Clinton awards Medal of Freedom to Myanmar opposition leader

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to jailed Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday and honored the civilian accomplishments of five Americans in commemoration of the United Nations' Human Rights Day.

President Clinton awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, to Aung San Suu Kyi, and presented the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights to five Americans

"No one has done more than she to teach us that the desire for liberty is universal, that it is a matter of conscience, not culture," Clinton told those attending the White House ceremony.

Suu Kyi won the the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her peaceful opposition to the military government of Myanmar, which had overturned her party's overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections.

Hundreds of members of her National League for Democracy party have since been jailed in Myanmar, and Suu Kyi herself remains under house arrest after a dispute with the government. Her son, Alexander Aris, received the award on her behalf.

"She has been treated without mercy, yet she has preached forgiveness, promising that in a democratic Burma there will be no retribution and nothing but honor and respect for the military."

The Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, was established by President Truman as a wartime honor and reintroduced in 1963 by President Kennedy as a way to honor civilian service.

It may be awarded only by a U.S. president to individuals who have made contributions "especially meritorious to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

The president also bestowed the recently established Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights to five people, including Tilly Black Bear of South Dakota, who established one of the first shelters for battered women on an Indian reservation, and Norman Dorsen of New York, who dedicated 50 years of his life to promoting civil rights.

Established by Clinton in 1998, the award marked the 50th anniversary of the drafting of United Nations' Declaration of Human Rights, which established a global standard for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The Roosevelt award was given posthumously to Frederick Charles Cuny of Texas, who spent almost 30 years providing aid to disaster and war victims before he was killed in the secessionist Russian Republic of Chechnya five years ago. It was also given to Elaine R. Jones of New York, a leading civil rights leader who spent 25 years in the NAACP Defense and Education Fund; and Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, a longtime human rights activist recently named leader of Roman Catholics in the District of Columbia and southeastern Maryland.

"These five Americans have made our nation and the world a better place. May they continue to inspire and guide us all for years to come," Clinton said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report, which was written by CNN.com writer Mike Ferullo.