Amnesty strips Aung San Suu Kyi of highest honour

606

LONDON, Nov 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Amnesty International on Monday stripped
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour over the de facto Myanmar leader’s
“indifference” to the atrocities committed by the military against Rohingya
Muslims.

It was the latest in a string of awards the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner
lost since Myanmar’s military drove 720,000 Rohingya out of the Buddhist
majority country in what the United Nations has called an act of genocide.

The London-based global human rights organisation said it was revoking the
Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Aung San Suu Kyi in 2009 while she was
still under house arrest.

“Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of
hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights,” Amnesty
International chief Mr Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Aung San Suu Kyi
released by the group.

“Amnesty International cannot justify your continued status as a recipient
of the Ambassador of Conscience award and so with great sadness we are hereby
withdrawing it from you.”

Amnesty said it informed the 73-year-old of the decision on Sunday. She has
so far issued no public response.

Aung San Suu Kyi was globally hailed as a freedom fighter who stood up to
her country’s feared military junta while spending 15 years under house
arrest.

Her plight received added attention when she was visited by Hillary Clinton
when the two-time US presidential candidate was still Secretary of State in
2011.

Aung San Suu Kyi then reaffirmed her committment to working with the United
States to bring democracy to her country of around 50 million people.

Her National League for Democracy party swept to power in a 2015 landslide
that brought hope of Myanmar correcting injustices inflicted over 50 years of
brutal military rule.

But her tenure has been marred by a failure to speak up for Rohingya
Muslims. Her government is also fighting an uphill struggle against
corruption and local conflicts.

Amnesty said it believes thousands of Rohingya were killed in Myanmar’s
western Rakhine State since the campaign began August 2017.

Many more are thought to have been either tortured and raped.

Myanmar has justified the military’s actions as necessary to combat
terrorism.

Amnesty conceded that the civilian government Aung San Suu Kyi informally
heads does not directly control the powerful security services.

But it accused her of standing up for the crimes and “obstructing
international investigations into abuses”.

It added that human rights campaigners and journalists continued to be
detained and intimidated by the government since her party’s victory.

Aung San Suu Kyi was stripped of her honourary Canadian citizenship over
her failure to speak up for the Rohingya last month.

She has also lost numerous smaller awards from individual universities and
local and regional governments.