[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
Suu Kyi, Mondale receive special de
- Subject: Suu Kyi, Mondale receive special de
- From: tinkyi@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 13:48:00
Subject: Suu Kyi, Mondale receive special democracy award
The Daily Yomiuri
Wednesday, August 28, 1996
=====================
Suu Kyi, Mondale receive special democracy award
Chicago(AP)--- The image and voice of Myanmar opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and an impassioned plea from her husband for freedom in the Southeast Asian
country brought standing ovations in a hall thousands of kilometers from the
country she will not leave. Just the democratic Party's nominating covention was
getting underway across town Monday, more than 700 diplomats, foreign officals
and Democratic leaders gathered to honor Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi and
former Vice President Walter Mondale with the annual W. Averell Harriman
Democracy Awards.
"At this moment, we in the movement for democracy are facing a lot of
difficulties,"Suu Kyi said in a videotape made for the awards ceremony. "The
State Law and Order Restoration Council of Myanmar, the military regime which
promised to lead Myanmar to multiparty democracy, is doing everything it can to
crush the movement for democracy." Suu Kyi, whose husband, Micheal Aris,
accepted the crystal globe award for her, was released from six years of house
arrest last year and has been speaking to rallies of supporters each weekend
outside her home.
Aris said his wife"stands at the sharpest end of this ruthless campaign
to destroy the struggle for freedom in Myanmar. "He said he has not been allowed
to visit her since last December. Suu Kyi refuses to leave Myanmar, fearing she
may not be allowed to return. Aris said the regime has been trying to pressure
his wife into submission by arresting friends and members of her National League
for Democracy. During the weekend in Yangon, Suu Kyi denounced a new wave of
arrests, and a senior military leader pledged to crush her movement.
"She will never give into this most evil form of blackmail,"Aris said,
appealing for an early end to repression in Myanmar. Mondale, in a brief speech
accepting the award, praised Suu Kyi and rejected the idea perpetrated by
antidemocratic forces in Asia that the region is not suited for democracy
because of cultural differences with Western countries. Mondale, currently U.S.
ambassador to Japan, said Suu Kyi "symbolizes courage for human rights and
democracy."
Information Committee
Burma Youth Volunteer Association-Japan.