There are more than 1,850 known political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the best-known.

The co-founder of Myanmar’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi is also one of the country’s best-known political figures and campaigners for human rights.

Aung San Suu Kyi has endured unofficial detention, house arrest and restrictions on her movement since 1989, all aimed at preventing her from becoming the national leader of Myanmar. She has been under house arrest since July 2003 and her most recent detention will be up for review on 27 May 2008.

Aung San Suu Kyi is also a member the global Elders but, because she is under strict house arrest, she cannot join them in their international work celebrating and promoting the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Her continued absence is a powerful reminder of the unrelenting repression in Myanmar and what must be done to make human rights a reality.