Why Aung San Suu Kyi can never truly be defeated
Dear friend,
Aung San Suu Kyi © Chris Robinson
"Her crime is that, if she was free to participate in elections, she would win."
U2's Bono spoke these words to a crowd of 80,000 this month, as Aung San Suu Kyi's trial by military junta came to a climax. And tragically, though not surprisingly, Burma's junta found her guilty – sentencing her to 18 more months of punishment under house arrest.
Her real crime, of course is not that she offered an American man shelter after he swam across the lake to reach her home. It is that she continues to offer something far more powerful to the Burmese people: hope. And that's exactly what Aung San Suu Kyi needs right now - click here to call for her immediate release and write your personal message of solidarity
Aung San Suu Kyi has already spent 13 of the last 20 years under house arrest, following her landslide election victory in 1990. Her recent ordeal is merely the latest in a litany of schemes to deny her freedom, while the junta plans a new election later next year.
They may have Aung San Suu Kyi locked away, yet there is no place on earth that can keep hope, courage and inspiration contained within its walls. There is no corner of the world so dark that a democratically-elected leader this courageous will be forgotten. And that's why, for all their brute force, the only way for the junta to ever truly move forward, and renew the Burmese government's relationship to its own people – is to set Aung San Suu Kyi free.
Please send your personal message and stand up for Aung San Suu Kyi’s freedom, and we’ll deliver it to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Burma is a member
History teaches us that tyrants fall. That the most elaborate, corrupt and desperate regimes crumble - not by the actions of a powerful few alone, but by the sustained vigilance of the many. Here we are proud to say that Amnesty have our own track-record of achievement: in May, just a few days after our 10,000-strong appeal on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Chairman of ASEAN issued a statement urging the Burmese authorities to release her. We've never seen ASEAN be so forthright - it was absolutely unprecedented. Please send your personal message now
We may marvel how anyone in Aung San Suu Kyi's position could possibly go on. But we will never give up, and we aren’t going away, until she has her freedom.
Thank you for standing up,
Jenny, Reuben, Katie and the rest of the Crisis Team
Amnesty International Australia
PS. Last week, Amnesty International awarded Aung San Suu Kyi our highest honour – the Ambassador of Conscience Award. The award recognises exceptional leadership in the fight to protect and promote human rights, and coincides with the 20th anniversary of her initial arrest. It has now been bestowed seven times in total, including on Nelson Mandela – who endured served 27 years in prison before going on to become South Africa's first democratically-elected president.
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