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Black Eyed Peas Launch Freedom Campaign for Imprisoned Nobel Prize Recipient Aung San Suu Kyi; Monday's Performance to be Simulcast into Dictator-Ruled Burma; New Technology Allows Message of Freedom to Penetrate Government Censors.


WASHINGTON & LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850.  & BANGKOK, Thailand -- Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (oung sän s chē), 1945–, Burmese political leader. , the world's only imprisoned im·pris·on  
tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons
To put in or as if in prison; confine.



[Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en-
 Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish and Norwegian: Nobels fredspris) is the name of one of five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.  recipient, had her story of justice and democracy for the Burmese people brought to the international stage when The Freedom Campaign launched with the Grammy award The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards) are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the record industry. The current President of the Academy is Neil Portnow.  winning Black Eyed Peas This article is about the American hip hop group. For the vegetable, see Black-eyed pea.

The Black Eyed Peas are an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, who have enjoyed worldwide pop success. The group is currently composed of will.i.am, apl.de.
 concert in Bangkok, Thailand today.

With large images of Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced: Aung Sawn Sue Chee) posted on stage, The Black Eyed Peas dedicated their hit song "Where is the Love" at today's concert to the imprisoned Burmese leader. The performance will also be simulcast into Burma where she is under house arrest and the government forbids democratic messages to its populous. With the aid of un-censored satellite technology, this will be only the second time the Burmese people will be able to watch part of an international music concert in which musicians speak about Aung San Suu Kyi and the first time ever that this has been done from any of Burma's bordering nations.

This performance kicks off the global Freedom Campaign; a partnership between the Human Rights Action Center and U.S. Campaign for Burma The United States Campaign for Burma (USCB) is a U.S.-based membership organization dedicated to empowering grassroots activists around the world to bring about an end to the military dictatorship in Burma.  designed to bring attention to Aung San Suu Kyi and the cause for freedom for the people of Burma. The Freedom Campaign will also release a documentary film narrated by Academy Award winning actress Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston (born July 8, 1951) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe Award-winning American actress and former fashion model. Huston won an Oscar for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor.  later this year and hold a series of 'Freedom Concerts' around the world for Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Aung San Suu Kyi stands with the great names of peace and justice such as Steven Biko, Nelson Mandela Noun 1. Nelson Mandela - South African statesman who was released from prison to become the nation's first democratically elected president in 1994 (born in 1918)
Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
, and Mohandas Gandhi," said international human rights activist and founder of Freedom Campaign, Jack Healey. "It's our responsibility as humans to stand up against tyranny and see to it that voices like hers lead people out of oppression. The Freedom Campaign's goal is to do just that."

The dedication portions of this concert will be broadcast inside Burma via satellite through the brand-new Democratic Voice of Burma television station, which is based in Norway. There are an estimated two million satellite dishes inside Burma, reaching up to 10 million of the country's population of 52 million persons. Listening to democracy radio stations or watching such programs on television is illegal under the ruling military regime, a "crime" punishable by up to seven years in prison. In the past, people caught listening to opposition radio stations such as Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private radio station funded by the United States Congress that broadcasts in nine Asian languages. History
1950s
Radio Free Asia was originally a radio station broadcasting propaganda for the US-American government in local languages
 have received lengthy prison sentences.

Just as musicians decades ago performed concerts near the Berlin Wall to encourage respect for human rights in the then-Soviet eastern bloc During the Cold War, the term Eastern Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) was used to refer to the Soviet Union and its allies in Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and—until the early 1960s—Albania). , modern satellite technology today allows musicians playing around the world to share their support directly with people living under repressive governments. Former dissidents in the eastern bloc countries such as Vaclav Havel, who went on to become the President of the Czech Republic after the fall of communism, cite support from musicians such as Lou Reed and others as a key motivating factor in their struggle for human rights.

The Black Eyed Peas dedication follows a previous dedication made by R.E.M. on Aung San Suu Kyi's 60th birthday in June 2005. The Freedom Campaign concerts will be led by renowned activist Jack Healey; well-known for organizing Amnesty International's highly successful concerts around the world.

The Freedom Campaign is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

About Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi leads Burma's vibrant democracy and human rights movement. In stark contrast to the military regime, which rules through force, Aung San Suu Kyi is totally committed to nonviolence. Her political party, the National League for Democracy, won an estimated 82 percent of seats in parliament in Burma's last election, but the ruling dictators ignored the results. Her overwhelming popularity among the Burmese people and her commitment to justice and democracy has led her to become known as the "Nelson Mandela of Asia". Aung San Suu Kyi has won over 70 major international awards for her work on behalf of the people of Burma, including the Nobel Peace Prize, Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament, and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom Medal of Freedom

highest award given a U.S. citizen; established 1963. [Am. Hist.: Misc.]

See : Prize
. She has called on individuals, organizations, and governments around the world to support Burma's democracy movement, stating, "Please, use your liberty to promote ours." She has been jailed since 2003.

About Freedom Campaign (www.TheFreedomCampaign.org)

The Freedom Campaign - a joint effort between the Human Rights Action Center and US Campaign for Burma - is focused on raising worldwide attention to the struggles of Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma.
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Publication:Business Wire
Date:Jul 31, 2006
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