Myanmar's military government has decided to extend again the house arrest of prodemocracy activist and Nobel laureate Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. The decision is another sign of the contempt the Yangon government has for the international community. Ms. Suu Kyi should be released immediately and the government should commence discussions with her over the creation of a truly democratic government in Myanmar. If it fails to take those steps, the regime should be isolated. It finally looks as though opinion is changing, and the government in Yangon may yet pay a real price for its stubbornness and contempt for international norms.
The ruling junta in Yangon was stunned in 1990 when the National League for Democracy (NLD), the organization Ms. Suu Kyi heads, won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections even though she and other NLD leaders were under house arrest. The government refused to honor the results and arrested thousands of other NLD members. A year later, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
That international recognition has not intimidated the generals who run the country. Ms. Suu Kyi has spent 10 of the last 16 years under house arrest. She was most recently taken into custody in May 2003: she was touring the countryside to build support for her party when her motorcade was attacked by a progovernment mob. The government then put her under house arrest for "her own protection" and to maintain public order.