Myanmar: Amnesty International Strips Aung San Suu Kyi of Its Highest Honour For ‘Indifference’ to Atrocities Against Rohingya Muslims

You no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights,' said their letter to the Myanmar leader.

London: Human rights organisation Amnesty International has stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour over the Myanmar leader’s “indifference” to the atrocities committed by the country’s military against Rohingya Muslims, said media reports.

The London-based global organisation said it was revoking the Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Suu Kyi in 2009 while she was 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 “Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights,” Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Suu Kyi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.”

Aung San Suu Kyi once stood as a symbol of hope, courage and the undying defence of human rights in #Myanmar.@amnesty recognised her with our highest honour, the Ambassador of Conscience award.

Sadly, we can no longer justify this honour and today we are withdrawing the award pic.twitter.com/gYenr0HAYg

— Kumi Naidoo (@kuminaidoo) November 12, 2018

The group reportedly informed Suu Kyi of the decision on Sunday. So far, Suu Kyi hasn’t issued a public response. Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to power in 2015 in a landslide victory ending decades of military rule in Myanmar.

But her tenure has been marred by a failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims who were driven out of the country by the army in what the United Nations has called an ethnic cleansing campaign.

Earlier, she was stripped of her honorary Canadian citizenship over her failure to speak up for the Rohingyas. She has also lost numerous smaller awards from universities and local and regional governments. Over 7,20,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the country in a military crackdown since August last year. Many of those are believed to have either been murdered, tortured and raped. Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.