OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada on Tuesday conferred honorary citizenship to Myanmar pro-democracy activist and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, while demanding her release from house arrest in her homeland.
Suu Kyi "personifies the struggle to bring freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law" to Myanmar, said Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier in presenting a framed certificate to Suu Kyi's cousin, Sein Win.
"It is in recognition of Aung San Suu Kyi's long and courageous struggle to promote freedom and democracy in Burma," Bernier said, referring to Myanmar by its old name.
Suu Kyi, 62, a pro-democracy activist who won the Nobel peace prize in 1991 and whose father General Aung San led Myanmar to independence from Britain in 1943, was first arrested in 1989.
Despite being confined to her home, she led her National League for Democracy party to a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but Myanmar's military junta refused to accept the results.
She has remained under house arrest since 2003, in Yangon.
In his remarks, Bernier also blasted the junta for crushing its citizens' rights and said Canada "once again calls for the regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners."
Sein Win, prime minister of Myanmar's government in exile, said the award shows "that despite deliberate attempts by the Burmese military to undermine her endeavors and prevent her from participating in the political process, the Canadian people and government, and the international community at large, recognize her sacrifice and outstanding role and that they have also not forgotten the people of Burma."
The distinction has previously only been conferred on former South Africa president Nelson Mandela; the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet; and Swedish diplomat and humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg.
In December, Canada responded to the violent repression of peaceful protests by Myanmar's Buddhist monks, leading to at least 13 deaths and thousands of arrests, with "the toughest sanctions in the world."
The measures include bans on exports from Canada to Myanmar except humanitarian goods, and on Canadians investing and providing financial services there, as well as a freeze on assets in Canada of Myanmar nationals linked to the rulers.
On Monday, Canada announced two million dollars (Canadian, US) in aid for the country devastated by a cyclone, as the death toll surpassed 10,000.
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