Aung San Suu Kyi (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
Today is Aung San Suu Kyi’s 64th birthday. Suu Kyi is Burma’s pro-democracy opposition leader. She has spent the past 13 years under detention by the Burmese military government, mostly under house arrest. In 1990 Burma held elections and Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide. However, the military refused to recognize the results and she was put under house arrest.
In recent developments Suu Kyi was taken out of her house and put in jail on charges of violating the terms of her arrest because of an uninvited American visitor to her home. She celebrated her 64th birthday by sharing rice and chocolate cake with her prison guards.
Burma’s internal conflict is one of the longest running in the world. The Burmese military has systematically attacked ethnic minorities and political dissidents. Over a million people have been forcibly displaced.
On the occasion of Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday world leaders and activists have spoken out against her detention and have called for democracy and peace within Burma.
Visit 64forsuu.org to read messages from around the world and to leave your own message for Suu Kyi.
