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“AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S HUNGER STRIKE” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S11113 on Sept. 4, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S HUNGER STRIKE
Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, this weekend we heard extremely troubling news from the State Department. Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the democratically elected National League for Democracy and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is on a hunger strike to protest her detention by the military government in Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been held in an unknown location without the ability to communicate with the outside world since May 30, 2003. Many of us in Congress have demanded her release. Sadly, her detention is simply the latest installment in the country's 40-year history of suffering and oppression. I have consistently criticized the government for its political repression and human rights violations. Reports of rape, forced labor, human trafficking, suppression of civil liberties, and torture of political dissidents have caused me and my constituents great concern. I supported the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, which imposes sanctions on the Burmese military junta, strengthens Burma's democratic forces and supports and recognizes the National League for Democracy as the legitimate representative of the Burmese people. I encourage other countries to join the United States in adopting similar measures toward Burma.
The Burmese Government must release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners from detention. I also urge our administration, the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, and the international community to continue to exert pressure on the Burmese junta to respect human rights and political freedoms. I ask President Bush to make Burma a high priority as he travels to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Bangkok in early October. As recommended by the Council on Foreign Relations, we should press for a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Aung San Suu Kyi's detention, the junta's human rights violations and their refusal to engage in dialogue with the democratic opposition. We should also encourage the Security Council to hold an emergency session on Burma to discuss implementing targeted sanctions on the regime.
Aung San Suu Kyi's hunger strike adds urgency to the dire predicament of the Burmese people. The Burmese military junta must realize that their egregious offences against their own population can no longer stand.
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