From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org


Church Delegation Barred from Meeting Burma’s


From CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org
Date 27 Nov 1996 17:20:43

Aung San Suu Kyi

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
U.S.A.
Contact: Wendy McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227
 or Carol J. Fouke, NCC (long weekend 212-662-
9999)
Internet: carol_fouke.parti@ecunet.org

NCC11/27/96                   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BURMESE MILITARY PREVENTS CHURCH LEADERS MEETING

 RANGOON, BURMA, Nov. 27 ---- A scheduled Nov. 
16 meeting between representatives from the National 
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 
(NCC), World Council of Churches (WCC), Christian 
Aid (Great Britain) and Norwegian Church Aid with 
Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate 
and democracy advocate, was prevented by military 
personnel surrounding Aung San Suu Kyi’s Rangoon 
home.

 “The world should know that in spite of what 
the Burmese government has told the world, Aung San 
Suu Kyi is not free,” said the Rev. Larry 
Tankersley, Director of the NCC Southern Asia 
Office, who just returned from Burma (Myanmar).  
“She is still essentially under house arrest.”

The meeting was scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 
16, at 10:30 a.m., but when the group arrived, they 
found that the military had closed down traffic to 
Aung San Suu Kyi’s home.  The group parked their car 
two blocks away and tried to walk in, but were 
stopped by military personnel who insisted that the 
church leaders could not advance any farther.  Even 
after contacting other security guards, the church 
leaders were turned away.

“We were able to contact Aung San Suu Kyi later 
by phone from the hotel,” the Rev. Tankersley said.  
“She had been quite eager to meet with us, and was 
disappointed (that we were turned away).  She feels 
quite isolated.”  Rev. Tankersley and the other 
representatives were in Burma attending the WCC 
Roundtable for the Myanmar Council of Churches.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace 
Laureate, was elected democratically by more than an 
80 percent majority but was prevented from taking 
office in 1988 when the military took over the 
government and held her under house arrest.  In 
1995, the military claimed that she had been set 
free and she began holding weekly meetings with her 
supporters.  This recent experience reveals that the 
military is clamping down again, Rev. Tankersley 
said.

The NCC has worked with the Myanmar Council of 
Churches for many years and also actively supports 
the Burma Border Coalition, which provides relief 
aid to 100,000 Burmese refugees on the border with 
Thailand.  The U.S. government has taken a strong 
stand against the military government and President 
Clinton recently condemned the military’s actions.

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