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• Daw Aung San Suu Kyi • Dr.Sein Win • others Printable Version

Below is the text of a letter signed by six Nobel Peace laureates to the University of Virginia.

An open letter to the University of Virginia,

As participants in the 1999 Nobel Peace Laureate Conference, we have great respect and admiration for the University of Virginia. By virtue of its exceptional academic program and the focus on civil liberties, as prescribed by Thomas Jefferson, we know that the University produces some of the finest young people in the country.

Notably absent from the conference was our fellow laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma. Despite having received the Nobel Peace Prize and leading her party to victory in a national election, she remains under house arrest. For merely advocating the liberties that many people worldwide already enjoy, the regime has brutally isolated her from her family, friends, and colleagues. She has consistently asked for international support for her struggle and specifically asked all companies to leave Burma. On numerous occasions, she has made statements such as "Until we have a system that guarantees the rule of law and basic democratic institutions, no amount of aid or foreign investment will benefit our people." Indeed, the outside world has a moral obligation to help Suu Kyi's fight for democracy.

Thus, we are writing to pledge support of the March 27th, 2001 Student Council resolution to divest University of Virginia assets from Unocal. Its pipeline will remain the lifeline by which the regime can cling to power and keep Suu Kyi under house arrest. While Unocal turns its back on the conditions surrounding its pipeline, its partners, the illegal military junta,are torturing, killing, raping, and enslaving thousands of people.

We, Aung San Suu Kyi's fellow Peace Laureates, remain steadfast in our support of her courageous struggle to restore democracy and human rights to Burma. Just as the divestment campaign against South Africa helped bring down apartheid, so too will your action help free Aung San Suu Kyi and restore democracy and the rule of law in Burma.

Sincerely,

Jody Williams (USA 1997)
Jose Ramos Horta (East Timor 1996)
Rigoberta Menchu Tum (Guatemala 1992)
His Holiness, The Dalai Llama (Tibet 1989)
Oscar Arias (Costa Rica 1986)
Betty Williams (Ireland 1976)