Jun 17, 2009
Aung San Suu Kyi may be alone in jail on her 64th birthday on June 19, but the hope and freedom she represents will be very much present in Canada at two planned vigils to show solidarity with the Burmese democracy leader.
Candlelight vigils will be held in Ottawa and Toronto to mark the birthday of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the National League for Democracy political party in Burma.
The Canadian events will be among a host of similar celebrations and other activities around the world honouring Suu Kyi and calling for her release.
Since winning a landslide election victory in 1990, Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years under some form of detention.
She was charged with violating the restriction order under which she was detained after allowing a man who swam uninvited to her lakeside home to stay at her home for two nights in early May.
American John William Yettaw, 53, allegedly swam across Inya Lake to Suu Kyi’s home despite the property and surrounding area being under tight security at all times. He reportedly had wanted to interview Suu Kyi for a book he was writing.
Some observers believe the junta and security personnel were involved in the incident, which occurred shortly before the famous political prisoner was due to be freed following her last six-year term of house arrest, and prior to the junta’s proposed general elections in 2010.
If she is found guilty, Suu Kyi could face up to five years’ imprisonment.
Supporters at the vigils will also recognize the plight of 6,000 Karen refugees who were forced to flee their homes in early June and have been under brutal attack by the Burmese military junta.
“The situation in Burma is very grave at this point,” said Canadian Friends of Burma executive director Tin Maung Htoo in a news release.
“There are a huge number of political prisoners languishing in horrible conditions. As I speak there are many Karen refugees being killed in brutal military raids in Eastern Burma. In Chin state many are still suffering from a famine and in the Cyclone Nargis-affected Irrawaddy delta area thousands are still homeless.”
According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), there are 2,155 political prisoners in Burma as of June 6.
Among them, more than 350 have received harsh sentences of decades in prison since October 2008. The longest term has been 104 years handed down to a student activist in January this year.
On June 16 a delegation of former Burmese political prisoners and human rights activists delivered a petition to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York calling on him to press for the release of all political prisoners in Burma on his upcoming visit to that country.
The global petition was signed by over 660,000 people worldwide, including over 32,000 Canadians.
In another international campaign, more than 100 former political prisoners worldwide have signed a statement calling on the United Nations Security Council to press Burmese authorities to free all political prisoners and to impose a global arms embargo on Burma.
The “64 words to Aung San Suu Kyi” campaign was launched to mark the Burmese democracy icon’s 64th birthday.
Organizers of the campaign include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Campaign for Burma, English Pen, Swedish Burma Committee, International Peace Bureau, and others.
“I believe democracy will eventually be restored in Burma, as long as the Burmese people continue their struggle against the military regime, and as long as the international community supports their efforts,” wrote Kim Dae-Jung, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former President of South Korea from 1997 to 2003.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote, “We must do all we can to make this Birthday the last you spend without your freedom.”
“All of Burma is suffering because of the brutality and incompetence of Burma’s generals,” said Tin Maung Htoo.
The Ottawa vigil will take place at the Human Rights Monument, near the Ottawa Court House at 161 Elgin St., at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 19. The Toronto vigil will be held at Dundas Square, at Yonge and Dundas, at 6:30 p.m. the same evening.
Article Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/18263/
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