US Holocaust Museum pulls Myanmar leader Suu Kyi's human rights award

The museum said it wished the Nobel Peace laureate "would have done something" to stop a brutal campaign against the Rohingya population. More than 40,000 people have been "lost" and presumed dead, according to a report.

The US Holocaust Museum announced on Wednesday that it had revoked a human rights award given to Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader of Myanmar.

In 2012, the Holocaust Museum presented Suu Kyi with "the first Elie Wiesel Award" for her pro-democracy efforts under decades of military rule. Other awardees include German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Democratic lawmaker and civil rights activist John Lewis.

The museum said Suu Kyi failed to live up to the standards it expected of the award's recipients. The prize is awarded to people who uphold the vision "of a world where people confront hatred, prevent genocide and promote human dignity."

In their letter informing Suu Kyi of the withdrawal of the award, museum officials said they hoped she "would have done something to condemn and stop the military's brutal campaign and to express solidarity with the

targeted Rohingya population."

Suu Kyi has come under fire for failing to stop the military's bloody campaign in western Myanmar

'Campaign of terror'

Since August, Myanmar has witnessed its worst sectarian violence in years. Burmese security forces and Muslim-minority Rohingya militants have accused each other of burning down villages and staging mass executions.

Earlier this month, the United Nations accused Myanmar of launching a "campaign of terror and forced starvation" against the Rohingya people. Several governments, human rights groups and international organizations have warned that the military's offensive may amount to ethnic cleansing.

More than 40,000 people have been "lost" and are presumed dead after being forced to migrate to neighboring Bangladesh, according to a report published by ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) earlier this month.

"The severity of the atrocities in recent months demands that you use your moral authority to address this situation," the museum said. "While Myanmar has taken important first steps on the road to democracy, any transition that does not protect the country's most vulnerable communities will be deeply flawed."

Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah

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.
Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah

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.
Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah

'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.
Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah

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.
Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah

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.
Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah

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.
Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah

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.
Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah

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.
Aung San Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah

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.

Author: Elizabeth Schumacher

'We must not be silent'

US Democratic lawmaker James McGovern of Massachusetts praised the museum's decision, saying it was an important step "for standing in solidarity with victims."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Aung San Suu Kyi's refusal to condemn or halt ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is shameful," McGovern said. "We must not be silent."

The Holocaust Museum is dedicated to the victims of National Socialism. During World War II, Nazi Germany – under the leadership of Adolf Hitler – orchestrated the Holocaust, in which more than 6 million Jews were murdered.

Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

Shot and stabbed

Since August, more than 600,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh. "The day the military came, they burnt down the village and shot my mother as she was trying to escape. My father couldn’t walk, so they stabbed him. I saw this with my own eyes," says 10-year-old Mohammed Belal who managed to run away from his village.
Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

Haunted by the trauma

Mohammed’s sister Nur also watched the slaughter. She and her brother now live in a shelter for unaccompanied children in Bangladesh. She can play there and gets regular meals, a stark contrast to her journey from Myanmar where she and her brother nearly starved. But she is still haunted by the trauma of the recent weeks. "I miss my parents, my home, my country," she says.
Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

Deep-rooted conflict

The conflict, which has been going on for 70 years and is rooted in the post-World War II social organization of the country, has claimed more than 2,000 victims since 2016, including the mother of 12-year-old Rahman, above. "They set fire to my home, and my mother was ill, so she could not leave," he says.
Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

Save the children

Dilu-Aara, 5, came to the camp with her sister Rojina after she witnessed her parents being murdered by the military. "I was crying all the time and the bullets were flying over our heads. I escaped somehow." The international aid agency Save the Children is helping minors who come to Kutupalong without parents. Children make up to 60 percent of all Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

Hunted like animals

Jaded Alam is among the hundreds of kids who came to Kutupalong without parents. Fortunately, his aunt cares for him — and very well, he admits. Jaded grew up in a village called Mandi Para where he used to love playing football, but everything changed when the military attacked. "They told us to leave our home. When I was running with my parents, they shot them. They died on the spot," he says.
Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

Child abductions

Not all families have been separated during their plight, however. Rahman Ali has been scouring the refugee camp for weeks now after his 10-year-old son Zifad disappeared. Rumors of child abductions have swirled around the camp for years, and Rahman fears his son has fallen prey to human traffickers. "I can't eat, I can’t sleep. I’m so upset! It’s like I’ve gone mad."
Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

"My mind is not normal"

When the shooting started, Sokina Khatun did all she could to protect her children — but she couldn't save Yasmine,15, and Jamalita, 20, who were in a neighboring village at the time. "Their throats were cut in front of their grandparents," she says. "I was numb, I couldn’t feel the pain. Right now my mind is not normal," she says. She managed to rescue nine of her offspring.
Rohingya children: Raped, kidnapped, orphaned

Attacked, raped and robbed

Yasmine thinks she might be 15 but looks considerably younger. In her village, she used to play with marbles and run in the nearby fields, but different memories haunt her now: The attack by Myanmar forces, the beating and murder of her beloved father and brothers, and the rape by a group of Burmese soldiers who also robbed her. "I felt lots of pain in my body," she says.

Author: Jan Tomes, John Owens