Aung San Suu Kyi: A Leader in Denial?

By Tharanga YakupitiyageUNITED NATIONS, Sep 20 2017 (IPS)After finally breaking silence with a much anticipated address on the ongoing crisis in Rakhine State, Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has disappointed the world as she refuses to acknowledge the plight of her country’s Rohingya community. Aung San Suu KyiIn a 30-minute televised address, Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said that her government does not fear “international scrutiny” over its management of the crisis in Rakhine.Suu Kyi, who decided not to attend the ongoing UN General Assembly in New York, said she nevertheless wanted the international community to know what her government was doing.“We condemn all human rights violations and unlawful violence,” she said in her first public address since violence reignited after the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked security posts on 25 August. “We feel deeply for the suffering of all the people caught up in the conflict.”However, her speech was filled with claims considered dubious by many worldwide as she refused to address the reality on the ground in Rakhine including the the military’s alleged campaign of killing and burning villages.“Her speech was disingenuous at best and dishonest at worst,” founder of Fortify Rights Matthew Smith told IPS, adding that some of her claims were “grotesquely untrue.”A Denial of Atrocities Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize Suu Kyi said that security forces are exercisin...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Armed Conflicts Asia-Pacific Crime & Justice Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Migration & Refugees Religion TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news