-ALSO ON THE SUBJECT OF MS. SUU KYI AND HER PHILOSOPHY/PRINCIPLES IS WHAT IS EXPLAINED IN THE FOOTNOTE OF WHAT YOU FIND IF YOU TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE.BANGKOK, Thailand (AP)--Amnesty International has urged Myanmar's military government to allow pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to travel unhindered, denouncing her detention outside the capital as "general harassment'' by the authorities.
In a statement late Friday, the London-based human rights group said the three-day standoff between Suu Kyi and the government is another example of the military's attempt to stamp out "all peaceful opposition activities'' in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, Suu Kyi was stopped by security forces Thursday in Dala, a suburb outside the capital city of Yangon. She and other party members were driving into the countryside for organizational work. She was asked to return to Yangon, but refused and has spent the last two nights in a Toyota.
It was Suu Kyi's first attempt to leave Yangon in two years. In similar standoffs with the military in 1998, she remained in her car for nearly six days on one occasion and for 13 days on another.
"This level of surveillance and intimidation is all part of the general harassment'' by the government against Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, said Donna Guest of Amnesty International.
The NLD chairman, Aung Shwe, wrote Friday to Myanmar's military leader, Gen. Than Swe, urging him to allow Suu Kyi to continue with her travels.
She and the others "have been illegally and unlawfully prevented by the military dictators which amounts to criminal act,'' Aung Shwe said in the letter, a copy of which was given to reporters in Yangon on Saturday.
"The NLD as a legal political party has the right to (perform) its legal party organization works,'' the letter said.
Suu Kyi's car and a pickup carrying 12 party supporters have been herded into a small lane, which has been blocked by military trucks on both ends, witnesses said.
Aung Shwe's letter said tires of both vehicles were deflated.
The government claimed Suu Kyi was prevented from going any further for her own protection, saying the area she was planning to visit was rife with threats of violence by separatist insurgents.
Security problems have rarely been reported in Kungyangon, 30 miles south of Yangon, where Suu Kyi was planning to go. The National League for Democracy accused the government of detaining her illegally.
Guest noted that the State Peace and Development Council, as the military government is called, has frequently claimed that Myanmar is almost entirely free from insurgent activity and is a secure and stable country.
"Amnesty International urges the SPDC to allow (Suu Kyi) and other NLD members to travel freely,'' she said.
A Myanmar government statement released late Friday said Suu Kyi and her companions "continue to rest'' in Dala and "the local authorities make every effort to ensure their comfort and safety.''
On Friday, the United States and Britain said they deplored the military rulers' action.
"The U.S. condemns this abridgment of Aung San Suu Kyi's right to freedom of movement and her right to visit whomever she chooses,'' State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.
Reporters have not been allowed to go to Dala, which is separated from the capital by the Yangon River. Journalists were stopped by security forces at the ferry crossing and politely told to go back.
On Saturday, two National League for Democracy cars waited on the Yangon side of the ferry crossing in case Suu Kyi decided to return. Residents coming from Dala said there was little traffic on the roads in the suburb.
Suu Kyi is frequently at loggerheads with the military government, which has ruled this Southeast Asian nation with an iron fist since crushing a pro-democracy uprising she helped lead in 1988.
Suu Kyi was put under house arrest in 1989. The order was lifted
in 1995, but her movements remain restricted. The government also
refuses to honor the results of the 1990 general elections in which
her party won a landslide.
(text of August 26, 2000 New York Times On The Web article)
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company-ALSO ON THE SUBJECT OF MS. SUU KYI AND HER PHILOSOPHY/PRINCIPLES IS WHAT IS EXPLAINED IN THE FOOTNOTE OF WHAT YOU FIND IF YOU TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE.
PRESUMING YOU TOOK THAT BRIEF SIDESTEP, YOU REALIZE THAT THE PHILOSOPHY OF DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI IS A CONTINUOUS INSPIRATION TO ME.
MOTIVATION SEEMS TO BE RELEVANT TO HOW THE WORLD HAS TURNED OUT SINCE I DID THE 1978 STAGES OF MY "INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC WORK...ON A DIRECT BASIS" FOR THE WORLD'S CHILDREN.
FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT WHAT INSPIRES ME--AND OTHERS CENTRALLY INVOLVED IN WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR "ALL OF US,"--TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE.
ALSO ON THIS SUBJECT OF WHAT INSPIRED OTHERS CENTRALLY INVOLVED IN WHAT CREATED "(MY) PRESENT SITUATION", VISITORS TO MY AWARD-WINNING WEBSITE SHOULD CONSIDER THE TEXT OF MY JANUARY 26, 1990 STATEMENT TO FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA JOHN TURNER IN PART ON THE SUBJECT.
TO DO SO, TAKE A SERIES OF (11) BRIEF FOOTSTEPS HERE.
THE LAST TWO LINKED TERMS OF REFERENCE ARE HIS TWO-PAGE RESPONSE AT THAT TIME.