International impact of state laws Competitive global markets require state officials to be active in international economic and political affairs. Some state criminal laws, especially state death penalty laws, implicate international law and provoke international policy controversy. In 1990 the junta refused to recognize elections that gave Aung San Suu Kyi's party a landslide victory. The military, until 1994, refused dialogue with Suu Kyi, its most formidable opponent since it seized direct power in 1988 by bloodily crushing a pro-democracy uprising. The junta suppresses almost all political opposition.
Troops regularly patrol the streets to stop demonstrations.
Hundreds of members of Suu Kyi's party have been detained. The army has frequently been accused of brutality and murder in ethnic areas. Suu Kyi herself lives in circumstances akin to house arrest. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. The Elian Gonzalez incident illustrates how state family law principles can implicate international relations.