Aung San Suu Kyi Released in Burma

Human rights groups across the world welcomed the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma from house arrest. The Nobel Peace Prize-winner met thousands of supporters outside her home and repeated her message of human rights and democratic freedoms for Burma. The British group Christian Solidarity Worldwide released a statement urging Burma’s ruling junta to “end its offensives against civilians in ethnic states” and calling on the international community to convince the regime to enter into a dialogue with the democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The statement called for the unconditional release of Burma’s estimated 2,100 other political prisoners. Aung San Suu Kyi was detained by the military junta for over 15 years, most of them under house arrest. She and her National League for Democracy were banned from Burma’s elections on Nov. 7, which were seen as an effort by the nation’s ruling military junta to establish its legitimacy.