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Freed Suu Kyi calls for 'non-violent revolution' - Yahoo! News »

Is there a nonviolent movement today that is not also a global democracy movement? In other words, do you think the US will help Suu Kyi the way it did Otpor? What interests of ours will we have to surrender to promote human rights, justice and peace in Burma (Myanmar)? This is where our hagiography of King and Gandhi will be put sorely to the test.

by Hla Hla Htay – Mon Nov 15, 11:43 am ET
AFP – Myanmar’s newly-released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi addresses supporters at the National …

YANGON (AFP) – Newly freed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi called on Monday for a “non-violent revolution” in Myanmar as she knuckled down to the task of rebuilding her weakened opposition movement.

Speaking at her party headquarters in Yangon, where she met with senior regional members for the first time in years, she told the BBC she was sure democracy would eventually come to her country, although she did not know when.

“I think we also have to try to make this thing happen… Velvet revolution sounds a little strange in the context of the military, but a non-violent revolution. Let’s put it that way,” the 65-year-old said.

Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest on Saturday, less than a week after a controversial election that cemented the junta’s decades-long grip on power but was widely criticised by democracy activists and Western leaders as a sham.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been locked up by Myanmar’s regime for 15 of the past 21 years, gave her first political speech in seven years on Sunday, appealing to thousands of her jubilant supporters for unity.

Someone who has worked with Burmese loyal to Suu Kyi, posting to a professional listserv, recommends this report.

by NPR STAFF AND WIRES
Soe Than Win/AFP/Getty Images
Supporters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi gather in Yangon, Myanmar, in anticipation of her release Saturday.
Khin Maung Win/AP
Suu Kyi talks to supporters at the gate of her home Saturday.
text size A A ANovember 13, 2010
Several thousand jubilant supporters streamed to the residence of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as Myanmar’s military government freed its archrival after years of house arrest.

Suu Kyi appeared at the gate to her Yangon home, smiling and dressed in a traditional Burmese jacket. “There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk,” she told her cheering supporters. “People must work in unison; only then can we achieve our goal.”

Earlier on, officials read the 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate her release notice. Her supporters surged forward after riot police stationed in the area left the scene and a barbed-wire barricade near her residence was removed.

Suu Kyi, whose latest period of detention spanned 7 1/2 years, has come to symbolize the struggle for democracy in the Southeast Asian nation ruled by the military since 1962. Suu Kyi has been jailed or under house arrest for more than 15 of the last 21 years.

While her release elated many — from ordinary Myanmar citizens to world leaders — some warned her struggle was far from over.

London-based rights group Amnesty International estimates more than 2,200 political prisoners remain jailed by the junta.

Aung San Suu Kyi is Released!

What a joyful day! (Now free the rest.)

“The release of political prisoners is the most important thing for all those who truly wish to bring about change in Burma.”
— Aung San Suu Kyi

Dear Richard M.,

Aung San Suu Kyi was freed today!

Suu Kyi, a human rights and pro-democracy leader who has been held in detention or house arrest in Myanmar for 15 of the last 21 years, spoke with a crowd of supporters outside her home shortly after her release. Amnesty International has been advocating for this Nobel Laureate over the course of two decades. Although she was recently barred from participating in the first elections her country has held in 20 years, we welcome the news of her freedom today.

Thank you for your work on Suu Kyi’s case — your letters, public demonstrations, phone calls and discussions with friends, family, and colleagues. Suu Kyi’s release is welcome news for a country that routinely imprisons people who engage in peaceful political dissent, but others are still at risk.

Donate to support Amnesty International’s continued work on behalf of prisoners of conscience. Buddhist monk U Gambira is currently serving a 63 year sentence at a prison in Myanmar for his part in monk-led demonstrations in 2007. While in jail, he has been tortured and denied access to medical treatment. U Gambira is in poor health and should be released immediately. He is one of more than 2,000 political prisoners being held in Myanmar.

Freedom, Finally

Myanmar should never have arrested Aung San Suu Kyi or other prisoners of conscience in the first place, locking them out of the political process. Help Amnesty fight to free prisoners of conscience worldwide.

Your gift ensures we can continue to advocate for the release of prisoners of conscience in Myanmar.

Sincerely,

Larry Cox
Executive Director
Amnesty International USA

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The Elders have condemned the reported killing by Israeli forces of more than a dozen people who were attempting to deliver relief supplies to the Gaza Strip by sea,” the 12—member group said in a statement issued in Johannesburg, where it met over the weekend.

The group, which was launched by Mr. Mandela on his birthday in 2007 to try to solve some of the world’s most intractable conflicts, called for a “full investigation” of the incident and urged the UN Security Council “to debate the situation with a view to mandating action to end the closure of the Gaza Strip.” “This tragic incident should draw the world’s attention to the terrible suffering of Gaza’s 1.5 million people, half of whom are children under the age of 18,” the group said.

Israel’s three—year blockade of Gaza was not only “one of the world’s greatest human rights violations” and “illegal” under international law, it was also “counterproductive” because it empowered extremists in the Palestinian territory, they said.

“

—	The Hindu : News / International : Nobel-winning Elders deplore Gaza flotilla attack What can I say? Listen to the world’s Elders.