NEWS - Myanmar's Suu Kyi Urges Righ

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Subject: NEWS - Myanmar's Suu Kyi Urges Rights Defenders To Carry On

Tuesday December 8 12:27 PM ET 

Myanmar's Suu Kyi Urges Rights Defenders To Carry On

By Irwin Arieff

PARIS (Reuters) - Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of Myanmar's struggling
democracy movement, urged human rights
defenders in a dramatic videotaped statement made public Tuesday to
carry on their efforts and not give up hope.

``Please go on with your work. Please don't give up. Please never
despair. Please believe you're doing a lot of good,'' she
beseeched several hundred rights defenders meeting in Paris.

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, was taped in her home in
Yangon, where the Myanmar military government
has forced her to live in semi-isolation.

A journalist and a representative of the international human rights
group Amnesty International traveled to the country
formerly known as Burma to conduct the interview. Tropical birds could
be heard squawking outside as she spoke.

The human rights defenders met in the French capital for a four-day
teach-in on tactics, staged as part of ceremonies
marking the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights signed in Paris on December 10, 1948.

Organizers said the ``Human Rights Defenders Summit'' would enable
groups that have enjoyed success in their
campaigns to set out their winning strategies for others to imitate.

But several of the accounts offered at the summit stood out for their
grim reality rather than their utility.

Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria, co-founder of Nigeria's Committee for
the Defense of Human Rights, spoke of his
numerous arrests and repeated dashed hopes in a battle for democracy in
the African state that began for him in 1985.

``The most brutal dictatorship has not been able to crush the will of
the people. Certainly we will have democracy in
Nigeria,'' he concluded.

Nigeria's current, reformist military regime is preparing to reinstate
civilian democracy next year, following the death last
June of dictator Sani Abacha.

At the human rights meeting, tears welled up in the eyes of Algerian
journalist and women's rights activist Salima Ghezali as
she spoke of week after week of mass slayings in the North African state
that has been gripped by civil violence for years.

``Why is there no commission investigating the massacres in Algeria? ...
The people have had enough,'' she told the
activists, who gave her a lengthy standing ovation.

Following a series of such presentations, the activists unanimously
approved a resolution urging British Home Secretary
Jack Straw to allow former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to be
extradited to Spain.

Pinochet was arrested in London in October on a warrant from Spain
charging him with responsibility in the disappearance
or death of more than 3,000 people during his rule in Chile.

``As long as people continue to think they can get away with murder,
these atrocities will continue,'' Amnesty International
Secretary General Pierre Sane told reporters ahead of the vote.

Later Tuesday, rights group leaders were to present United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan with a petition signed by
10 million people pledging to support human rights.

As part of the ceremonies, French President Jacques Chirac invited 10
winners of the Nobel Peace Prize including Tibet's
Dalai Lama to a luncheon at his Elysee presidential palace.

Human rights groups had last week accused Paris of trying to freeze out
the Dalai Lama for fear of upsetting Beijing. Asked
about the charges, Chirac had said the Dalai Lama was welcome and it was
up to him to decide whether to come.

In Beijing, the foreign ministry expressed its ``serious concern and
dissatisfaction'' with the French invitation and said the
Dalai Lama had no right to attend.

As he left the luncheon, the Dalai Lama told Reuters he was ''very
happy'' to have attended. ``I always have the feeling I am
making contacts with another human being,'' he said. 

Earlier Stories:

    Paris Birthday Party For U.N. Human Rights Accord (December 7) 
    UK, France Agree To Boost EU Defense Role (December 4) 
    France's Chirac Wants Tougher Anti-Terrorist Stand (December 3)