Amnesty International Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, May 14, 2009

U.N. Security Council Must Demand Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Immediate Release, Urges Amnesty International

Contact: AIUSA media office, 202-544-0200 x302, lspann@aiusa.org

(Washington) -- Amnesty International is demanding that the U.N. Security Council, notably China and Japan, and ASEAN countries, urgently intervene to secure Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from Insein prison. They are best placed to bring the necessary pressure to bear on theMyanmar government.

"The government of Myanmar must free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at once, without condition, and not return her to house arrest " said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Myanmar expert.

Amnesty International is also highlighting the detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s two female companions, Khin Khin Win and her daughter, who were arrested at the same time. All three are facing trial on May 18 in connection with an incident at the beginning of May when an American national allegedly swam across the lake in front of her house and stayed there for two days.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has recently been in poor health. When her regular doctor, Tin Myo Win, called on her on May 7, security forces prevented him from entering her house. On returning home, he was taken away by the authorities. Dr. Tin Myo Win is a former prisoner of conscience, whose current whereabouts remain unknown.

"Khin Khin Win, her daughter and Dr. Tin Myo Win are now among more than 2,100 political prisoners currently being held in prison in Myanmar," said Zawacki. "Just like other political prisoners, they are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Conditions in Myanmar prisons are extremely bad and jeopardise the health of prisoners."

"In the absence of a unified international voice, the Myanmar government will continue to act in utter disregard for human rights. Now more than ever, the Security Council and ASEAN member states must send an unequivocal signal to the generals that they can no longer act with impunity," Zawacki concluded.

Background
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of the opposition party, the National League for Democracy, and has been detained for 13 of the past 19 years, mostly under house arrest. Her current house detention order is set to expire on May 27, 2009. In March 2009, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said that the detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi violated both international law and Myanmar’s domestic legislation.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

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For more information, please visit: www.amnestyusa.org

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