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Carleton University to Honour Aung San Suu Kyi

Media Advisory - Feb. 16, 2011

(Ottawa) – Carleton University will award an honorary doctorate to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi at a special ceremony on Feb. 22.

A Doctor of Laws honoris causa will be awarded in absentia at a ceremony highlighted by a speech from the Hon. Flora MacDonald, a former Conservative MP who has devoted her post-political career to international humanitarian work and has met Ms. Suu Kyi.

When: Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, at noon.
Where: Kailash Mital Theatre, Carleton University.
Parking: P1 off Library Road

A map of the campus can be found here: http://www1.carleton.ca/campus/

Attendance:
The public is invited to attend but please RSVP to events_office@carleton.ca 
or call (613) 520-2948 with your name, affiliation and phone number

Background:
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has become an international symbol of peaceful resistance in the Asian country formerly known as Burma.
She was born in June 1945 in Rangoon. Her father, General Aung San, negotiated Burma’s independence from the British Empire in 1947 but was assassinated by his rivals that same year.

After living abroad for many years, Ms. Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988 to care for her critically ill mother and helped found the National League of Democracy to focus the revolt against then-dictator General Ne Win.

Her party won national elections in May 1990 but the junta refused to hand over control.
She has spent most of the last 20 years in some form of detention because of her efforts to bring democracy to the military-ruled nation.

She was finally released on Nov. 13, 2010 after another set of elections that left military-backed parties in control.

Aung San Suu Kyi has won numerous international awards, including the Rafto Human Rights Prize (1990), the Nobel Peace Prize (1991), the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought (1990) from the European Parliament and the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom (2000).

She was also awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for her promotion of international understanding, goodwill and friendship among peoples of the world by the government of India.
In 2007, the Canadian government made her an honorary Canadian citizen, one of only five people to ever receive the honour.

She is the author of several books, including Freedom from Fear and Other Writings (1995), The Voice of Hope (1998), Letters From Burma (1998), Aung San of Burma: A Biological Portrait by His Daughter (1991) and Burma’s Revolution of the Spirit: The Struggle for Democratic Freedom and Dignity (1994).

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For more information:
Amy Guest
Media Relations Officer
613-520-2600, ext. 8718
Amy_Guest@carleton.ca