CHRC honors prisoner of conscience

In honor of Aung San Suu Kyi’s 62^nd birthday, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) today celebrated the ongoing battle against the violation of human rights throughout the world. Kyi is a Nobel Peace Laureate that has been imprisoned in Burma for the past 11 years. Her sentence of house arrest has recently been extended for an additional year despite continuous outrage by human rights organizations and governments.

Since 1962, Burma has been ruled by a military junta; a tenure that is marked by the murders of opposition members and the continued incarceration of political dissidents. In the most recent version of the U.S. State Department’s annual country reports on human rights, the Burmese government, with its extensive corruption and abuses of power, has been characterized as a regular violator of human rights, as it continues “extrajudicial killings, custodial deaths, disappearances, rape and torture.”

Members of Congress and various rights groups joined in their praise for Kyi, wishing her the strength to continue fighting against injustice, not only in Burma but across the globe.

For the CHRC press release, click here.

For the State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, click here.