Two past recipients of NDI’s W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award – Oswaldo Payá of Cuba and Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma – were unable to attend this year’s 20th anniversary celebration of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought because of restrictions imposed by their respective governments. As former Sakharov Laureates, they were invited to participate in the Dec. 16-17 anniversary activities in Strasbourg, France.

Cuban authorities denied exit permits to Payá, founder of the pro-democracy Varela Project, and the Ladies in White, an organization of female family members of Cuba’s political prisoners. Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma’s non-violent democracy movement, remains under house arrest imposed by the country’s brutal military regime.

“The inability of these remarkable individuals to join their fellow Sakharov Laureates in Strasbourg serves as a bitter reminder of the severe repression in Cuba and Burma as well as persistent government efforts to stifle the democracy and human rights movements in these countries,” said NDI President Kenneth Wollack.

Organizers of the Varela Project – a civic initiative that calls for a referendum on democratic change in Cuba through constitutional reforms – say the situation for human rights defenders in the country is worsening. The group recently reported a government raid to confiscate thousands of signatures collected in support of the Varela Project.  Dozens of Varela Project organizers are currently held in Cuban prisons under harsh conditions; their only crime is peaceful advocacy for democratic change.

The 2008 NDI Democracy Luncheon, held on Dec. 15, focused on the continuing struggle for democracy in Burma, honoring two champions of that cause – Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Women’s League of Burma. Archbishop Tutu received the Harriman Award for his work since the democratic transition in South Africa, which includes his advocacy for democracy in troubled nations, including Burma. The 4th annual Madeleine K. Albright Grant went to the Women’s League of Burma for its work promoting human rights and more participation by women in Burma’s democracy movement.

Pictured above: Oswaldo Payá (right) of the Varela Project, and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Published on Dec. 29, 2008