Myanmar extends Aung San Suu Kyi's detention

In spite of mounting pressure to release her and the hopes of human rights activists, the military regime of Myanmar has extended the detention of opposition democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Unfortunately observers were right in predicting that Suu Kyi's detention would be extended. Her detention was due to expire this weekend. Laura Bush and female U.S. senators added their voices to the international demands that Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, be freed. Even though there was no sign that the military regime would ease up on human rights activists or free Suu Kyi, I find this decision, now that it has actually been made, very upsetting. Burma was renamed Myanmar by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world. Aung San Suu Kyi has become a symbol of peaceful resistance to oppression. According to a website dedicated to Suu Kyi, "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's pages,"

"Burma's human rights record has been rated one of the worst in the world after Algeria."