Amnesty International strips Aung San Suu Kyi of Ambassador of Conscience Award

The London-based global human rights organisation — Amnesty International — revoked the Ambassador of Conscience Award from Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday. Citing the reasons of human rights violations and atrocities in Myanmar against Rohingya Muslims, the organisation stripped Kyi of its highest honour.

Kyi was honoured with Ambassador of Conscience award in 2009, while she was under house arrest. This latest addition to the awards being revoked of Kyi by various institutions has come as shock to the entire world. Earlier, she lost her Canadian citizenship and other smaller institutions too had revoked her awards.

Informing about the decision, Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Suu Kyi released by the group, as quoted by NDTV. “Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights.”

It further added, “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.”

Stating the reason, the group was of the opinion that though the Myanmar leader was not directly controlling the powerful security services, but accused her of standing up for the crimes and “obstructing international investigations into abuses”.

It is to be known that nearly 7,20,000 Rohingya Muslims were driven out of the Buddhist majority country, which the United Nations has called an ‘act of genocide’. Amnesty further believes that thousands of Rohingyas were killed in Myanmar’s western Rakhine province since the campaign began August, adding that many more have been either tortured or raped.

With human rights campaigners and journalists continued to be detained and intimidated by the government since her party’s victory, military’s actions have been termed as necessary to combat terrorism.

Following the murders and rapes of Rohingya Muslims, the human rights organisation revoked the honorary award. Though being conveyed the message, there has been no official statement from Kyi.

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