Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy who won the 1990 free elections in Burma (Myanmar), was honored by U.S President Bill Clinton with the highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. Due to more than six years of house imprisonment by the Myanmar military, Suu Kyi was unable to receive the award in person, instead her son accepted her award on her behalf in Washington. Suu Kyi is the first Southeast Asian woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, yet from 1989 to 1995 and since September 2000 she has lived under house arrest. President Clinton saluted Suu Kyi’s bravery, commenting that “she has seen her supporters beaten, tortured and killed, yet she has never responded to violence and hatred in kind.”
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