Suu Kyi should oppose Myanmar military or resign, says fellow Nobel Prize winner
PHNOM PENH, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi should try to stop military atrocities against Rohingya civilians or resign, fellow Nobel laureate Tawakkol Karman said yesterday. Rights groups and United Nations’ investigators have collected evidence of widespread abuses including sexual violence, killings and arson and described the military crackdown as “ethnic cleansing”. But since coming to power in 2016, Suu Kyi - who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her decades-long pro-democracy fight has failed publicly to condemn abuses against Rohingya civilians which began after Rohingya insurgents attacked police and military outposts.
“We are so angry about our Nobel sister Aung San Suu Kyi,” said Karman, who visited women in refugee camps on Sunday and Monday along with another two laureates.
“She should tell the truth or she should resign,” said Karman by phone from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. “If she continues in this role, she is one of the perpetrators.”
Karman, who in 2011 was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Yemen, said Suu Kyi could face international prosecution along with military officers - as she had failed to protect civilians.
Suu Kyi’s spokesman’s phone was turned off, while two officials at the foreign ministry, which she also leads, said they were not able to answer questions. A military spokesman did not answer his phone.