*EPF405 06/19/2003
Text: Women Senators Call for Release of Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi
(Lawmakers send letter of support to democracy activist) (950)

All 14 women members of the U.S. Senate sent a letter of support June 19 to Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently being held in detention by the military junta, and called for her immediate release.

"What we need now is an international showing of support telling the junta that her continued captivity and its crackdown on democracy will not be tolerated," Senator Dianne Feinstein (Democrat of California) said in a June 19 news release from her office.

Feinstein, one of the backers of Senate legislation that would impose trade sanctions on Burma, said the lawmakers wanted to convey to the Nobel Peace Prize recipient and the people of Burma "our heartfelt support for Burma's just cause and a future based on respect for human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and freedom for all."

Feinstein reiterated her call for the House of Representatives to follow the lead of the Senate in passing legislation to sanction the military rulers in Burma.

Following is the text of the June 19 news release from the Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein:

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Thursday, June 19, 2003

Women of the Senate Send Letter of Support to Burma's Detained Pro-democracy Leader on Her 58th Birthday and Urge Her Freedom

Washington, DC - In a unified, bipartisan showing of support, the 14 women members of the U.S. Senate today wrote pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her 58th birthday and stepped up the international campaign to urge Burma's military junta to free her from captivity.

Suu Kyi has been in custody since May 30 when she and other members of the National League for Democracy were attacked by government-controlled thugs. Although a U.N. envoy was able to visit her very briefly, she has been held in an undisclosed location and the military junta has refused a request by officials from the International Committee for the Red Cross to visit her.

"It is clear to me that the junta has recognized how well respected Suu Kyi is by her own people and they fomented an event in which people were killed and injured and she was taken into custody," said Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) who organized the drafting of the letter.

"What we need now is an international showing of support telling the junta that her continued captivity and its crackdown on democracy will not be tolerated."

The following is the text of the letter:

"Dear Aung San Suu Kyi: Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your National League for Democracy colleagues as we commemorate the occasion of your 58th birthday. We would also like to remember and honor those NLD supporters who were killed, injured and arrested in the May 30 attack.

Please know that while you remain under house arrest, those of us who cherish freedom and democracy around the world stand by your side.

Last week, we joined our colleagues in the Senate in an unprecedented bipartisan show of support for passage of the "Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003." It is our greatest hope that in the very near future the NLD will able to assume its rightful role as the legitimate, democratically elected representatives of the Burmese people.

Moreover, we want to convey to you, and to all the people of Burma, our heartfelt support for Burma's just cause and a future based on respect for human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and freedom for all."

The 14 women Senators who signed the letter are: Senators Feinstein, Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Patty Murray (D-WA), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

A report released yesterday by the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Burma urged the UN Security Council to hold an emergency session to condemn the military junta's crackdown on the democratic opposition and Suu Kyi's detention.

The report by the Task Force also found that her latest detention - which follows at least seven years of earlier imprisonments after her New Democratic Party won the 1990 national election - was only the tip of the iceberg of the regime's truly despicable human rights record:

Over 1,300 political prisoners are still in jail many of them elected parliamentarians;

The practice of rape as a form of repression has been sanctioned by the Burmese military;

The use of forced labor is widespread;

Trafficking in young boys and girls as sex slaves is rampant;

The government engages in the production and distribution of opium and methamphetamine.

The legislation, sponsored by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Feinstein, would impose a ban on all imports from Burma until the President determines and certifies to Congress that Burma has made substantial and measurable progress on a number of democracy and human rights issues. A similar bill introduced in the House of Representatives has been approved in committee, but has not yet been taken up by the House.

"I urge the House to approve this legislation as soon as possible so the United States can firmly demonstrate to the junta and the world that we will not stand for its repressive rule and its attempts to crush the legitimate democratic representatives of the Burmese people," Senator Feinstein said.

Copies of the letter to Aung San Suu Kyi are available upon request.

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

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