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UPDATE - BURMA
13 June 2007
WiPC protests extension of writer and opposition leader Suu Kyi's detention
for fourth consecutive year
SOURCE: Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), International PEN, London
**Updates IFEX alerts of 8 September, 5 and 3 June 2003**
(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC protests the Burmese authorities' decision to extend Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest for a fourth consecutive year. PEN calls
for the immediate and unconditional release of Suu Kyi and all others
detained in Myanmar in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
According to PEN's information, the military authorities announced on 27
May 2007 that Suu Kyi's detention order was being renewed for another year
and that she was to remain under house arrest. Security around her
residence was tightened following the announcement, and a gathering of her
supporters planned for 28 May was violently dispersed by police. Aung San
Suu Kyi was taken into "protective custody" following violent clashes
between her supporters and those of the government on 30 May 2003, and has
since been held under renewable one-year detention orders.
Suu Kyi, daughter of Burma's independence hero General Aung San, became
leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in September 1988, and in
1991 led the NLD to a landslide election victory which has never been
recognised by the military government. Prior to this she had lived in the
UK for many years, where she raised two sons with her late husband British
academic Michael Aris, who died in March 1999 of cancer. Suu Kyi has spent
a large part of the past 18 years in detention in Rangoon, much of it in
solitary confinement. She was held under de facto house arrest for six
years from July 1989-July 1995, and again from September 2000 until May
2002, when she was released as part of UN-brokered confidential talks
between the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the NLD, which
began in October 2000. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October
1991. She is the author of many books, including Freedom From Fear (1991),
Letters from Burma (1997), The Voice of Hope (1997).
International PEN protests the detention of writer and opposition leader
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who it considers to be detained in violation of
Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We
call upon the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to show its
commitment to political dialogue in Myanmar by securing the immediate and
unconditional release of Suu Kyi and all others detained in Myanmar for the
peaceful expression of their views.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send appeals to authorities:
- protesting the detention of opposition leader and writer Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi
- calling for her immediate and unconditional release
APPEALS TO:
Lieutenant General Thein Sein
Acting Prime Minister
State Peace and Development Council
Ministry of Defence
Signal Pagoda Road
Dagon Post Office
Yangon, Union of Myanmar
Fax: +95 1 652 624
If possible please send a copy of your appeal to the diplomatic
representative for Myanmar/Burma in your country and to the source.
For further information, contact Cathy McCann, e-mail:
cathy.mccann@internationalpen.org.uk, or the WiPC, International PEN,
Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6ER, U.K., tel: +44 207
405 0338, fax: +44 207 405 0339, e-mail: wipc@internationalpen.org.uk,
Internet: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of
WiPC. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
WiPC.
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