peace Prize

1995: Released from house arrest, but movements restricted

1999: Her husband Michael Aris died of cancer in the UK, she could not visit him for fear of being exiled

2000: Near continuous period of house arrest begins

Sept 2007: First public appearance since 2003, greeting protesting Buddhist monks

November 2010: NLD boycotts first election in 20 years and is disbanded; House arrest ends

Radios for Burma from Amnesty International on Vimeo.

The "darkest hell-hole in Burma"‏

Activists with a birthday cake for Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi marks her 65th birthday on Saturday under house arrest as activists hold protests around the globe and world leaders call for the ruling junta to free her. US President Barack Obama on Friday called on the Myanmar regime to free Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a message sending best wishes for her 65th birthday. Obama hailed the Myanmar opposition leader's "determination, courage, and personal sacrifice in working for human rights and democratic change" as she marks her birthday Saturday under house arrest in Yangon.

Her integrity and commitment to non violence and the people of Burma contrasts with the ugliness of the regime of General Than Shwe and his fellow Military Goons who run the country as a personal kleptocracy as the steal the birthright and hope of the Burmese people.

The military regime has kept Suu Kyi in detention for almost 15 years and she has been barred from running in upcoming elections that critics have denounced as a sham aimed at entrenching the generals' power. Even so, the woman known in Myanmar simply as "The Lady" remains the most powerful symbol of freedom in a country where the army rules with an iron fist.


Monks protesting

The opposition leader is expected to spend a quiet day at her dilapidated lakeside mansion, where she lives with two female assistants, cut off from the outside world without telephone or Internet access. Her supporters plan to throw a small party at one of their houses in northern Yangon in her absence. Members of her National League for Democracy are planting about 20,000 saplings around Myanmar to mark her birthday and plan to send spicy food to her home to share with workers doing renovations. "We believe Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's political spirit will keep growing as long as the trees grow," said lawyer Aung Thein, an active NLD figure. "Daw" is a term of respect in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.


Shoes abandoned by protestors as they fled

Suu Kyi's party won the last vote in 1990 but was never allowed to take office. A UN working group this week pronounced her detention a breach of international human rights law, prompting new calls for her release.

"I wish to convey my best wishes to Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate, on the occasion of her 65th birthday on June 19," Obama said in his message. "I once again call on the Burmese government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and to allow them to build a more stable, prosperous Burma that respects the rights of all its citizens."

Amnesty International USA reports;

“Aung San Suu Kyi's last birthday was spent in the infamous Insein (pronounced "insane") prison – notorious for its foul conditions and unrelenting use of torture. Today, more than 2,100 political prisoners are being held in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), many of whom are hidden away in the prison's darkest corners.


Insein prison

But in Honour of Suu Kyi's 65th birthday on June 19th, we're doing all we can to fill those corners with light and expose Myanmar's treatment of political dissents for what it really is…insane. Help drive our ongoing work to protect human rights in Myanmar. Less than a month ago, a youth member of the former National League for Democracy, the political party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, had his sentence in Insein prison extended by 10 years. Life without human rights is insane. His original offence - distributing a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi.


General Than Shye Leader of the Goon Squad

This blatant manipulation of laws and outright injustice has got to stop. We've fought tirelessly on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi for the past 2 decades and such abuse of human rights only fuels our desire to bring violators to justice once and for all. Our team of researchers and experts are observing Myanmar closely and reporting back whenever there are new developments and opportunities for action. And given that national elections are planned for later this year, our teams are remaining particularly vigilant to ensure that no person is improperly detained during election-related crackdowns without setting off major alarms across the human rights spectrum. But we need your help. This kind of in-depth reporting is done by few, but requires resources and the support of many.

Please say that you'll join the fight to protect political dissidents in Myanmar. Stand with us as we stand with Suu Kyi and the more than 2,100 political prisoners in Myanmar. Let Myanmar's government know that a light still shines for human rights even in the darkest corners.”

www.amnestyusa.org

Stand with Aung San Suu Kyi

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/06/stand-with-aung-san-suu-kyi.html

The "darkest hell-hole in Burma"‏

Activists with a birthday cake for Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi marks her 65th birthday on Saturday under house arrest as activists hold protests around the globe and world leaders call for the ruling junta to free her. US President Barack Obama on Friday called on the Myanmar regime to free Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a message sending best wishes for her 65th birthday. Obama hailed the Myanmar opposition leader's "determination, courage, and personal sacrifice in working for human rights and democratic change" as she marks her birthday Saturday under house arrest in Yangon.

Her integrity and commitment to non violence and the people of Burma contrasts with the ugliness of the regime of General Than Shwe and his fellow Military Goons who run the country as a personal kleptocracy as the steal the birthright and hope of the Burmese people.

The military regime has kept Suu Kyi in detention for almost 15 years and she has been barred from running in upcoming elections that critics have denounced as a sham aimed at entrenching the generals' power. Even so, the woman known in Myanmar simply as "The Lady" remains the most powerful symbol of freedom in a country where the army rules with an iron fist.


Monks protesting

The opposition leader is expected to spend a quiet day at her dilapidated lakeside mansion, where she lives with two female assistants, cut off from the outside world without telephone or Internet access. Her supporters plan to throw a small party at one of their houses in northern Yangon in her absence. Members of her National League for Democracy are planting about 20,000 saplings around Myanmar to mark her birthday and plan to send spicy food to her home to share with workers doing renovations. "We believe Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's political spirit will keep growing as long as the trees grow," said lawyer Aung Thein, an active NLD figure. "Daw" is a term of respect in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.


Shoes abandoned by protestors as they fled

Suu Kyi's party won the last vote in 1990 but was never allowed to take office. A UN working group this week pronounced her detention a breach of international human rights law, prompting new calls for her release.

"I wish to convey my best wishes to Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate, on the occasion of her 65th birthday on June 19," Obama said in his message. "I once again call on the Burmese government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and to allow them to build a more stable, prosperous Burma that respects the rights of all its citizens."

Amnesty International USA reports;

“Aung San Suu Kyi's last birthday was spent in the infamous Insein (pronounced "insane") prison – notorious for its foul conditions and unrelenting use of torture. Today, more than 2,100 political prisoners are being held in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), many of whom are hidden away in the prison's darkest corners.


Insein prison

But in Honour of Suu Kyi's 65th birthday on June 19th, we're doing all we can to fill those corners with light and expose Myanmar's treatment of political dissents for what it really is…insane. Help drive our ongoing work to protect human rights in Myanmar. Less than a month ago, a youth member of the former National League for Democracy, the political party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, had his sentence in Insein prison extended by 10 years. Life without human rights is insane. His original offence - distributing a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi.


General Than Shye Leader of the Goon Squad

This blatant manipulation of laws and outright injustice has got to stop. We've fought tirelessly on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi for the past 2 decades and such abuse of human rights only fuels our desire to bring violators to justice once and for all. Our team of researchers and experts are observing Myanmar closely and reporting back whenever there are new developments and opportunities for action. And given that national elections are planned for later this year, our teams are remaining particularly vigilant to ensure that no person is improperly detained during election-related crackdowns without setting off major alarms across the human rights spectrum. But we need your help. This kind of in-depth reporting is done by few, but requires resources and the support of many.

Please say that you'll join the fight to protect political dissidents in Myanmar. Stand with us as we stand with Suu Kyi and the more than 2,100 political prisoners in Myanmar. Let Myanmar's government know that a light still shines for human rights even in the darkest corners.”

www.amnestyusa.org

Stand with Aung San Suu Kyi

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/06/stand-with-aung-san-suu-kyi.html

Stand with Aung San Suu Kyi‏

Next Saturday 19th June will be the 65th birthday of Burma's jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. As has been the case for much of her life, the brave freedom fighter and Nobel Peace Laureate will be allowed no celebrations or contact with her loved ones.

Tension builds once again as Myanmar prepares for its elections. Many fear that widespread arrests and detainment will result from election-related crackdowns. Moreover, contributing to the anxiety is the anticipated release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest for nearly 15 years.


Aung San Suu Kyi addressing supporters before her arrest

But Suu Kyi has been close to completing her sentence before. Just last year, as she neared her release date, she was found guilty of allowing an uninvited American man to stay at her home after he strapped homemade flippers to his feet and swam across a lake bordering her house. Authorities sentenced her to 18 more months of detention - meaning that she would not be released until after Myanmar's elections were completed. These arbitrary sentences just won't do. Demand that Aung San Suu Kyi be released immediately and unconditionally.

Earlier this year, Suu Kyi's party, National League for Democracy (NLD), was dissolved for refusing to re-register as a political party, a move that would have forced it to expel its own leader because she is serving a prison term.

It is painfully obvious that Myanmar's government is doing all it can to box Suu Kyi and her supporters into a corner. Her very existence challenges the military's authority because she inspires the people of Myanmar to believe. More than ever, it's up to us to stand united.


General Than Shwe - Leader of the Myanmar Dictatorship

When news about one of the most iconic and revered leaders of our time breaks, whatever the outcome, we need to be able to call on you to stand with Aung San Suu Kyi and stand up for human rights.

The biggest tragedy of all is that Aung San Suu Kyi should have never been arrested in the first place. Her punishment is politically motivated and is an outright violation of international law. But as long as we continue to carry the torch for Aung San Suu Kyi, then Myanmar's junta can't touch us. Help light the way for the people of Myanmar.




Sign the Amnesty International petition to release Aung San Suu Kyi;

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=12656&ICID=I1006A03&tr=y&auid=6491139

See also;

Denounce Aung San Suu Kyi’s imprisonment;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/08/denounce-aung-san-suu-kyis-imprisonment.html

This video “Burma VJ” exposes the atrocities and injustices that have been taking place under the junta's unbending rule. In the film the undercover network of VJs (video journalists) record the appalling treatment of the Burmese citizens and monks which caused a global uproar during the recent uprising. The VJs risk torture, imprisonment and even death in their quest to report what is going on in their closed country.

Stand with Aung San Suu Kyi‏

Next Saturday 19th June will be the 65th birthday of Burma's jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. As has been the case for much of her life, the brave freedom fighter and Nobel Peace Laureate will be allowed no celebrations or contact with her loved ones.

Tension builds once again as Myanmar prepares for its elections. Many fear that widespread arrests and detainment will result from election-related crackdowns. Moreover, contributing to the anxiety is the anticipated release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest for nearly 15 years.


Aung San Suu Kyi addressing supporters before her arrest

But Suu Kyi has been close to completing her sentence before. Just last year, as she neared her release date, she was found guilty of allowing an uninvited American man to stay at her home after he strapped homemade flippers to his feet and swam across a lake bordering her house. Authorities sentenced her to 18 more months of detention - meaning that she would not be released until after Myanmar's elections were completed. These arbitrary sentences just won't do. Demand that Aung San Suu Kyi be released immediately and unconditionally.

Earlier this year, Suu Kyi's party, National League for Democracy (NLD), was dissolved for refusing to re-register as a political party, a move that would have forced it to expel its own leader because she is serving a prison term.

It is painfully obvious that Myanmar's government is doing all it can to box Suu Kyi and her supporters into a corner. Her very existence challenges the military's authority because she inspires the people of Myanmar to believe. More than ever, it's up to us to stand united.


General Than Shwe - Leader of the Myanmar Dictatorship

When news about one of the most iconic and revered leaders of our time breaks, whatever the outcome, we need to be able to call on you to stand with Aung San Suu Kyi and stand up for human rights.

The biggest tragedy of all is that Aung San Suu Kyi should have never been arrested in the first place. Her punishment is politically motivated and is an outright violation of international law. But as long as we continue to carry the torch for Aung San Suu Kyi, then Myanmar's junta can't touch us. Help light the way for the people of Myanmar.




Sign the Amnesty International petition to release Aung San Suu Kyi;

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=12656&ICID=I1006A03&tr=y&auid=6491139

See also;

Denounce Aung San Suu Kyi’s imprisonment;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/08/denounce-aung-san-suu-kyis-imprisonment.html

This video “Burma VJ” exposes the atrocities and injustices that have been taking place under the junta's unbending rule. In the film the undercover network of VJs (video journalists) record the appalling treatment of the Burmese citizens and monks which caused a global uproar during the recent uprising. The VJs risk torture, imprisonment and even death in their quest to report what is going on in their closed country.

Stop Iranian Executions

On Monday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed to deliver a "punch in the mouth" to those who might exercise their right to peaceful dissent today during Iran’s national holiday. But a "punch" is a far cry from the two executions recently carried out for the same reasons. Don’t let Iran execute any more people for expressing their dissenting views!

Today during Iran's Victory of the Revolution Day, when words like "revolution", "independence" and "freedom" are on everyone's lips, fears of torture, repression and death still remain.


Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

The shock is still very much palpable over the two horrific hangings that took place in Iran just weeks ago. The two hanged men became the "fall guys" for the post-Presidential election violence that consumed the streets of Iran last summer. This happened despite the fact that the accused men were nowhere near the widespread demonstrations – they were already in prison!

Now fear mounts again that 9 more men will hang based on similarly outrageous charges. Help focus Iran's attention on its real problem. Urge Iran to stop the executions!

Amnesty International has stated;

“Today as Iranians pour onto the streets once again by the thousands we can't help but fear that their fate may be the same. They are Iranian citizens who gather to peacefully protest and demonstrate against the actions of their own government. But they are corralled like cattle, beaten back with sticks and even dragged away to cages.

But even Iran must answer to someone for these human rights abuses. On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Council will conduct an in-depth review of Iran's human rights record and recommend concrete actions to improve its standing. Even Iran, known to be strongly resistant to external parties investigating these issues, has called the Council the most competent body in dealing with human rights.

Amnesty's researchers have recommended to the Council that they include the following points in their final review of Iran's human rights record:



• Halt all executions of juvenile offenders

• End the use of indefinite prison sentences, torture and other forms of ill-treatment in detention

• Prohibit the executive use of excessive force by riot police and Basij paramilitaries

• Most importantly, we ask that Iranian authorities finally allow independent investigators into the country to observe and report on torture and other human rights abuses directly.

To date, we've relied on the brave reporting being done by citizens in Iran to give us this information. Despite the best efforts of their government to clamp down on all media and communications carrying these stories – even the most recent banning of Google's email service, Gmail – they manage to break through.

We especially can't shake the eerie memory of Neda, a young woman whose brutal death during last summer's demonstrations was captured on video and shared on YouTube – stunning and saddening viewers by the millions.

As we expected, once again YouTube videos, messages on Twitter and Blogs from those participating in today's demonstrations are surfacing – telling the true stories of what's happening on the streets of Iran. Remember that today we're counting on you to help us raise the voice of those calling for freedom and justice in Iran by showing your support online. All your messages, Blogs, videos and emails are helping to build a stronger case against Iran's human rights record. And Iran will have to answer for it one day very soon.



Nine people are at imminent risk of being executed for their alleged involvement in the post-June 12 election protests in Iran. The nine were convicted of "Moharebeh" (enmity with God) after unfair trials that did not adhere to international standards; it is believed the nine were coerced into making confessions. The names of two of the people are known: Naser Abdolhasani and Reza Kazemi.

Judging from reports that have appeared in Iranian media, the "evidence" against the convicted individuals is very tenuous. They have been accused of vague crimes such as assembly and conspiracy to commit crimes against national security, insulting top government officials, and propaganda against the state.



The fear of their execution is heightened since two men; Mohammad Reza Ali-Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour were hanged in public on January 28 after being convicted in unfair trials of "Moharebeh" and being members of Anjoman-e Padeshahi-e Iran (API), a banned group which advocates the restoration of the Iranian monarchy. They were in detention prior to June 12.

Hardline cleric and member of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Ali Jonati welcomed these executions. Given his prominent position amongst the ruling elite’s "hardliner" faction, his statement is interpreted as a green light for further political executions. He explicitly stated that if widespread executions had taken place following the post- election unrest, the protests would not have lasted so long.”