Jim Carrey to Burma: Give Peace a Chance

by Gina Serpe
Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:30:56 AM PDT

Forget Winona. Forget Katie. Definitely forget Paris. Jim Carrey wants to focus on a new campaign: Free Aung San.

The suddenly serious funnyman has taken to YouTube, releasing a public service announcement that calls for the release of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, a peace activist and icon of Burmese democracy who has been placed under long-term house arrest for her nonviolent efforts against the Southeast Asian nation's ruling military regime.

On behalf of the U.S. Campaign for Burma and the Human Rights Action Center, Carrey called for the Burmese government to free Suu Kyi, whom the actor refers to as a "hero" of his. She has been subject to confinement for the past 11 years.

"She's a champion of human rights and decency in Asia, and a symbol of hope to all struggling people," Carrey said of the world's only imprisoned Nobel Prize recipient in his 81-second message.


"Even though she's compared to a modern-day Gandhi or Nelson Mandela, most people in America still don't know about Aung San. And let's face it, the name's a little difficult to remember. Here's how I did it: Aung San sounds like 'unsung,' as in unsung hero. Aung San Suu Kyi is truly an unsung hero."

In 1990, Suu Kyi's opposition won a majority of parliamentary seats in the country, and the following year, she took home the Nobel Peace Prize for her regime-beating efforts.

Carrey not only urged people to support Suu Kyi and help call for her release, but to call for the end of the oppressive military regime which placed her under house arrest in the city of Yangon. The regime, led by General Than Shwe, has so far destroyed 3,000 Burmese villages, forced 1.5 million people to leave their homes and recruited more child soldiers than any other country in the world, Carrey said.

To help right the global injustice, Carrey urged viewers to join both the Human Rights Action Center and the U.S. Campaign for Burma to find out how they can help free Suu Kyi and restore her to her rightful position of power in the country.

"People around the world need to come to her aid, just as they supported Mandela when he was locked up," Jeremy Woodrum, cofounder of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, said. "This announcement contributes to an upsurge in activism around Aung San Suu Kyi in the United States and around the world."