Aung
San Suu Kyi is a pro-democracy activist and prisoner of conscience in Myanmar
(Burma) who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Aung San Suu Kyi's father helped
to negotiate Burma's independence from Britain in 1947 before he was assassinated.
The newly independent country was a democracy until a military coup in 1962, and
has been under military rule since then. In 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi helped to organize
the National League for Democracy, which worked nonviolently for democracy in
her country. When her party won a general election in 1990, she should have become
Prime Minister, but was instead arrested. She has been either in prison or under
house arrest on and off for the past 15 years, separated from her children, who
live in Britain.
Aung
San Suu Kyi's nonviolent struggle for freedom for her people has gained international
attention. She has received numerous awards, including the prestigious human rights
award, the Rafto Prize, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, and the Nobel
Peace Prize. Her plight has become integrated into many aspects of mainstream
culture -- the 2001 U2 song, Walk On was written about her, and she is featured
in the 1995 movie, Beyond Rangoon. In 2006, the British Magazine New Statesmen
compiled a list of 'Heroes of Our Time' and ranked Aung San Suu Kyi as number
1.
