{"id":9392,"date":"2011-06-21T19:06:24","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T19:06:24","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-06-21T19:06:24","modified_gmt":"2011-06-21T19:06:24","slug":"Suu-Kyi-urges-US-effort-for-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=9392","title":{"rendered":"Suu Kyi urges US effort for human rights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Myanmar&#8217;s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi<\/strong>, spoke to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.asiancemagazine.com\/news\/2011\/06\/20\/myanmars-suu-kyi-to-deliver-message-to-us-congress\">US Congress for the first time<\/a> in a video message and urged support for a UN-led inquiry into human rights in her country.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Nobel Peace laureate, who was released in November<\/strong> after spending most of the past two decades under house arrest, told a House of Representatives hearing that a so-called UN commission of inquiry would not be a tribunal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>See Suu Kyi&#8217;s videotaped message<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eQ6uzoc_G-c\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is simply a commission of inquiry to find out what human rights violations have taken place and what we can do to ensure that such violations do not take place in the future,&#8221; she told the hearing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Suu Kyi asked US lawmakers to &#8220;do whatever you can&#8221; to support the efforts<\/strong> of Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, who has not been able to visit the country since February 2010.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Suu Kyi<\/strong>, whose National League for Democracy won 1990 elections but was never allowed to take power, warned of a long path toward democracy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is going to be a long road; it has already been a long road and a difficult one, and no doubt the road ahead will have its difficulties as well,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But she added:<\/strong> &#8220;With the help and support of true friends, I&#8217;m sure we will be able to tread the path of democracy, not easily and perhaps not as quickly as we would like, but surely and steadily.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The United States has publicly supported a UN-led probe &#8211; a long-standing demand of activists &#8211; but has done little to make it a reality amid concerns that Asian countries<\/strong>, particularly China, would succeed in scuttling it.<\/p>\n<p>UN-led commissions of inquiry elsewhere in the world have led to charges and prosecution, with Sudan&#8217;s President Omar al-Bashir risking arrest if he travels to countries that recognise the International Criminal Court.<\/p>\n<p>Human rights groups say that Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, has a record of severe human rights abuses including extra-judicial killings, custodial deaths, torture and frequent rape of displaced women from minority groups.<\/p>\n<p>Recent deadly clashes in far-northern Kachin State have triggered an exodus of refugees toward the border with China.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Suu Kyi called on Myanmar&#8217;s rulers to free more than 2,000 other prisoners<\/strong> which rights groups say are detained for political reasons and often held in poor conditions.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, <strong>U.S. officials have deliberated over how to handle Burma,<\/strong> one of the world\u2019s most isolated governments. Myanmar held elections in November 2010 which the regime said was a step toward democracy, with the junta later formally handing over to nominally civilian rulers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>President Barack Obama&#8217;s administration in 2009 launched a dialogue with Myanmar<\/strong>, concluding that the previous Western policy of trying to isolate the government had failed.<\/p>\n<p>The administration has repeatedly said <strong>it plans to keep pursuing diplomacy despite deep disappointment over the results<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Representative Don Manzullo, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs sub-committee on East Asia who led the hearing, criticised the election and said that progress in Myanmar was proving &#8220;extremely difficult to achieve.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Source AFP<\/em><br \/>\n<!--break--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Myanmar&#8217;s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, spoke to the US Congress for the first time in a video 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