13 Nobel Peace Prize Winners across the world submitted visa applications to Burmese embassies in nine countries on Friday in an attempt to visit detained Burmese pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The laureates, Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams tried to file their visa applications at the Burmese Embassy here in Washington D.C. but the Embassy staff barred them from entering the embassy premise. The laureates then joined dozens of activists in the front of the Embassy to protest the detention of political prisoners in Burma and to push for a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Burmese generals who run the country. In Seoul, the Burmese Embassy had refused to issue a visa to Nobel laureate and former President Kim Dae-Jung. Embassy officias hadl said that Mr. Kim's request to visit fellow Nobel laureate Aung San was an attempt to interfere in Burma's internal affairs.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who was unable to apply for a visa on the day, has expressed solidarity and support for the initiative. "We welcome the recent proposal of the Security Council resolution on Burma, and urge all members to support it immediately," said Jody Williams, who initiated on Friday's action.