UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Myanmar to free all political prisoners, including democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.
She has been under house arrest by the military government for 10 of the past 16 years.
"The secretary-general has taken note of the decision by the government of Myanmar on Jan. 3 to grant amnesty to 2,831 prisoners," Ban said in a statement read out by his spokeswoman, Michele Montas. "He welcomes reports that this includes the release of up to 40 political prisoners.
"The secretary-general urges the Myanmar authorities to go beyond this first step by releasing all other political prisoners in the country, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and by making further concrete progress on all of the issues raised in the context of his good offices," said Montas.
The statement is the latest U.N. effort to win the release of Suu Kyi and follows a four-day visit to the Southeast Asian nation, formerly known as Burma, in November by Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari.
The envoy also called for the release of political prisoners, as well as for Myanmar to open up its political process and take "concrete steps" to address other areas of global concern, including hostilities against minorities.
