Realizing the Dream, Acceptance Remark on behalf of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Commemoration and Realizing the Dream Awards Celebration
January 18, 2009
Washington, DC

Remark by Aung Din, Executive Director, U.S. Campaign for Burma, Accepting “Trumpet of Conscience” Award on behalf of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honor for me to accept the “Trumpet of Conscience” award, on behalf of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma’s democracy movement. She has been working tirelessly to bring freedom and democracy to Burma. Her leadership has offered courage to the people of Burma as they confront the brutal military regime with brave feats of civil disobedience. While we are here to honor her courage, her love and her sacrifice for the people of Burma, she could not join all of us today. She is still under house arrest, where she has been for more than 13 years.

As Dr. King did, and as you all do, Aung San Suu Kyi has a dream; her dream is simple and innocent: She wants to help people to have freedom from fear, freedom from oppression and freedom to exercise their fundamental rights. She encourages people to stand against injustice. She requests the military regime to start a meaningful political dialogue and to engage in national reconciliation amongst all stakeholders in Burma. However, her quest for peace is being denied by the military regime, which wants to maintain their ruthless power by whatever means necessary.

The military regime uses excessive forces and civilian militias to crush peaceful protesters, and arrests, tortures, and imprisons thousands of democracy activists. The regime has intensified military offensives against ethnic minority civilians, which has resulted in the destruction of over 3,300 villages, forcing two million refugees to flee to neighboring countries while an additional half million people remain in hiding in jungles and mountains in eastern Burma to avoid being killed by Burmese soldiers. The regime’s soldiers rape ethnic women and girls, as young as seven years old, with impunity and millions of people are subject to forced labor and force relocation.

While I am honored to receive the award on her behalf, I am also sad that she is not here with us today. If she was here, she would thank Martin Luther King III, his siblings and “Realizing the Dream” for recognizing her work for justice in Burma. She would feel greatly honored to be in the company of Senator Edward Kennedy, Congressman John Lewis and Reverend Claude Black, who all have provided great leadership for the people of the United States of America. She would also thank Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan for presenting the award and she would thank you all for the spotlight this occasion gives to Burma.

President-elect Obama paid tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi by stating: I quote: “She has sacrificed family and ultimately her freedom to remain true to her people and the cause of liberty. And she has done so using the tools of nonviolent resistance in the great tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, earning the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.”: unquote. I hope President Obama will uphold existing economic sanctions and lead a strong diplomatic effort to organize international community to put collective pressure on the regime.

Thank you for this tribute to our nationally elected leader and hero. I wish that I will have a chance to return to my country soon to present this award to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and tell her how the people of the United States of America stand with us during our darkest days.

Thank you,

Aung Din
Executive Director
U.S. Campaign for Burma