At the risk of being a bit of a party pooper there is something underwhelming about Aung San Suu Kyi’s  first statement on getting released from house arrest with, as her lawyer says “no restrictions are placed on her."

She said "I believe in human rights and I believe in the rule of law.” The flaw here is that it was the rule of the military junta’s law that saw her locked up.  Setting aside that little problem the Burma Campaign reports that there are 2,200 political prisoners locked up in the country. The obvious demand for any leader to make is that they be released immediately and unconditionally.

Aung San Suu Kyi  has taken a rather different approach and asked her supporters to pray for those who are still detained. Her strategy is to ask people to think very hard about the ones who are still inside. In a country where the overwhelming majority of the people are religious believers it seems improbable that many of them haven’t already tried that method.

Combine that with her remarks about wanting national reconciliation and not holding a grudge against the people who kept her locked up for fifteen years and it’s hard to conceive that the military junta has too much to worry about.

It’s good that she is out but it seems that she has turned her back on the idea of using her popular support to, at a minimum, get the other prisoners out of jail. Hers is a very limited radicalism.

The video below is part of Jane Birkin’s contribution to the campaign to get Aung San Suu Kyi . If you think it’s harrowing I’ve had to listen to her sing it live.