FAKE NEWS?
Burma’s Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung Suu Kyi Winks at Rohingya Massacres
The backlash against Suu Kyi shows how much her once ardent supporters have become disenchanted with their former ‘democracy icon.’
09.07.17 1:00 AM ET
Anger and criticism rained down on Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week amid reports that she dismissed coverage of Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis as “fake news.” That’s not quite true. The Lady actually told Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a phone call, that photos tweeted by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek allegedly showing dead Rohingyas had nothing to do with the ongoing violence in her country. She did call that fake news.
The photos were deleted from Simsek’s Twitter account, but Suu Kyi also said such misinformation abets Rohingya insurgents—she called them “terrorists,” just as the Burmese army does. The insurgents attacked security posts and a military base last month, sparking the current military crackdown that has killed more than 400 people and sent some 125,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh.
The backlash against Suu Kyi shows how much her once-ardent supporters have become disenchanted with their former “democracy icon.” They have cause: Suu Kyi is showing an increasingly autocratic streak, interested in self-preservation, intolerant of criticism, and looking ever less like the angel of human rights who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Events of recent months and especially recent weeks reveal clearly that Aung San Suu Kyi has developed a noticeable preference for realpolitik over any [devotion to] human rights,” says Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch’s deputy director for Asia. “She has consistently backpedaled from being an outspoken defender of human rights and has said she’s ‘just a politician.’”
Sen. John McCain, a Suu Kyi fan, recently wrote her asking that she adhere to the country’s human rights obligations, and he suggested that the government’s actions “may amount to crimes against humanity.”
Even Malala Yousafzai has joined in the criticism. "Over the last several years, I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment [of the Rohingya],” Malala tweeted this week. "I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do the same. The world is waiting and the Rohingya Muslims are waiting."
Malala and the world may be waiting a while.
The photos were deleted from Simsek’s Twitter account, but Suu Kyi also said such misinformation abets Rohingya insurgents—she called them “terrorists,” just as the Burmese army does. The insurgents attacked security posts and a military base last month, sparking the current military crackdown that has killed more than 400 people and sent some 125,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh.
The backlash against Suu Kyi shows how much her once-ardent supporters have become disenchanted with their former “democracy icon.” They have cause: Suu Kyi is showing an increasingly autocratic streak, interested in self-preservation, intolerant of criticism, and looking ever less like the angel of human rights who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Events of recent months and especially recent weeks reveal clearly that Aung San Suu Kyi has developed a noticeable preference for realpolitik over any [devotion to] human rights,” says Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch’s deputy director for Asia. “She has consistently backpedaled from being an outspoken defender of human rights and has said she’s ‘just a politician.’”
Sen. John McCain, a Suu Kyi fan, recently wrote her asking that she adhere to the country’s human rights obligations, and he suggested that the government’s actions “may amount to crimes against humanity.”
Even Malala Yousafzai has joined in the criticism. "Over the last several years, I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment [of the Rohingya],” Malala tweeted this week. "I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do the same. The world is waiting and the Rohingya Muslims are waiting."
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