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Skriven 2007-06-21 23:30:46 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070621f) for Thu, 2007 Jun 21
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Wall Street Journal: A Burmese Birthday
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For Immediate Release Office of the First Lady June 21, 2007

Wall Street Journal: A Burmese Birthday Wall Street Journal June 19, 2007
HEADLINE: A Burmese Birthday BYLINE: Laura Bush



Today in Rangoon, Burma, a national hero celebrates her 62nd birthday --
alone. She is separated from her children abroad; when her husband was
dying from cancer, he was forbidden to be near her. Her only well-wishers
today are armed guards, who hide her from the rest of the world.

Thus have many of the last 17 birthdays passed for Aung San Suu Kyi. Since
1990, Burma's military junta has held the nation's democratically elected
leader as a captive in her own home -- and in May, Gen. Than Shwe extended
the house arrest by another year. For Burmese who are less well-known, the
treatment can be even worse: The regime's abuses have spawned more than
500,000 internally displaced persons and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing
the country. Children are pressed into service as laborers, and reports
indicate that the rape of girls is commonplace.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reports that detainees
are subject to unspeakable torture: vicious beatings and rapes, confinement
for months with rope and shackles, forced crawls across sharp metal and
glass. Three university students were arrested for possessing educational
CDs on human rights distributed by Amnesty International. A National League
for Democracy member was sentenced to 14 years just for giving a fellow
university student a list of Ms. Suu Kyi's awards.

Yet despite the ongoing horrors, supporters of a free Burma have new
reasons for hope. A new generation of dissidents is advancing the twin
causes of Ms. Suu Kyi's release and Burma's peaceful transition to
democracy. They are led by members of Ms. Suu Kyi's NLD party, and the 88
Generation Students, who first won respect when they challenged military
rule as university students 19 years ago.

Over the last year, dissidents like Su Su Nwe and Phyu Phyu Thinn have
helped bring unprecedented vigor and coordination to the pro-democracy
movement. In 2004 and 2005, the regime released key 88 Generation leaders
it had detained as political prisoners, including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi
and Htay Kywe. Recently, the 88 Generation launched a month-long
letter-writing drive, in which tens of thousands of people sent complaints
about their daily hardships to Gen. Than Shwe. Last October, 500,000 people
signed a petition pleading for the release of Burma's 1,100 political
prisoners -- including Ms. Suu Kyi. And on May 27, the anniversary of Ms.
Suu Kyi's electoral victory, more than 1,000 people assembled for a prayer
procession to Rangoon's Shwedagon Pagoda. When the regime's mob blocked
their way and assaulted the demonstrators, the activists turned the
peaceful march into a massive political rally. It was the largest
pro-democracy gathering in Burma since 1996.

The young opposition's new sense of urgency is well-timed: Gen. Than Shwe
and his aging deputies are becoming obsolete. In their late 70s, they
suffer from ill health -- for which they seek state-of-the-art treatment in
Singapore, even as they deny their own citizens basic health services.
Recently, the junta relocated its capital from Rangoon to the remote jungle
town of Nay Pyi Taw.

President Bush has called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of
Ms. Suu Kyi, most recently at a dissidents' conference in Prague. When I
met last month with the Charg d'Affaires of our Embassy in Burma, Shari
Villarosa, she told me that she keeps an open door to Burmese dissidents
and activists. And just last week, Sens. Mitch McConnell and Dianne
Feinstein introduced the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, which
reauthorizes U.S. sanctions on the junta. President Bush looks forward to
signing this bill into law.

The international community also keeps vigil. The Burmese regime poses an
increasing threat to the security of all nations. Within a few weeks in
April, the generals restored diplomatic relations with North Korea and
signed a compact with Russia to build a nuclear reactor. Members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations have become active critics of the
regime. And today, I'll meet with the U.N. Special Envoy for Burma, Ibrahim
Gambari, to discuss how the international community can hold the generals
to account.

In Burma, as in all unfree nations, voices of support from the outside
eventually make their way to the voiceless. Last week, I met at the White
House with traveling representatives of Burma's Ethnic Nationalities
Council Delegation who told me: "When America speaks, it gives us hope."
Today is a chance to speak the names of those who labor for Burma's freedom
-- courageous democrats like Su Su Nwe, Phyu Phyu Thinn, Min Ko Naing, Ko
Ko Gyi, and Htay Kywe. By supporting them, we can help ensure that a name
synonymous with courage the world over, Aung San Suu Kyi, belongs to a
woman who can celebrate her next birthday in freedom.

Mrs. Bush is first lady of the United States.
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