The U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum has revoked the human rights award it had presented to Aung San Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner and activist who now serves as State Counsellor of Myanmar. The museum is rescinding the 2012 Elie Wiesel Award because of Aung San Suu Kyi’s alleged failure to oppose the ethnic cleansing and possible genocide of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar.
In a letter to Aung San Suu Kyi, the museum wrote, “We had hoped that you — as someone we and many others have celebrated for your commitment to human dignity and universal human rights — would have done something to condemn and stop the military’s brutal campaign and to express solidarity with the targeted Rohingya population.” Rather, the letter asserts that Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party has refused to cooperate with UN investigators, cracked down on journalists trying to uncover the scope of the crimes, and in other ways impeded efforts to assist the persecuted minority population.
The military has killed thousands of Rohingya, burned their villages and buried the dead in mass graves. Approximately 700,000 have been forced to flee, according to The New York Times.
Read more on JTA