Aung San Suu Kyi backs army over jailing of two Reuters journalists

● Nobel laureate defends security forces over Rohingya crisis

0 Aung San Suu Kyi, speaking at the World Economic Forum’s meeting in Hanoi, meeting admitted Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim crisis could have been handled better Myanmar’s leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has defended the handling of Rohingya Muslims – 700,000 of whom have fled to Bangladesh amid a brutal military campaign – by her country’s security forces despite global condemnation.

The nation’s army is accused of mass rape, killings and setting fire to thousands of homes in the aftermath of an August 2017 attack by Rohingya militants on security outposts.

A report issued two weeks ago by a specially appointed UN human rights team recommended prosecuting senior Myanmar commanders for genocide and other crimes.

Ms Suu Kyi said Rohingya Muslims could have been handled better, but still defended the army against charges of civilian atrocities.

“There are of course ways in which, with hindsight, I think the situation could have been handled better,” Ms Suu Kyi said, responding to questions during a one-on-one discussion at the World Economic Forum’s regional meeting in Hanoi.

She still defended Myanmar security forces, saying all groups in western Rakhine state had to be protected. “We have to be fair to all sides,” Ms Suu Kyi said. “The rule of law must apply to everyone. We cannot choose and pick.”

Ms Suu Kyi also rejected criticism over the show-trial conviction last week of two Reuters news agency reporters, who helped expose extrajudicial killings of ten Rohingya men and boys.

“The case has been held in open court,” Ms Suu Kyi said. “If anyone feels there has been a miscarriage of justice, I would like them to point it out.”

The reporters were both sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on charges of possessing state secrets.

Ms Suu Kyi said the situation in Rakhine was complicated by the many ethnic minorities in the area, some of which were at risk of disappearing entirely and include not just the Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists.

Although the violence in Rakhine state has eased, Myanmar has to deal with its aftermath, especially the repatriation of the Muslim Rohingya who fled and the underlying causes of tension that makes them targets of discrimination.

Ms Suu Kyi said Myanmar was prepared to take those who fled back, but their return had been complicated by the fact that two governments were involved.

Aid workers say conditions for a safe and orderly return of the refugees had not been met.

US vice-president Mike Pence is among those who have condemned the verdicts against the two Reuters journalists and called for their release. “They were not jailed because they were journalists,” Ms Suu Kyi said.