For Immediate Release: June 14th, 2005
Contact: Lynne Weil, (202) 225-6735 Office of
Congressman Tom Lantos or Jeremy Woodrum (202)
246-7924 US Campaign for Burma

Tom
Lantos, Top Democrat on International Relations
Committee, To Deliver 6,000 Birthday Cards Demanding
Release of World’s Only Imprisoned Nobel Peace
Prize Recipient Aung San Suu Kyi

(Washington, DC) Tom Lantos (D-CA), the ranking
member on the House International Relations
Committee, will lead a protest in front of the
Embassy of Burma on June 17th to demand the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s only
imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He will
attempt to deliver 6,000 birthday cards sent
by individuals and organizations around the
world commemorating Suu Kyi’s 60th birthday.

The visual protest will coincide with protests
at one dozen Burmese embassies around the world,
including in London, Japan, Malaysia, South
Korea, and South Africa.

The event is modeled on a global effort in 1988
to free then-imprisoned South African leader
Nelson Mandela called “Mandela at 70″.
Governments, organizations, and individuals
around the world are organizing action to demand
the release of Suu Kyi. In London, Prime Minister
Tony Blair will discuss action on Burma with
a prominent women’s delegation. Across the United
States, 60 groups plan to “arrest”
themselves and hold educational events for 24
hours in solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi, who
is imprisoned in her home. The cities of San
Francisco, Ithaca, and Portland have declared
June 19th Aung San Suu Kyi day.

Leading Irish musician Damien Rice plans to
release a new song and music video dedicated
to Aung San Suu Kyi entitled “Unplayed
Piano”. Further, in a move reminiscent
of musicians playing at the Berlin Wall during
the 1980s, music superstars R.E.M. plan to broadcast
a portion of their concert on Aung San Suu Kyi’s
birthday inside Burma via satellite, reaching
at estimated 10 million people inside the authoritarian
country.

In Southeast Asia, a groundbreaking caucus of
elected members of parliament throughout Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philppines
plan a public display of support for Aung San
Suu Kyi. The newly formed caucus represents
the first time regional leaders have organized
a concerted push for Suu Kyi’s freedom over
the past decade.

At the protest in Washington, DC scores of supporters
will demonstrate across the street from the
embassy beginning at 10:00 am. At approximately
10:15, Congressman Lantos will give a speech
and then proceed to cross the street with several
of the birthday cards. Organizers do not know
if the embassy will accept the birthday cards.

Aung San Suu Kyi leads Burma’s vibrant democracy
and human rights movement. Her political party,
the National League for Democracy, won an estimated
82% of seats in parliament in Burma’s last election,
but the ruling dictators ignored the results.
Her overwhelming popularity among the Burmese
people and her commitment to justice and democracy
has led her to become known as the “Nelson
Mandela of Asia”.

Aung San Suu Kyi has won over 70 major international
awards for her work on behalf of the people
of Burma, including the Nobel Peace Prize, Sakharov
Prize from the European Parliament, and the
US Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has called
on individuals, organizations, and governemnts
around the world to support Burma’s democracy
movement, stating, “Please, use your liberty
to promote ours.”

Tom Lantos serves as the ranking member on the
House International Relations Committee. He
was 16 years old when Nazi Germany occupied
his native Hungary. As a teenager, he was a
member of the anti-Nazi underground and later
of the anti-Communist student movement. He is
the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in
the U.S. Congress. In 1983 he co-founded the
Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and he continues
to serve as its Co-Chairman.

Location: Embassy of Burma, 2300 S St,
NW Washington, DC 20008
Date and Time: June 17th, 10:00 AM

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