Dispatches from the conference

Thursday, 14 May 2009

Bad news from Burma for democracy, justice and peace. Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was taken from her home, imprisoned in a notorious Rangoon jail and charged with violating the terms of her house arrest—because an American man (perhaps an activist, motivated a sense of justice; perhaps a bizarre stooge, planted by Burma's military rulers) swam across a lake to reach her house for an unscheduled, unwanted "visit". When he arrived, he was immediately asked to leave. The next day, workers were filmed building a lakefront fence behind Suu Kyi's house. There was an extraordinary, maddening irony that the news about Suu Kyi reached Guatemala on the very day when most participants in the Women Redefining Democracy conference were leaving for home. The same day that the four Nobel women peace laureates here were meeting over lunch to plan the next stage of NWI's work. Around the lunch table were a few empty seats. One should have been filled by Suu Kyi.

Declaration of the Nobel Women’s Initiative Conference on
Women Redefining Democracy
Antigua, Guatemala, May 10-12, 2009

We call upon all states and multilateral institutions to recognize that the democratization process is incomplete, and does not end with elections.  No country or society can claim to be democratic when the women who form half its citizens are denied their right to life, to their human rights and entitlements, and to safety and security.  Despite this, we women have made extraordinary efforts to democratize the institutions of society that frame our lives and the well-being of all humanity – the family, the community, clan, tribe, ethnic or religious group, political, legal, economic, social and cultural structures, and the media and communications systems.  But our search for justice is continually overwhelmed by the violence perpetrated upon us, by the exploitation and colonization of our bodies, our labor, and our lands; by militarization, war and civil conflict; by persistent and increasing poverty; and by environmental degradation.  All of these forces affect us, and our children, far more severely and in unique ways.  We know that democracy that comes from the heart is not the rule of the majority, but safeguards dissent and difference with equal rights, and fosters a culture of peace.  We are in search of democracy that transforms not just our lives, but all society – and we will not be silenced until it is achieved in every part of the world.