On 8th December 2001 all living Nobel Peace Laureates will gather in Oslo to honour fellow Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, at an occasion which will mark the 10th anniversary of her own Peace award and the centennial anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize itself. Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s unrelenting commitment to the peaceful pursuit of democracy and human rights exemplifies all that the Peace Prize represents. The Oslo ceremony led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu will issue a call for her release, and that of 1500 other political prisoners detained by Burma’s ruling military junta. U2’s Bono is expected to send a personal message.
The Burma Campaign UK and London’s Burmese community will celebrate the occasion at London’s Candid Gallery, with celebrity performances from Maureen Lipman, Mark Thomas and one of Burma’s best-known pro-democracy singers Mun Awng.
The London event will be linked to the Oslo ceremony and to at least thirty other events organized by over one hundred non-governmental organizations around the globe through satellite and the internet.
Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK said: “Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention for the very reasons that won her the Peace Prize in 1991. She has no army or guns. She has never threatened violence. She is leader of an entirely peaceful revolution, and as such she continues to frighten one of the most ruthless military regimes in the world. She is wholly deserving of this honour and we are grateful to the Nobel Committee for choosing to salute her on this occasion.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said: “Aung San Suu Kyi, your inspiring leadership is crucial. By your own determined passive resistance you encourage the finding of a peaceful, non-violent way for the forces of freedom, truth and democracy to emerge from the current atmosphere of unjust repression. I pray that your efforts may contribute to lasting world peace, for the practice of genuine non-violence is something of an experiment on this planet. If it ultimately succeeds in places like Burma, it will surely open the way to a far more peaceful world in the future.”
“While the world is taking a determined stand against international terrorism, it should not forget one of the world’s most courageous and principled champions of human rights and democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi”, said Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The international show of support comes during a stalemate between the ruling military regime and the democratically elected leadership of Burma. The regime and Aung San Suu Kyi began informal talks just over one year ago. There has been little discernible progress in the situation since that time.
Notes for Editors:
Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of the National League for Democracy; the party that won over 82% of the parliamentary seats in Burma’s last democratic elections in 1990. Burma’s military rulers have held her under house arrest for most of the last eleven years.
For further information please contact:
Yvette Mahon: 0207 281 7377(w) 07957 301346(m) or
John Jackson: 0207 281 7377 (w) 07961 357 391(m)
For further information on the Oslo ceremony contact:
Trine Johansen, Oslo: 47 22 11 23 40/ 47 951 49 875 or
Tom Andrews, Washington DC: 202-721-0111
http://www.burmapeacecampaign.org
The Oslo event will be shown on: http://www.worldviewrights.org
Burma Campaign UK