Aung San Suu Kyi, on a landmark visit to the US, called Thursday for the release of jailed members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot.
The opposition lawmaker, who spent 15 years under house arrest, said she “would like the whole group to be released as soon as possible,” during an event sponsored by the rights group Amnesty International.
“Was … anything in the song that was nasty to other people?” asked the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was freed at the end of 2010.
A Moscow court last month sentenced three members of Pussy Riot to two years in a labor camp for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred over a performance against President Vladimir Putin in an Orthodox cathedral.
When told her comments could be seen as criticizing the Russian government, she said – to the laughter and applause of the crowd – that “governments must be prepared to take criticism.”
“It’s a different matter if you are insulting other people individually,” Suu Kyi told the audience, which included Pyotr Verzilov, husband of one of the imprisoned singers.
The band is scheduled to begin an appeal on October 1.
In other remarks at Washington’s Newseum, a museum dedicated to media and journalism, Suu Kyi said the years she spent confined to her home were “worth it.”
“I never thought I was making any sort of sacrifice. I never thought I was suffering,” she said. “I never forgot that I was much more fortunate than my colleagues who were in jail.”
Burma was ruled by an iron-fisted junta for decades but, since taking office last year, a reformist government under former general Thein Sein has freed political prisoners and allowed Suu Kyi’s party into electoral politics.
Suu Kyi said she has “always been very fond of the military,” adding that her father, who was assassinated in 1947, “founded the modern Burmese army.”
“My earliest memories of him were in uniform,” the opposition leader said.
She also condemned the use of violence, saying those who resort to it are “undermining the very foundations of human rights.”
Later in the day, Suu Kyi took part in a ceremony honoring five fellow Burmese citizens who suffered under the country’s military regime and were awarded the National Endowment for Democracy’s 2012 Democracy Award.
Those lauded included Min Ko Naing, a key leader of both the 1988 student movement and the 2007 “Saffron Revolution”; Khun Htun Oo, chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy; film director Kyaw Thu; doctor Cynthia Maung; and Aung Din, another leader of the 1988 student movement and co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma.
“To be honored is great but to honor is even greater,” Suu Kyi said. “I feel very happy that today I’m in the position to honor my fellow countrymen and women.”
Suu Kyi has been in Washington since Monday as part of a three-week trip across the US. The pro-democracy activist has received a rapturous welcome during the visit, her first since her release from house arrest.
Tags: aung san suu kyi, burmese army, Pussy Riot, tatmadaw, Washington DC
Aung San Suu Kyi Receives US Congressional Gold Medal
CAPITOL HILL — Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has received the Congressional Gold Medal - the highest honor Congress can bestow, at a ceremony Wednesday in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Later she met with President Obama at the White House.
Members of the U.S. Congress from both chambers and both major political parties gathered to pay tribute to Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was first awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2008, while she was under 15 years of house arrest in Burma. On Wednesday, she was in the Capitol Rotunda in person, surrounded by congressional leaders, to receive the honor.
Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell has been a strong advocate of Suu Kyi and the democracy movement in Burma for almost two decades.
"And it is impossible today, all these years later, not to be moved by the thought, that this most unlikely of revolutionaries may yet witness the deepest longing of her heart," said McConnell.
An emotional Republican Senator John McCain thanked Suu Kyi for teaching him about courage.
"I consider myself very fortunate to have lived to see this day and to know the people of Burma, whose dignity and rights Aung San Suu Kyi has sacrificed so much to defend, and will one day be free to live with dignity and justice and hope," said McCain.
Many of the lawmakers who spoke mentioned the great personal sacrifices Aung San Suu Kyi made for the cause she believed in. Burma's military junta separated her from her family and she was not even permited to visit her husband when he was dying of cancer.
But Wednesday was more a day of joy, and former First Lady Laura Bush celebrated the triumph of the democratic reforms Burma has launched over the past two years.
"The transition in Burma, like past events in South Africa or Eastern Europe, shows that history has a hopeful direction. It is capable of miracles. There is a part of every soul that longs for freedom and any government built on opression is built on sand," said Laura Bush.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasized that Suu Kyi was not content just to remain a symbol of democracy, an icon, but is continuing the fight as a member of parliament in Burma.
"It is almost too delicious to believe, my friend, that you are here in the Rotunda of our great Capitol, the centerpiece of our democracy, as an elected member of your parliament," said Clinton.
After all the praise heaped upon her, Suu Kyi was soft-spoken in her response.
"This is one of the most moving days of my life, to be here in a house undivided, a house joined together to welcome a stranger from a distant land. Yet I do not feel myself to be a stranger, for I see many familiar faces, and faces that are new to me but known through what they have done for my country and for our cause," said Aung San Suu Kyi.
Aung San Suu Kyi's tour of the United States
During her visit to the United States, Suu Kyi has said she supports the easing of the remaining U.S. sanctions against Burma.
On Wednesday, while she was the Capitol, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that sanctions against Burmese President Thein Sein and the speaker of the lower house of parliamentart Thura Shwe Mann have been lifted.
voanews
Members of the U.S. Congress from both chambers and both major political parties gathered to pay tribute to Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was first awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2008, while she was under 15 years of house arrest in Burma. On Wednesday, she was in the Capitol Rotunda in person, surrounded by congressional leaders, to receive the honor.
Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell has been a strong advocate of Suu Kyi and the democracy movement in Burma for almost two decades.
"And it is impossible today, all these years later, not to be moved by the thought, that this most unlikely of revolutionaries may yet witness the deepest longing of her heart," said McConnell.
An emotional Republican Senator John McCain thanked Suu Kyi for teaching him about courage.
"I consider myself very fortunate to have lived to see this day and to know the people of Burma, whose dignity and rights Aung San Suu Kyi has sacrificed so much to defend, and will one day be free to live with dignity and justice and hope," said McCain.
Many of the lawmakers who spoke mentioned the great personal sacrifices Aung San Suu Kyi made for the cause she believed in. Burma's military junta separated her from her family and she was not even permited to visit her husband when he was dying of cancer.
But Wednesday was more a day of joy, and former First Lady Laura Bush celebrated the triumph of the democratic reforms Burma has launched over the past two years.
"The transition in Burma, like past events in South Africa or Eastern Europe, shows that history has a hopeful direction. It is capable of miracles. There is a part of every soul that longs for freedom and any government built on opression is built on sand," said Laura Bush.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasized that Suu Kyi was not content just to remain a symbol of democracy, an icon, but is continuing the fight as a member of parliament in Burma.
"It is almost too delicious to believe, my friend, that you are here in the Rotunda of our great Capitol, the centerpiece of our democracy, as an elected member of your parliament," said Clinton.
After all the praise heaped upon her, Suu Kyi was soft-spoken in her response.
"This is one of the most moving days of my life, to be here in a house undivided, a house joined together to welcome a stranger from a distant land. Yet I do not feel myself to be a stranger, for I see many familiar faces, and faces that are new to me but known through what they have done for my country and for our cause," said Aung San Suu Kyi.
Aung San Suu Kyi's tour of the United StatesDuring her visit to the United States, Suu Kyi has said she supports the easing of the remaining U.S. sanctions against Burma.
On Wednesday, while she was the Capitol, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that sanctions against Burmese President Thein Sein and the speaker of the lower house of parliamentart Thura Shwe Mann have been lifted.
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