Rome peace prize award for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Friday, December 21, 2007
Aung San Suu Kyi awarded "Rome for Peace and Humanitarian Action" prize

Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

December 20, 2007 - Detained Burmese icon for democracy Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been awarded "Rome for Peace and Humanitarian Action" prize for 2007, sponsored by the City of Rome, Italy for her relentless commitment to and struggle for democracy and human rights in military-ruled Southeast Asian country.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, mostly known as Aunty Suu to the Burmese, has spent over 12 of the past 18 years in Burma in detention for her non-violent campaign for democracy in the country which has been plagued by the military dictators for over four decades.

The City of Rome, in recognition to her commitment, has announced Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as the recipient of the 2007 Peace and Humanitarian award.

The prize will be received by Dr. Sein Win, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's cousin brother and also the Prime Minister of Burma's government in exile – the National Coalition Government of Union of Burma (NCGUB) – during a ceremony in Rome on Thursday, as she remains under house arrest in Burma's former capital city of Rangoon.

"I am happy and proud to receive this award on her [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] behalf. I am happy not only for her but for all the Burmese people who are suffering because with this honour it [the city of Rome] is showing its solidarity with us," Sein Win told Mizzima over telephone as he prepares to attend the award giving ceremony in Rome.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Burma's independence hero General Aung San, came to be known as the leading opposition figure during her visit to Burma to see her ailing mother in 1988. The year coincided with the popular uprising for democracy led by students, which the military junta brutally crushed, killing at least 3,000 students, and civilians.

Despite her party – the National League for Democracy – winning a landslide victory in the 1990 general elections the current military clique refuse to hand over power but instead she has been kept under house arrest.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was announced recipient of the US Congressional Gold Medal by the Congress earlier this week, has received several awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her relentless pursuit to the cause of democracy and human freedom.

Following a military coup by Gen. Newin in 1962, which is the beginning of the rule of military dictatorship in Burma, the country has been plagued by severe economic deterioration.

While successive military dictators have suppressed voices of opposition calling for political changes, it has failed to implement economic reforms that brought down the status of Burma, which was once known as the rice bowl of Asia to the United Nations list of Least Develop Countries (LDCs).

In August, the people's suffering quadrupled with the junta's unannounced fuel price-hike leading to the people peacefully taking to the streets demanding economic stability. However, when the country's revered Buddhist clergies led the protests, the junta brutally suppressed the protests killing more than a dozen and arresting at least 4,000 people.

"Burma urgently needs a political solution. The junta must initiate a dialogue with the election winning party and with ethnic groups in order to avoid the country going to deeper despair," Sein Win said.

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