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Published
By Agence France-Presse
Myanmar authorities and citizens in the defense of Aung San Suu Kyi Tuesday, April 2, 2010, 2:00 pm Rohingya Muslims, doubling down on support for the civilian leader in the face of global ire.
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi speaks at a business forum on the sidelines of the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore on November 12, 2018. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
Suu Kyi's international reputation as a documentary in the heart of the world.
Canada revoked her honorary citizenship last month and the US Holocaust Museum in March after an award named after concentration camp survivor Elie Wiesel.
Institutions that once showered Suu Kyi with titles are rapidly distancing themselves from a leader they argue is doing little in the face of alleged genocide and ethnic cleansing against its Rohingya minority.
Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, and Ai Wei Wei, Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award
"Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the defense of human rights," Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Suu Kyi released by the group.
"Amnesty International can not justify your continued status as a recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience award and we are hereby withdrawing it from you."
But domestically, Suu Kyi remains popular across vast swathes of Myanmar and within her party, the National League for Democracy, which won elections in 2015 ending decades of military-backed rule.
The stripping of awards of Suu Kyi, but also of all NLD members, the party's spokesman Myo Nyunt told AFP, adding he thought this was all part of a conspiracy.
"All these organizations are working for the Bengalis," he said, "with a pejorative term for the Rohingya that is widely accepted in Myanmar and falsely entails they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Deputy Minister for Information Aung Hla Tun told AFP he was personally sad and disappointed by Suu Kyi was being treated "unfairly".
Such moves would only "make the people love her more", he added.
People on the street in Yangon were defiant.
"Their withdrawal is pretty childish. It's like when children are not getting along with each other and taking back their toys, "50-year-old Khin Maung Aye said.
"We do not need their prize," said Htay Htay, 60.
More than 720,000 Rohingya were driven to the border in Bangladesh in August 2017, and reported a horrific testimony of murder, rape, torture, and arson.
The military says it was defending itself against Rohingya militants.
SUU Kyi's government of complicity, though, has been hauled before a court of law.
Suu Kyi became a democracy icon after spearheading the opposition movement to the feared military junta, which resulted in her spending some 15 years under house arrest before her release in 2010.
She has yet to make decisions about the issue of withdrawn awards.
Calls to revoke Suu Kyi's 1991 Nobel Peace Prize have been rebuffed by the committee that oversees it.
Some think, however, that it will be more popular because it became famous.
"This is effectively an excommunication of Suu Kyi from the pantheon of human rights champions," Yangon-based independent analyst David Mathieson said, adding that the decision would "sting".
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