Suu Kyi Speech Opened Forum 2000 Conference in Prague

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who spent almost 15 years under house arrest during the rule of military junta , has also been a member of the Forum 2000 Foundation’s International Advisory Board since October of last year. “We have been inviting Suu Kyi to Forum 2000 every year even though we knew it has been only a symbolic gesture during her house arrest,” says the Executive Director of the Forum 2000 Foundation Jakub Klepal. “But this is precisely why we wanted to at least support her in this way in her fight for democracy and the observance of human rights in Burma.”

 Daw Aung SanSu Kyi devoted her keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Forum 2000 conference to Václav Havel, Czech former president, who had nominated her for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

 “There are no better friends than those with whom we shared the same values. It is because the late President Václav Havel and us in Burma shared a hunger for democracy and human rights then we became friends across oceans and continents,” saysDaw Aung San Suu Kyi.

 Suu Kyi had also a keynote speech at the conference panel focused on good governance. In front of a large audience she reflected Burmese history and experience with good and bad governance and thoughts about social and political conditions that lead to good steering.

 Questions of Burmese transition were given  considerable attention at the conference. The central event was a panel discussion called Burma’s Transition: The Need for New Approaches by the International Community which introduced two Burmese speakers - Khon Ja, a human rights activist belonging to the Burmese ethnic minority of the Kachins, and Susanna Hla Hla Soe, Karen Women Empowerment Group director.