By Elizabeth Willoughby on
People from all over the world have put down 64 words on a new website in support of Aung San Suu Kyi for her 64th birthday .
Burma’s junta has held the pro-democracy leader under house arrest for over half of the past two decades and, charged in May for breaking the terms of her house arrest, Suu Kyi is now facing trial.
Outraged by the Burmese military’s actions, people are using the 64 for Aung San Suu Kyi website as a protest platform.
Paul McCartney wrote, “Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration to her country and the rest of the world. I truly admire her infallible resolve and her determination to stand up for what she believes in. It is vital that Aung San Suu Kyi is released so that she can govern the people who elected her and give Burma back the freedom we all take for granted.”
Bono and U2 posted something more poetic: “Packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been/A place that has to be believed to be seen/You could have flown away/A singing bird in an open cage/Who will only fly, fly for freedom/Walk on, walk on/What you’ve got they can’t deny it/Can’t sell it, can’t buy it/Walk on, walk on/Stay safe tonight.”
Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, had this to say: “Our fellow Elder, Aung San Suu Kyi, is the symbol of a more hopeful, tolerant and peaceful Burma. We’re profoundly troubled by her illegal incarceration and call on world leaders, and especially Asian members, to do everything in their power to secure her release along with all other political prisoners. We hope to embrace our dear sister in person on her 64th birthday.”
Suu Kyi’s birthday has come and gone. She’s still in jail.
Copyright © 2009 Look to the Stars
