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Rohingya Genocide

Humanity on trial


Published : 14 Dec 2019 09:44 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 10:30 PM

Suu Kyi’s defense speech in the genocide case at the international court of justice this week has certainly been inconsistent with the moral obligations, art, culture and values of a Nobel laureate.

While defending military against genocide charges, Suu Kyi did not use the term ‘Rohingya’ to describe persecuted minority. Addressing Rohingyas as, civilians and members of Rakhine communities, she said Buddhist monks do not touch dirty civilian women and by saying so Suu Kyi not only violated the dignity of women but also she has divulged the sheer racial discriminatory perception she and her countrymen including army and Buddhist monks upholds. 

Suu Kyi’s denial of Rohingya identity is inseparably linked to denial of their human rights and ultimately, to genocide. Her rhetoric at ICJ has showed us a strong sign that the Myanmar government refuses the existence of the Rohingya and their right to enjoy human right. Refusing to use the term Rohingya means she still doesn't acknowledge the root cause of the genocide allegation. Instead she is continuing to carry genocidal policies. No doubt, such denial means there is no willingness to restore equal rights in Myanmar. 

In her speech, Suu Kyi deliberately tried to justify Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya saying that Myanmar had “placed an incomplete and misleading picture of the factual situation in Rakhine state.” Suu Kyi’s claim of no genocide is highly condemnable and certainly not plausible enough to make international community believe in her vague statements. Through her defense speech, the noble laureate not only has lost her moral credibility because of her blatant lies but also she has put all her achievements at stake endeavoring to justify the ethnic cleansing spurred by Myanmar army and Buddhist monks.

Buddhism is the religion of peace but the irony is Buddhist monks too are encouraging violence against Rohingyas. A faith that teaches non-violence has had many of its monks within Myanmar encouraging violence against Rohingyas. Their intent is genocidal in the sense that in Myanmar Rohingyas are considered leeches the way the Jews were considered leeches and bloodsuckers during the Third Reich when Nazism was taking root.

Rohingya families have faced patterns of unimaginable horrors in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Children and their parents have been systematically killed, maimed and raped. Despite the claims that these violations are under investigation and will be dealt with domestically, the government of Myanmar has failed at every turn to punish those responsible. Aung San Suu Kyi did nothing to stop the killing. She could have asked for help from the international community at the time. And now, as the final insult, she defended the army’s behaviour in court.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Now the responsibility is upon the international community that Rohingya and other ethnic groups get the justice and protection they so desperately need and the violence and persecution in Rakhine comes to an end. We can no longer accept Suu Kyi’s tactics of delay and diversion. The atrocity Suu Kyi’s military committed in Rakhaine state is a scar on our collective conscience. It is not only the state of Myanmar that is on trial, it is humanity that is being put on trial in Hague.