LONDON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Authorities in Myanmar need to end the practice of imprisoning political opponents, Amnesty International said after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy leader, was released from house arrest Saturday, ending more than a decade of being detained. Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, a year after leading her National League for Democracy to an election victory that the military junta never recognized.
Her release came just days after the country had its first general election in nearly 20 years, a vote observers widely dismissed as a sham.
Amnesty International said it welcomed her release but said she was one of more than 2,200 political prisoners held by military authorities in Myanmar.
Amnesty International Secretary-General Salil Shetty said the detention and several false-starts for her release highlights the repressive nature of the military junta.
"The fact remains that authorities should never have arrested her or the many other prisoners of conscience in Myanmar in the first place, locking them out of the political process," he said in a statement.
Authorities ahead of the general election barred people with criminal records from the political process, meaning Suu Kyi couldn't take part.
Her release means her party must decide how it wants to reorganize and what it can do to bring about more democracy, she said.
