Friday, July 10, 2009

US Senate women urge Suu Kyi freedom

US Senate women urge Suu Kyi freedom
Fri Jun 19, 7:21 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The 17 women serving in the US Senate made a joint appeal Friday for the release of Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she spent her 64th birthday in prison.

The 17 of the 50 US senators who are female issued a joint statement voicing solidarity with the Nobel Peace laureate.

"The military junta has tried for years to stifle the will of the people and silence the voice of Suu Kyi through a brutal campaign of violence and oppression," they said.

"Yet Aung San Suu Kyi remains a beacon of hope for a future of democracy, the rule of law and human rights," they said.

The Women's Caucus of the US Senate is headed by Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat representing California, and Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican from Texas.

Activists around the world rallied Friday for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest.

The democracy icon is now on trial at Yangon's notorious Insein Prison over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her home.

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