Aung San Suu Kyi

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Image:Aung San Suu Kyi.jpg

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (Image:Bscript aungsansuukyi.png; born June 19, 1945 in Rangoon, now known as Yangon) is a nonviolent pro-democracy activist in Burma, now known as Myanmar. In 1990 the devout Buddhist won the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. In 1991 she won the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a repressive military regime.

A famous quote of hers was: "It's not bravery. It's a question of doing what you have to do. You can go ahead with what you're doing or you can run away."

One of her most famous speeches is the Freedom From Fear speech which begins:

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.

Contents 1 Political influences 2 Detention in Myanmar 2.1 International supporters 3 External links

Political influences

Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of Khin Kyi (a prominent Burmese diplomat) and General Aung San, who negotiated Burma's independence from the United Kingdom in 1947 and was assassinated by rivals in the same year. She studied at Oxford in the United Kingdom and at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. While in England, Aung San Suu Kyi met and married Michael Aris, a scholar of Tibetan culture. They had two sons, Alexander and Kim.

Suu Kyi returned to Myanmar in 1988 to care for her ailing mother. In that year, the long-time leader of the socialist ruling party, General Ne Win, stepped down, leading to mass demonstrations for democratisation, which were violently suppressed. A new military junta took power.

Heavily influenced by Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence, Aung San Suu Kyi entered politics to work for democratisation, helped found the National League for Democracy on September 27, 1988, and was put under house arrest in 1989. She was offered freedom if she would leave the country, but she refused.

Detention in Myanmar

In 1990, the military junta called general elections, which the National League for Democracy won decisively. Under normal circumstances, she would have assumed the office of Prime Minister. Instead the results were nullified, and the military refused to hand over power. This resulted in an international outcry and partly led to Suu Kyi winning the Sakharov Prize that year and the Nobel Peace Prize in the following one. She used the Nobel Peace Prize's US$1.3 million prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people.

She was released from house arrest in July 1995, although it was made clear that if she left the country to visit her family in the United Kingdom, she would be denied re-entry. When her husband Michael Aris, a British citizen, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997, the Burmese government denied him an entry visa. Aung remained in Burma, and never saw her husband again. He died in March 1999. She remains separated from their children, who remain in the UK.

She was repeatedly prevented from meeting with her party supporters, and in September 2000 was again put under house arrest. On May 6, 2002, following secret confidence-building negotiations led by the United Nations, she was released; a government spokesman said that she was free to move "because we are confident that we can trust each other." Aung San Suu Kyi proclaimed "a new dawn for the country." However on May 30, 2003, her caravan was attacked in the northern village of Depayin by a government sponsored mob, murdering and wounding many of her supporters. Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene with the help of her driver, Ko Kyaw Soe Lin, but was arrested upon reaching Ye-U. She was imprisoned at Insein Prison in Yangôn. After a surgical operation in September 2003, she was again placed under house arrest in Yangôn.

International supporters

On December 2, 2004, the United States pressured the Myanmar government to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after an announcement that her house arrest would be extended. (BBC)

On June 17, 2005, several countries from around the world held protests outside Myanmar embassies, in recognition of Suu Kyi's 60th birthday, which took place on June 19, 2005. The protests received international attention.

In 2001, Irish rock band U2 released the single "Walk On", which was written about and dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi. "Walk On" was banned by the Junta. During concerts in London and Glasgow (June 19 and June 21 2005 respectively) U2 dedicated performances of "Running to Stand Still" to Aung San Suu Kyi. Other artists such as Coldplay, R.E.M., and Damien Rice have also been publicly supportive of Aung San Suu Kyi's cause.

She is featured prominently in John Boorman's 1995 film Beyond Rangoon, starring Patricia Arquette.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been an honorary board member of International IDEA and ARTICLE 19 since her detention, and has received support from these organizations.

External links

• The Burma Campaign UK Home Page
• An extensive story of her life
• Sunday Herald article about her ongoing detention
• Nobel Prize press release
• Homepage made by supporters from the Free Burma Coalition
• "Freed Burmese Democracy Leader Proclaims 'New Dawn'" by Seth Mydans, for The New York Times, May 7 2002, A3 (only abstract available)
• On the role of Buddhist meditation and contemplation in Aung San Suu Kyi's politics
• Nobel Laureates Call for Suu Kyi's Release - IFEX
• Damien Rice's page promoting his effort to have Aung San Suu Kyi released and also promoting the CD single Unplayed Piano by Rice and fellow singer Lisa Hannigan
• US Campaign for Burma Well known and established organization dedicated to the freedom of Burma and their democratic activists
• ARTICLE 19 Campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi