USA TODAY International Edition
Myanmar leader stripped of human rights award
Aung An Suu Kyi lost credibility, group says
WASHINGTON – Amnesty International revoked its top human-rights award from Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, saying the Myanmar leader has lost her credibility as a pro-democracy icon for her refusal to stop the brutal, systemic persecution of the Rohingya people inside her country’s borders.
“You no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defense of human rights,” Amnesty International’s secretary general, Kumi Naidoo, said in explaining the human-rights group’s decision.
A 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Suu Kyi’s standing has diminished across the globe in recent months for her alleged complicity in Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing campaign against its Muslim-minority Rohingya population – including the murder, rape and torture of thousands of civilians.
More than 700,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar, and the U.N. has said those responsible should face charges of genocide. Suu Kyi is Myanmar’s civilian leader. International human-rights groups say the country’s military is responsible for the persecution, but note that Suu Kyi has downplayed or even exacerbated the extent of the atrocities.
In September, Suu Kyi seemed to defend her government’s campaign against the Rohingya.
“There are of course ways in which we, with hindsight, might think that the situation could have been handled better,” she said, according to Reuters. “But we believe that for the sake of long-term stability and security we have to be fair to all sides . ... We cannot choose and pick who should be protected by the rule of law.”
“Aung San Suu Kyi and her office have shielded the security forces from accountability by dismissing, downplaying or denying allegations of human rights violations and by obstructing international investigations into abuses,” Amnesty said in its statement on Monday. “Her administration has actively stirred up hostility against the Rohingya, labeling them as ‘terrorists,’ accusing them of burning their own homes and decrying ‘faking rape.’ ”