Myanmar's Suu Kyi rejects 'genocide' accusations at UN court
December 11, 2019
The Nobel Prize laureate has offered a defense of Myanmar's military actions that triggered an exodus of Rohingya. Gambia had taken the case to the top UN court, saying it should take all measures to prevent genocide.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate claimed that an internal armed conflict prompted by attacks on police posts in Rakhine State had triggered a mass exodus of Rohingya, saying it did not amount to genocide.
"International justice resisted the temptation to use this legal classification because the specific intent to destroy the targeted group in whole or in part was not present," Suu Kyi told judges at the UN court.
She argued that while there may have been a disproportionate use of force against members of the Rohingya population, it was not a campaign directed at the country's Muslim minority.
"It cannot be ruled out that disproportionate force was used by members of the defense services in some cases in disregard of international humanitarian law, or that they did not distinguish clearly enough between fighters and civilians," Suu Kyi said.
"Surely under the circumstances genocidal intent cannot be the only hypothesis."
Protesters gathered outside the ICJ to protest against Suu Kyi's defenseImage: picture alliance/AP Photo/P. Dejong
Genocide accusations
Gambia, acting on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, had brought the case to the ICJ, arguing that it should take action "within its power to prevent all acts that amount to or contribute to the crime of genocide" in Myanmar.
The US, Canada and the Netherlands hold the military responsible for summary executions and "clearance operations" targeting Rohingya. But Suu Kyi said that the latter formed part of a counter-terrorism strategy aimed at uprooting extremist militants.
That year, more than 730,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh, where many remain in squalid refugee camps.
Gambian Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou on Tuesday urged the court to "tell Myanmar to stop these senseless killings, to stop these acts of barbarity that continue to shock our collective conscience, to stop this genocide of its own people."
Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi had the global community rooting for her when she was the world's most famous political prisoner. But in recent years she was accused of standing by while soldiers massacred Rohingya Muslims.
Image: Reuters
Darling of democracy
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's assassinated founding father Aung San, returned to her home country in the late 1980s after studying and starting a family in England. She became a key figure in the 1988 uprisings against the country's military dictatorship. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) was victorious in 1990 elections, but the government refused to honor the vote.
Image: dapd
Military rule
Suu Kyi spent 15 of the 21 years between 1989 and 2010 under house arrest. After 1995, the rights advocate was barred from seeing her two sons and husband, Michael Aris, even after the latter was diagnosed with cancer. Aris, seen here displaying an honorary doctorate awarded to his wife, died in 1999.
Image: TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP
'The Lady'
Suu Kyi's determination to bring democracy and human rights to her country won her international renown, including the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She was so popular that in 2011 famous French director Luc Besson made a biopic of her life starring Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh. Suu Kyi was often called the world's most famous political prisoner.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Seven Media/Doha Film Institute
Sworn in as lawmaker
Decades of campaigning finally paid off, and in 2012 Suu Kyi was allowed to run in free elections. She won a seat in parliament as Myanmar began its transition away from military government. After general elections in 2015, she became the country's de facto civilian leader, although officially she held the post of foreign minister and state counselor — a role akin to prime minister.
Image: AP
Persecution of the Rohingya
Rohingya, a mostly Muslim ethnic group, had their citizenship revoked by Myanmar's Buddhist-majority government in 1982. Long persecuted, their plight intensified in 2016 when Myanmar's military began what it called "clearance" of illegal immigrants. Groups such as Human Rights Watch have described it as "ethnic cleansing." Thousands have died, and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.
Image: Reuters/D. Siddiqui
Fall from grace
When she became state counselor in 2016, Suu Kyi set up a commission to investigate claims of atrocities against the Rohingya in Rakhine state. Suu Kyi accused the Rohingya of spreading "a huge iceberg of misinformation," and said she was concerned by the "terrorist threat" posed by extremists. Her stance sparked protests in Muslim-majority countries around the world.
Image: picture-alliance/Zumapress/J. Laghari
Nobel no more?
Due to her handling of the Rohingya crisis, Suu Kyi was stripped of various honors and lost much of her international support. The Nobel committee was forced to issue a statement saying that her peace prize could not be revoked. Fellow Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai called on Suu Kyi to "stop the violence." Suu Kyi said that outsiders could not grasp the complexities of the situation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A controversial election
In 2020, Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy party won the November 8 general election, with enough seats to form the next government. However, the military's proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development party, claimed fraud and demanded a new election supervised by the military. With that came comments alluding to a possible coup. Supporters of the party also marched in protest.
Image: Shwe Paw Mya Tin/REUTERS
Military detains Suu Kyi
Myanmar's civilian leader, along with several of her political allies, were detained in an early morning raid on February 1, 2021 led by the military. The move came amid escalating tensions between the civilian government and army, which had been in control for decades.The junta claimed electoral fraud, announced a yearlong state of emergency and named a former general as acting president.
