A Noble Price for PeaceAung San Suu Kyi is a peace activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar (Burma). She was held under house arrest for six years without a trial or indictment by the ruling military regime. She became internationally known for her "Freedom from Fear" speech in 1988, and she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Aung Sawn Sue Chee) was born the third child to General Aung San, commander of the Burma Independence Army, and Ma Khin Kyi, senior nurse of Rangoon General Hospital. General Aung San negotiated the independence of Burma from the United Kingdom in 1947. He was assassinated later that year. In 1960, Khin Kyi was appointed Burmese ambassador to India by the new Burmese government.
Growing up, Suu Kyi studied at English Catholic schools in Rangoon. She attended high school at the Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi India and graduated in 1964. She received her bachelors of arts degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from St. Hugh's College, Oxford University in 1967. She then went to New York for graduate school where she interrupted her studies to work for the United Nations as assistant secretary and on the advisory committee on administrative and budgetary questions. On evenings and weekends she volunteered at a hospital as a companion for impoverished patients.
Before her return to Rangoon, Suu Kyi published a biography of her father's life, Aung San, in the Leaders of Asia series of University of Queensland Press (1984). This was followed by Socio-Political Currents in Burmese Literature, 1910-1940 (1987), published in a Tokyo University journal. She also wrote a child's book, Let's Visit Burma (1985), as well as books on Nepal and Bhutan for Burke Publishing Company in London.
In 1987 Suu Kyi enrolled at the London School of Oriental and African Studies to complete her graduate studies.
In 1988 Suu Kyi returned to Burma upon hearing that her mother had had a stroke. Simultaneously, General Ne Win, leader of the socialist ruling party and military dictator of Burma since 1962, stepped down on July 23rd. There were mass demonstrations throughout the country. On August 8th violent suppression by the military led to thousands of deaths. On August 15th Suu Kyi wrote a letter to the government asking for the formation of an independent committee to facilitate multi-party elections. The new ruling authority became the military faction referred to as the "military junta".
On August 26th Suu Kyi addressed the public for the first time. Her speech "Freedom from Fear" was heard by several hundred thousand, calling for a democratic government. In 1988 Suu Kyi co-founded the National League for Democracy (NLD). Despite government prohibition of political gatherings of more than four, Suu Kyi gave speeches for democracy throughout Burma. At the end of the year, her mother died.
On September 18, 1988 the Burmese military established itself as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and, in 1989, changed the name of the country from the "Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar".
In 1989 Suu Kyi was put under house arrest without charge or trial. She began a hunger strike and after three days without food, she asked to be sent to prison with other students arrested at her home. She joined the students in prison and negotiated their fair treatment. Suu Kyi was offered freedom on the condition that she leave the country. She chose to stay.
On May 27 1990, Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, won the general election with 82% of the seats in parliament. SLORC refused to recognize the results.
On July 10, 1991, she was awarded in absentia, the 1990 Sakharov Prize, a human rights prize of the European Parliament. On August 10, 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1992 she established a health and education trust with the $1.3 million Nobel Peace Prize money. In 2000 she was awarded "The Freedom of the City" honor in Ireland. In December 2000 President Bill Clinton honored Suu Kyi with the Presidential Medal of Freedom award.
In 1991 Freedom from Fear was published by Penguin in New York, England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Burmese General Than Shwe replaced General Saw Maung as the ruler of Burma on April 23, 1992.
On January 21, 1994 Suu Kyi received her first non-family visitors since her arrest, which included US Congressman Bill Richardson, along with a New York Times reporter and a UN representative.
On July 10, 1995 the SLORC released Suu Kyi after six years of house arrest. But the government continued to oppress Suu Kyi, the NLD party and the movement towards democracy.
Suu Kyi continues to lead the NLD party. In 1996, 218 party affiliates were detained before a
party conference. Suu Kyi has been taken into custody for short periods, her home raided and documents seized, with the military blocking or seizing her car when she attempts to travel.
Officials and Nobel Laureates from around the world have attempted to intercede on Suu Kyi's behalf for her release. In 2003 former President Jimmy Carter called on Myanmar's military junta for her release and in 2004 Secretary of State Colin Powell suggested continued sanctions on Myanmar. In July 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act which bars imports from Myanmar to the United States.
SLORC changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council; however, its repressive policies continue to violate human rights. Suu Kyi discourages outside financial support of Myanmar in all forms including tourism and business investments, until the country is free.
Suu Kyi married Michael Aris in 1972. They had two sons, Alexander (1973) and Kim (1977). Aris died of prostate cancer in 1999. He was denied his last request to visit Suu Kyi; it had been four years since he last saw her.
Suu Kyi's eldest brother, Aung San Lin, is a U.S. resident. Her second-eldest brother, Aung San U, drowned in a pool accident when she was eight.
Suu Kyi is a devout buddhist and proponent of Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence.
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