Aung San Suu Kyi's 61st birthday was Monday, June 19. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate is 61 and spent her birthday in confinement because the government of Burma has just extended her detention for another year.
In 2005 President Bush sent his own birthday message, saying Aung San Suu Kyi's "strength, courage, and personal sacrifice in standing up for the oppressed people of Burma have inspired those who stand for freedom."
In a free election held in 1990, her party, the National League for Democracy, won the election receiving 80 percent of the seats for Parliament. However, the military government decided to not honor these elections. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the time since then.
Our Waterville local chapter of Amnesty International has been working to and help get Thet Win Aung released from prison. In 1998 he was imprisoned for 59 years for organizing peaceful student protests in Burma. In July 2004 Congressman Tom Allen wrote a letter on behalf of Thet to the Burmese authorities asking for his release from prison.
Please consider what non-violent actions you can take on behalf of Suu Kyi, Thet and the people of Burma. I suggest contacting Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Olympia Snowe and asking them to write personal letters to the Burmese government asking for Suu Kyi to be released from house arrest and to have Thet released from prison.