"The Lady" Will Be Detained For Another Year!

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Jamila

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The woman that Bono has expressed his DEEPEST respect and admiration for (Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma) has just had her detention extended by the ILLEGAL government of Burma!

Here is the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4475202.stm


Sunday, 27 November 2005, 09:02 GMT


Burma 'extends Suu Kyi detention'

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 15 years under arrest
Burmese pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi had her house arrest extended for another 12 months, sources within the country's military government say.

Officials visited her home for a short time to read out a notice informing her of the decision, reports say.

The decision was widely expected following a similar 12 month order issued last November.

Ms Suu Kyi, 60, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been under house arrest since May 2003.

Under the terms of her house arrest, Ms Suu Kyi is routinely denied visitors and not allowed to use the telephone.

No reform

A spokesman for Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy could not immediately confirm whether the house arrest had been extended.

However, U Lwin told the Associated Press news agency that the date was right for another extension.


"The whole world has been calling for release of Suu Kyi, but the government has not been responding to any of the calls," he added.

The BBC's Kylie Morris in Bangkok says that neither the isolation policies of the US and Britain nor the attitude of engagement by neighbouring south east Asian nations appear to be having much effect in spurring the military government on to real political reform.

Ms Suu Kyi has spent 10 of the past 15 years under house arrest or in prison since returning to Burma from the UK.

Her party won a landslide victory in the country's first multi-party elections, in 1990, but Burma's ruling military junta did not allow the result to stand.

They had come to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy uprising.

------------------------------------------

AUNG SAN SUU KYI
1990: National League for Democracy (NLD) wins general election while Suu Kyi under house arrest; military does not recognise the result
1991: Wins Nobel Peace Prize
1995: Released from house arrest, but movements restricted
2000-02: Second period of house arrest
May 2003: Detained after clash between NLD and government forces
Sep 2003 Allowed home after operation, but under effective house arrest

--------------------------------------------

Since the Elevation tour and Bono's dedication of the song "Walk On" to her, Aung San Suu Kyi has largely been forgotten by all but her most dedicated followers worldwide.

I want to change that.

Aung San Suu Kyi is as HEROIC, COURAGEOUS and ADMIRABLE as Nelson Mandela.

She is a beautiful woman with a poet's heart and with a burning desire for freedom and equality for the Burmese people.

PLEASE HELP HER!

I will post later various websites that you can go to to GET INVOLVED in the struggle to FREE AUNG SAN SUU KYI and restore her to her legally elected post as head of the Burmese government.

Thank you for your concern.

:hug:
 
While I strongly support, and have some involvement in the campaign to free Suu Kyi, I have always wished more attention would be focused on getting out the word about the horrific crimes of Burma's regime more generally. In the case of Mandela, this was not necessary, as the rest of the world was well aware of apartheid and its crimes. Not so in the case of Burma, making it less obvious than it should be why it is so important that Suu Kyi be freed and her party allowed to take its rightful elected place. She herself has more than once refused offers from the junta to go free, so long as she promises to keep her mouth shut and stay out of politics--something she will not do.

From Human Rights Watch:
Burma remains one of the most repressive countries in the world, despite promises for political reform and national reconciliation by its authoritarian military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The SPDC restricts the basic rights and freedoms of all Burmese. It continues to attack and harass supporters of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, still under house arrest at this writing, and the political movement she represents (NLD). It also continues to use internationally outlawed tactics in ongoing conflicts with ethnic minority rebel groups.

Burma has more child soldiers than any other country in the world, accounting for approximately one-fourth of the 300,000 children currently believed to be participating in armed conflicts across the globe. A 2002 investigation by Human Rights Watch found that as many as seventy thousand children under the age of eighteen may be serving in Burma’s national armed forces. Burma is believed to have an estimated 350,000 soldiers in its national army. Armed opposition groups in Burma also recruit child soldiers, although on a much smaller scale. Human Rights Watch documented the use of child soldiers by nineteen different opposition groups.

The SPDC’s eight-year campaign of forcibly relocating minority ethnic groups has destroyed nearly three thousand villages, particularly in areas of active ethnic insurgency and areas targeted for economic development. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic minorities have been forced into as many as 200 internment centers, and those who have passed through these sites report widepwread forced labor, extrajudicial executions, rape, and torture committed by government troops.

Local and international nongovernmental organizations have documented widespread and continuing sexual violence against ethnic women by the military in Burma, including new reports by the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) and the Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) in 2004. The KWO documented 125 cases of sexual violence committed by the SPDC's military troops in Karen State from 1988 until 2004, half committed by high-ranking military officers. According to this report, 40 percent of the cases were gang rapes. In 28 percent, women were raped and then killed. Abuses included rape of women and girls, gang rapes, murder, sexual slavery, and forced marriage. The SPDC has denied the findings of these reports, and women’s organizations have reported intimidation of survivors and witnesses.

In 2002, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported there were approximately 3,500 “security detainees” in Burma. Of these, at least 1,300 were believed to be political prisoners, including elected members of parliament. Most, if not all, were arbitrarily arrested for exercising their freedoms of opinion and expression. The right to a fair trial, including the right to access a lawyer, continues to be denied to most detainees, in particular those accused of political dissent. Torture and mistreatment of detainees is common, especially during pre-trial detention in military intelligence interrogation centers. Authorities continue to extend the detention of political prisoners who have served their prison sentences by placing them under “administrative detention.” This practice is used even with elderly and infirm prisoners.

There are an estimated one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Burma, and several hundred thousand Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, and especially neighboring Thailand. The Burmese government has refused international access to areas of ongoing conflict, cutting off humanitarian assistance to IDPs in violation of international humanitarian law.

The sudden ouster of Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt, viewed as a relative moderate, in October 2004 further diminished hopes for reform. The ousted prime minister and military intelligence chief had been willing to engage with Aung San Suu Kyi to break the political stalemate. Lieutenant General Soe Win, who was named Burma’s prime minister after the dismissal, has stated publicly that “the SPDC not only will not talk to the NLD but also would never hand over power to the NLD.”
 
I agree, U2democrat.

We have even forgotten about her and the plight of the Burmese people generally in this forum.

When repressive governments don't think people around the world care anymore about a person like Aung San Suu Kyi, that's when they feel that they can do whatever they like to her or to the people of their country.

WE have to change that. :up:
 
This sucks. Plus there are so many fucked up regions in this world, both politically and geographically. Sometimes I can appreciate my ignorant friends who don't want to watch the news because it's so depressing. But ignoring problems gets you no where.

But here is a good story, I visit this webblog

http://www.matthewgood.org/mblog/?p=592

which is run by Matt Good, a Canadian musician. Anyway, a few days ago someone left was what pretty much a suicide note and thanks to the actions of Matt and a couple of US soldiers, they got help to the person involved and someone else who was in despair. Very uplifting story. Sometimes the internet is a very powerful tool for good.
 
another sad news form Myanmar..

Italy recently lunched a campaign in favouor of Suu Kyi, but I don't think it's going to work -- especially because no one thought it would have been useful to translate the message of the plea into English or into other languages a part for Italian...
 
Here is some of "The Lady's" poetry:

In The Quiet Land
(By Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)

In the Quiet Land, no one can tell
if there's someone who's listening
for secrets they can sell.
The informers are paid in the blood of the land
and no one dares speak what the tyrants won't stand.

In the quiet land of Burma,
no one laughs and no one thinks out loud.
In the quiet land of Burma,
you can hear it in the silence of the crowd

In the Quiet Land, no one can say
when the soldiers are coming
to carry them away.
The Chinese want a road; the French want the oil;
the Thais take the timber; and SLORC takes the spoils...

In the Quiet Land....
In the Quiet Land, no one can hear
what is silenced by murder
and covered up with fear.
But, despite what is forced, freedom's a sound
that liars can't fake and no shouting can drown.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Very POWERFUL imagery.

You can see how Bono could admire her if only for her vivid use of words.

PLEASE HELP HER - :hug:
 
Here is a link to probably the BEST international group, next to Amnesty International, that is doing advocacy for a free Burma and justice for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi:

http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/




Free Aung San Suu Kyi


On June 19th 2005, Burma's democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, celebrated her 60th birthday. She is now in her tenth year of detention. She isn't allowed to see family or friends as all visitors are banned. Her phone line is cut and her post is intercepted.

Join the global campaign to free Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma.

Aung San Suu Kyi is now serving her third term of house arrest. She was arrested on 30 May, 2003 after the regime's militia attacked her convoy and killed up to 100 of her supporters.

Take action now to help free Aung San Suu Kyi.
-------------------------------------------------------------------


We have to take a stand against this gross violation of human rights."

Chris Martin


Aung San Suu Kyi is a modern icon of moral courage."

Bono

:up:
 
This is the stupidest thing in the world.

Myanmar's Suu Kyi goes on trial
A U.S. official is allowed into the closed proceedings because an American man who swam to the opposition leader's home is being tried too.
Associated Press

May 19, 2009

Yangon, Myanmar — Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi was put on trial behind closed doors Monday, police ringing the prison court to deter supporters who say she is being prosecuted to keep her out of politics.

Despite the closed nature of the trial, a U.S. consular official was allowed in because an American, John William Yettaw, is also a defendant. He prompted the charges against Suu Kyi by swimming to her property and sneaking into her home where she is being held under house arrest.

Suu Kyi, her two companions and Yettaw are being tried together for violating the conditions of her restriction order, which bars visitors without official permission. The offense is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.

The arrest last week of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the last 19 years, reignited criticism of the military junta in Myanmar, also known as Burma, and led to renewed calls by world leaders for her immediate release.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Paris, one of several cities where activists rallied, called Suu Kyi's trial a "scandalous provocation." Demonstrations were planned Monday in about 20 cities, including London, Rome and San Francisco.

Suu Kyi, 63, is currently detained under the State Protection Act, which allows the military regime to hold people without a trial if they are considered a threat, said Aung Din, executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma. The new charges of violating the terms of her house arrest could lead to imprisonment under much harsher conditions.

Suu Kyi was scheduled to be freed May 27 after six years of house arrest, but it had been expected that the military government would try to find reason to hold her, as has happened in the past.

The new charges are widely seen as a pretext to keep Suu Kyi out of elections scheduled for next spring as the culmination of the regime's "road map to democracy," which critics say is an attempt to legitimize continued military control. Many prominent dissidents received long jail terms last year, which could hurt any opposition effort to contest the polls.
 
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