Aung San Suu Kyi (May 2002)

International organizations and governments have used the 61st birthday of Burma's detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to call for her unconditional release from house arrest.

The United States, Canada, the U.N. Special Envoy on Human Rights in Burma Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, ASEAN and Amnesty International are among those Monday who issued statements calling on Burma's military government to immediately free Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.

They also criticized Rangoon for its lack of democratic reforms.

Earlier, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Malloch Brown said Burma may be referred to the U.N. Security Council for its repressive policies and treatment Aung San Suu Kyi.

Burma's military government has held the democracy leader under house arrest for most of the past 16 years. Officials recently extended her confinement order until mid-2007, saying she remains a threat to the state.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of Burma's National League of Democracy.

The party won parliamentary elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take power. More than 100 of its senior leaders currently are in prison.