On Friday 19 June, Aung San Suu Kyi will celebrate her 64th birthday locked in a prison cell in Burma. She is the only Nobel Peace Prize winner in prison and is currently on trial on charges of breaking the conditions of her house arrest. If convicted, she faces another five years’ imprisonment.
ARTICLE 19 is part of an international coalition of organisations which have been campaigning actively for Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest for many years. On the occasion of Suu Kyi’s 64th birthday and in recognition of these new charges brought against her by the Burmese regime, ARTICLE 19 urges all human rights activists to act in solidarity with this brave defender of her people’s most basic freedoms.
ARTICLE 19 encourages supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi to visit www.64forsuu.org and add a message before 19 June. Around 10,000 individuals and groups from all over the world have already contributed their 64-word messages of support. Some of these include other Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, such as Mairead Maguire, Betty Williams, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Kim Dae-Jung, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, and Wangari Maathai.
The Group of Elders, which includes Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, Jimmy Carter, Mohammed Yunus, Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson, have also added a message and regularly keep a chair empty for Suu Kyi at their meetings.
Other world leaders such as the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, the former Japanese Prime Minister, Tsutomu Hata, a group of MPs from ASEAN (Association of South East Asian) countries have contributed too, along with film stars, celebrities and many thousands of ordinary people.
Events in solidarity with See Kyi will be held in cities worldwide on Friday. For more details in different regions, visit: www.64forsuu.org/events.php
• For more information please contact: Oliver Spencer, Programme Officer, oliver@article19.org, +44 20 7324 2500
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