*EPF502 09/22/00
Text: Albright Sept. 21 on Violation of Aung San Suu Kyi's Rights
(Suu Kyi forcibly removed from Rangoon train station) (320)

Following is the text of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's September 21 statement on the forcible removal of Aung San Suu Kyi and other National League for Democracy leaders from a Rangoon train station:

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

September 21, 2000

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT

U.S. CONDEMNS VIOLATION OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S HUMAN RIGHTS

Aung San Suu Kyi and other National League for Democracy leaders were forcibly removed from a Rangoon train station by military authorities in the early hours of September 22. We cannot confirm their whereabouts at this time. This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders by Burmese authorities. It is unacceptable. The United States holds the Burmese Government responsible for their safety and welfare and calls for the immediate restoration of their freedom of movement and access to others, including foreign diplomats.

I am appalled at the actions of the Burmese regime in continuing to deny Aung San Suu Kyi and other National League for Democracy leaders their fundamental human rights. Aung San Suu Kyi is a beacon of hope to the long-suffering people of Burma whose dream of a just, democratic society has been denied for too long by a repressive regime. Freedom of movement and freedom of speech are universally-recognized human rights. The Burmese Government's restraints on Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's freely-elected majority party, violate basic principles of international human rights instruments and are an affront to free peoples everywhere.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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