Amnesty International withdraws award from Suu Kyi

Amnesty International has withdrawn its highest honour from Burma’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi in light of what it said was the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s “shameful betrayal of the values she once stood for.”

The human-rights organization announced Monday that its secretary general, Kumi Nai- doo, informed Suu Kyi that it was revoking her 2009 Ambassador of Conscience Award.

Amnesty has criticized the failure of Suu Kyi and her government to speak out about military atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim population.

Naidoo said Amnesty expected Suu Kyi to use her “moral authority to speak out against injustice wherever” she saw it, especially in Burma.

“Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights,” Naidoo told her.

Suu Kyi, who leads a civilian government that shares power with the Burmese army, has tarnished her image as a global democracy icon by defending the military’s attacks against the Rohingya, which have sent 700,000 people fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh over the past 15 months.

United Nations investigators have described the military campaign as ethnic cleansing, and human-rights groups have documented widespread atrocities including executions of children, mass rapes, arson and looting.