Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of highest honour by Amnesty International
Guwahati: Aung San Suu Kyi, better known as the Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1991) and the leader of the National League for Democracy, is stripped of the highest honour that was offered by Amnesty International. The London-based global human rights organization had bestowed the Ambassador of Conscience Award to the political leader in 2009. Suu Kyi had won this award at a time when she was under house arrest.
The latest move by the Myanmar military which drove 720,000 Rohingya out of the country has irked the top human rights organizations of the world. The United Nations too criticized this act by Myanmar as an act of genocide. Amnesty International quoted that the Myanmar leader's "indifference" to the atrocities committed by the military against Rohingya Muslims has displeased them for which the highest honour is being stripped from the leader.
Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said, "Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights.” Naidoo mentioned the above in a letter to Suu Kyi.
The letter further contains, "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."
The letter has been sent and informed to the leader on Sunday only, although no response is seen made by the 73-year-old politician.
At a time, Suu Kyi was a globally hailed freedom fighter and was admired worldwide for her valour who stood up to her country's feared military junta while spending 15 years under house arrest. She was even visited by Hillary Clinton when the two-time US presidential candidate was still Secretary of State in 2011. It was after this, Suu Kyi reaffirmed that she will be working with the United States to bring democracy to her country which contains around 50 million people.
Subsequently, the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by her, gained power in a 2015 landslide which also brought a ray of hope to the people in Myanmar to fight against the injustices inflicted over 50 years of brutal military rule. But, unexpectedly, her tenure marred by a failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims.
As is stated by Amnesty, it believes that thousands of Rohingyas were killed in Myanmar's western Rakhine province since the campaign began August 2017. This is beyond their expectation from the Burmese leader who could not do anything for the Rohingyas and hence, there is no point for her to hold the Ambassador of Conscience Award.