VOX POPULI: Another birthday, but no freedom for Suu Kyi

It came as no surprise that the U.S. magazine Foreign Policy named North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as the worst of the world's dictators.

The magazine's picked President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe for its second spot. That came as no surprise either.

Gen. Than Schwe, leader of the notorious military junta governing Myanmar (Burma), ranked third.

One of his titles is chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, but "peace" is the last thing one associates with this harshly oppressive dictatorship.

The vernacular Asahi Shimbun recently reported that Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy leader who has been under house arrest for 14 years, turned 65 on June 19.

The sheer number of years she has been forced to live as a prisoner inside her own home goes to show how much the junta fears her.

U.S. President Barack Obama called for her release just before her birthday, but the Mynamar leadership has not responded. Several thousand people are being held as political prisoners in Myanmar.

Trying to find out what is going on in Myanmar is a frustrating endeavor, but I got a glimpse from watching "Burma VJ 2009," a Danish-produced documentary released last month.

The Japanese title is "Biruma VJ Kesareta Kakumei." The "VJ" stands for the video journalists who used hidden cameras to capture a record of daily life in Mynamar so they could share it with the rest of the world.

These journalists risked their lives to make the documentary. I have nothing but the deepest respect for their courage.

The images convey the pervasive fear that gnaws at the leaders who came into power in the absence of a popular mandate.

Deeply suspicious of all citizens, the leaders have spies planted everywhere to essentially terrorize and coerce the nation into submission.

So in a very real sense, Suu Kyi symbolizes Myanmar's distress, where no citizen can hope to be free. In a dictatorship of this type, people's lives carry next to no weight.

"Please use your liberty to promote ours," Suu Kyi has urged the world. For us who do have our freedoms, her appeal is a sobering reminder of our heavy responsibility.

Apathy is a form of endorsement of that which is grossly wrong. And what is grossly wrong is still going on in Myanmar.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 28

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.