GENEVA, May 10: Fourteen UN human rights experts on Thursday called on Myanmar's military regime to unconditionally release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when her detention comes up for review on May 27.

The joint statement by the United Nations human rights investigators also reiterated an appeal for the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar.

The experts said Suu Kyi was a symbol of “the plight of all people in Myanmar.” ”As of one of the world's most acclaimed human rights defenders, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate is a major political and spiritual leader of Myanmar,” the UN experts said in a statement.

“We call on the Government of Myanmar to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi unconditionally and to free all the remaining political prisoners,” they added.

Suu Kyi has been under house arrest at her home in Yangon for most of the past 17 years without charge or trial. Her latest period in detention began after a May 2003 attack on her convoy by a junta-backed militia.

She was thrown into prison after the assault but, following an operation four months later, was allowed to return home under house arrest.

If the political prisoners are released, it would be a “significant sign” of the government's will to start “a genuine and effective” transition towards democracy, the UN experts said.

The experts included the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, and specialists on arbitrary detention, freedom of expression, and torture.—AFP