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Aung Sang Suu Kyi

A Burmese opposition politician and a former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy

In the 1990 general election, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from July 20, 1989 until her release on 13 November 2010.

Primarily in response to her detention, Aung San Suu Kyi received the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the government of India and the International Simón Bolívar Prize from the government of Venezuela. In 2007, the Government of Canada made her an honorary citizen of that country, one of only five people ever to receive the honor. Aung San Suu Kyi is the third child and only daughter of Aung San, considered to be the father of modern-day Burma.

(Profile information sourced from Wikipedia and other publicly available internet sources.)

Aung Sang Suu Kyi on the web

Wikipedia: Aung San Suu Kyi

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ARTICLE 19

Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA

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ARTICLE 19

Organization

About Us

ARTICLE 19, a human rights pioneer, defends and promotes freedom of expression and freedom of information all over the world.

Censorship kills. It starves and it represses. It denies people access to information essential to their life.

Established in 1987, ARTICLE 19 fights for all hostages of censorship, defends dissenting voices that have been muzzled, and campaigns against laws and practices that silence.

We take our name from article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

ARTICLE 19 monitors, researches, publishes, lobbies, campaigns, sets standards and litigates on behalf of freedom of expression wherever it is threatened.

We provide expertise on international human rights standards and for legislation that protects the right to speak and right to know in countries emerging from conflict, war and genocide or repression.

We campaign to safeguard media pluralism, independence and diversity of views.

We promote the right to know of poorer communities and advocate for the implementation of freedom of information legislation to ensure transparency and strengthen citizens' participation.

We champion freedom of expression, including freedom of information, as a fundamental human right that is also central to the protection of other rights. Freedom of expression allows people to demand the right to health, to a clean environment, to memory and to justice. It makes electoral democracy meaningful and builds public trust in administration. It strengthens mechanisms to hold governments accountable for their promises, obligations and actions. It provides external checks on state accountability, and thus prevents corruption which thrives on secrecy and closed environments.

At present, we work with more than 80 implementing partners across the globe that are active in areas such as human rights, freedom of information, democratisation, the media, women, health and environment.

ARTICLE 19 is a registered UK charity (No.32741) with headquarters in London, and field offices in Senegal, Kenya, Bangladesh, Mexico, and Brazil. Its international board consits of eminent human rights campaigners, journalists and lawyers from all regions of the world. We are supported by contributions from individuals, foundations and governments worldwide who share a commitment to freedom of expression.