Former Nobel Peace laureates call for release of Aung Sang Suu Kyi

Six former Nobel Peace Prize laureates have called on the United Nations (UN) to step up efforts to secure the release of Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the opposition leader in Myanmar who received the award in 1991. In an open letter published in Britain's Guardian newspaper Wednesday, the six women call on the UN "to live up to its mandate and take decisive action" to help Suu Kyi gain her freedom. The action coincides with worldwide protests scheduled for Wednesday in support of Suu Kyi, kept under house arrest in her native country. The six women - Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire - received their award in previous years and represent struggles for peace and human rights in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "The Burmese regime must not be allowed to continue in its perpetration of gross violations of human rights. The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is the most visible manifestation of the regimes brutality but it is only the tip of the iceberg," their letter said. "Sixty-two years ago, the UN was established to enable governments of the world to respond to grave crises of this kind. It must now do more to live up to its mandate and take decisive action to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and her fellow prisoners of conscience." dpa at ds