Aung San Suu Kyi Birthday

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Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma celebrates her 64th birthday today, June 19, 2009, in jail. She has spent the last six years, and more than 13 of the last 20 years, under house arrest or in prison. The symbol of democracy for her nation, she has consistently espoused nonviolence, explaining, "There are those who believe the only way we can remove the authoritarian regime and replace it with a democratic one is through violent means. But then, in the future, those who do not approve of a democratic government would be encouraged to try violent means of toppling it, because we would have set a precedent that you bring about political change through violence. I would like to set strongly the precedent that you bring about political change through political settlement and not through violence."