About Aung San Suu Kyi
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
Page Aung San Suu Kyi du site web: "Fille du leader de la lib?ration Aung San (assassin? en 1947), Suu Kyi est n?e ? Rangoon en 1945, juste avant que la Birmanie ne se lib?re de la tutelle colonisatrice de la Grande-Bretagne. Sa m?re est diplomate et Suu Kyi est ?lev?e en Inde et en Grande-Bretagne. Elle fait des ?tudes de philosophie, d??conomie et de sciences politiques ? Oxford. Elle poursuit une carri?re acad?mique jusqu?? ce qu?elle rentre en Birmanie, en 1988, pour soigner sa m?re malade.
En juillet 1988, le g?n?ral Ne Win, ? la t?te d?une junte militaire depuis 1962, est oblig? de d?missionner. Les troubles qui suivent cet ?v?nement sont brutalement r?prim?s par l?arm?e. Influenc?e par la philosophie et les id?es du Mahatma Gandhi et de Martin Luther King, Suu Kyi et ses amis politiques fondent, en 1988, la Ligue nationale pour la d?mocratie (LND). Son engagement, non violent, en faveur de la mise en place d?un r?gime d?mocratique lui vaut un grand succ?s aupr?s de la population. Ce succ?s va amener, en 1989, la junte militaire au pouvoir ? assigner Suu Kyi ? domicile afin de diminuer son influence, mais cette mesure ne va pas emp?cher la LND de remporter presque 80% des si?ges lors des ?lections de 1990. Les militaires au pouvoir vont refuser le r?sultat d?mocratique sorti des urnes et vont au contraire augmenter la r?pression et les pers?cutions vis-?-vis de l?opposition et des minorit?s ethniques. Malgr? cela, Suu Kyi, appel?e ?la Dame?, continue de r?sister.
Verdiana Grossi et Patrick Muttner
Source/publisher:
Les Prix Nobels de la Paix (1901-1999)
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
Francais, French
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Description:
Articles about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from the Burmanet archives
Source/publisher:
Burmanet News
Date of entry/update:
2016-02-29
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
English
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Description:
"The continued harassment and detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi demonstrates the SPDC?s ambitions to silence Burma?s greatest hope for peace. Daw Suu does not threaten the generals who control Burma. In fact, she is their best hope.
For over 20 years Daw Suu has exhibited an unwavering commitment to non-violence and dialogue with Burma?s military regime. In light of the junta?s repressive behavior, Daw Suu?s moderate voice and calls for national reconciliation are the true beacon of hope for Burma?s people and must not be overlooked.
Political change in Burma is inevitable, as is the transition of power from the generals to a civilian government. A prominent figure of the democracy movement, Daw Suu commends widespread respect from Burma?s citizens, ethnic nationalities, and even within the armed forces. It is this common admiration that places Daw Suu in the unique position to peacefully guide democratic transition addressing the concerns of all parties.
For a peaceful transition to democracy to take place in Burma, the junta must immediately release Daw Suu and engage in a sincere and inclusive dialogue regarding Burma?s political future. The junta must embrace Daw Suu?s calls for ?reconciliation and progress towards a situation in which we can all participate together for the good of the future.”"
Source/publisher:
ALTSEAN-Burma
Date of publication:
2009-05-28
Date of entry/update:
2009-05-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
106,000 results (September 2003) up from 48,000 (November 2002, up from 45,000 in July). 1,280,000 hits (May 2008); 9.300.000 hits (October 2017)
Source/publisher:
Google.com
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Various documents -- reports, relevant legislation, commentary, statements etc.
Source/publisher:
Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Date of publication:
2009-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-05-30
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
English
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Individual Documents
Description:
"Four years into the five-year term of the NLD-led
government, the issue of political prisoners remains
one of the main problems in the country. Almost
all the repressive laws that the military dictatorship
used to jail activists remain in place. State media
controlled by the NLD government has even carried
propaganda features defending and promoting the
usefulness of repressive laws, and new repressive
laws have been proposed.
On the sixth anniversary of the death of U Win
Tin, almost 200 political prisoners remain in jail,
and almost 400 more activists and journalists are
awaiting trial and possible detention.
Aung San Suu Kyi, as de facto leader of the NLDled government, has the power through Presidential
pardons to order the release of all political prisoners.
Her party has the majority in Parliament needed to
repeal all repressive laws.
Instead of the compassionate and principled
stance you would expect of her as a former political
prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi denies that there are
political prisoners in the country and has made a
deliberate decision to keep those political prisoners
behind bars. This is not an issue where it can be claimed that
she lacks the power to act or is constrained by the
military. The military handed the power regarding
political prisoners to the civilian government.
Constitutionally there is no obstacle, and politically
Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly acted on issues
which she considers important despite potentially
upsetting the military, including making herself defacto President by creating the State Counsellor
position for herself..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
330.12 KB
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Sub-title:
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi reminded diplomats on June 2 to take care of Myanmar migrant workers who have lost jobs in other countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Description:
"Only when a country shows respect for its citizens will other nations do the same, she said.
"We must care for every one of our citizens,” she told Myanmar officials posted in Thailand, China and South Korea during a video conference. “We have to value our citizens. If we don't, other countries will act the same."
Thousands of Myanmar workers have returned home from China and Thailand since last month after losing their jobs due to COVID-19.
Hundreds of migrants have also returned from Malaysia, South Korea, Middle East, among others. Last weekend, Myanmar diplomats in Thailand said that some 34,000 migrant workers have indicated they will return home soon.
"The duties of diplomats are very important. The embassy represents our country,” she said.
She said Myanmar diplomats should always be ready to help citizens in need.
“The Myanmar people should know there is an embassy at their service whenever they have problems, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible to let people know that,” she said.
An estimated 4 million Myanmar citizens work abroad. In 2019, over 305,000 people left the country to work in other countries..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar’s official public messaging about the coronavirus pandemic began with a video. To airy elevator music and a placid voiceover, Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader, stood in a nondescript bathroom and demonstrated the proper way to wash hands. It all seemed very calming and benevolent, with Suu Kyi acting out the maternal role she is accorded by her supporters.
Before the video was posted online on March 21, the government also established a coronavirus task force. But all the while, it sought to downplay the likelihood that COVID-19 would wreak havoc in Myanmar to the same degree it had elsewhere. When the first positive cases soon cropped up, Suu Kyi opened a Facebook account—her first, and likely an attempt to better personalize her relationship with the public—to, as she put it, “communicate faster and more efficiently” on coronavirus-related developments.
While Suu Kyi focused on public relations, others among the country’s leadership, which is still dominated by the military despite a transition to civilian rule, quickly and very publicly inserted themselves into the pandemic response. When reports of the first deaths from COVID-19 in Myanmar began to circulate in late March, senior officials aligned with the military established their own coronavirus task force. Stacked with high-ranking military members of the Cabinet and headed by the military-appointed vice president, U Myint Swe, a former general, it set about opening a quarantine center in the capital, Naypyidaw.
As the number of cases in Myanmar crept up, the military sought to redirect more of the spotlight away from Suu Kyi and toward itself. In parliament, where a quarter of the seats are constitutionally reserved for the military, the men in green did the sensible thing and wore surgical masks, a precaution civilian members of parliament had failed to adopt.
This public jockeying to project authority during the pandemic is indicative of the political tensions and rivalries that existed in Myanmar before COVID-19 hit. In 2015, Suu Kyi’s political party, the National League for Democracy, competed in elections for the first time in a quarter century—and won. By defeating the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party at the polls, the NLD brought an end to overt military rule and raised hopes for genuine change. Yet Suu Kyi—who promised to develop the economy, institute deep democratic reforms and promote unity by ending the country’s many internal conflicts—has offered up little to show for her five years of leadership. Her immense popularity may now be beginning to wane. With elections due in November, the military has started unofficial campaign efforts to retake some of its lost ground..."
Source/publisher:
"World Politics Review (WPR)"
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"The five-point statement released by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on April 21 has infuriated and surprised many, as it is a testimony that she has transformed herself from being an alliance partner of the ethnic political parties (EPPs); mediator between the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and the Military or Tatmadaw; to an adversary of both the EPPs and EAOs. The third point statement writes: “When the whole country’s government (servants), people, voluntaries are trying utmost to prevent, control and cure coronavirus disease (COVID-19), due to the terrorist group United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) implementing destructive actions in Arakan State and Chin State, the Tatmadaw soldiers and officials, risking their lives and bravely discharging their duties, to protect the lives, homes and wealth of the people, are duly acknowledged and praised with honor.”(Unofficial translation by the writer.) Let us now look at the different phases of Suu Kyi in her relationship with the EPPs, EAOs and in general with the ethnic nationalities. It goes without saying that National League for Democracy (NLD) is identified with Suu Kyi and the party is in no way seen as an institution, as it relies overwhelmingly on the her popularity and charismatic leadership..."
Source/publisher:
"Shan Herald Agency for News" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar leader's live broadcasts on Facebook draws hundreds of thousands of views.
Description:
"Broadcasting live from Myanmar's capital, Naypyidaw, Aung San Suu Kyi shuffled some papers, looked straight at the camera and smiled before welcoming her guests to a teleconference call on Facebook.
"Currently, migrant workers are coming back from Thailand and some have resettled in the country. So we are taking the necessary steps to provide quarantine facilities," the country's de facto leader told the more than 300,000 viewers who had tuned into her broadcast on Wednesday. More:
Displaced families in Myanmar's Kachin fear coronavirus threat
Christian pastor who defied Myanmar law positive for coronavirus
Myanmar military steps up attacks as coronavirus spreads
Alongside her, the screen featured three of Myanmar's labour leaders. The first topic of the day was about how returning migrant workers could minimise the spread of the new coronavirus in the impoverished country.
"Those gathered in large groups could be a danger to themselves and the country if they don't follow the rules," Suu Kyi said.
The 74-year-old state counsellor heads Myanmar's coronavirus response team and has reluctantly turned to Facebook to spread her message on the challenges posed by COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The award was granted to the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi three years ago.
Description:
"The City of London Corporation (CLC) on Thursday revoked an honour granted to Aung San Suu Kyi over the treatment of minority Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
Elected representatives on the body that runs London's historic centre and financial district voted to revoke the freedom of the city granted to Suu Kyi three years ago.
More:
ICJ orders Myanmar to protect Rohingya
Myanmar finds war crimes but no genocide in Rohingya crackdown
'Justice served': Rohingya in Bangladesh hail ICJ order
This move in the United Kingdom followed Suu Kyi's appearance, as Myanmar's civilian leader, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in December to personally defend her country against allegations of rape, arson and mass killings against Rohingya victims..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"In this episode of UpFront we challenge Aung San Suu Kyi's former spokesperson on allegations of genocide in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
And we debate the police response to protests in France against President Emmanuel Macron's government with La Republique En Marche MP Roland Lescure..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday that the country’s unresolved political problems are the root cause of failure to end hostilities between the government military and ethnic armed groups as Myanmar continues to strive for permanent peace.
“The governments of the successive periods have tried their best to put an end to the armed conflicts and restore peace to our motherland, but have not yet achieved the goals of peace,” she said in her capacity as chairperson of the Central Committee for the Development of Border Areas and National Races at the 73rd Union Day ceremony in Panglong, also known as Pinlon, in Myanmar’s southern Shan state.
As state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi has made ending Myanmar’s armed conflicts and forging peace the cornerstone of her administration, but the peace process has been stymied by ongoing fighting between Myanmar forces and rebel armies in outlying ethnic regions and by the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine state.
Her civilian-led government has held three sessions of the 21st-Century Panglong Conference attended by delegates from the government, military, and ethnic armed organizations..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
NLD government has prioritized graft-busting but the business-minded military is still immune
Description:
"Myanmar was widely viewed as one of the most opaque and mismanaged countries in the world throughout decades of abusive and unaccountable military rule.
That was supposed to change with the transition to democracy in 2015, with Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party resoundingly voted into power on a promise of change and reform.
Now, as Myanmar enters a new election season pitting her NLD against the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the NLD’s anti-corruption record is expected to feature on the campaign trail. Certain international measures are on the NLD’s side. Global graft watchdog Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perception Index saw Myanmar move up two positions, from 132nd in 2018 to 130th out of 180 ranked countries in 2019.
That ranking has slowly but steadily improved since Suu Kyi assumed electoral power in 2016, when Myanmar ranked 136th on the index. That’s quantifiable international recognition of her government’s anti-graft battle, a campaign of new laws, high-profile arrests and sackings, and improved collaboration on graft issues with the private sector..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Corruption, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"In Taunggyi, the capital of Myanmar’s ethnically diverse Shan State, students, nurses and marching bands lined the streets to welcome State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on her way to to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of Union Day on February 12.
This was the day, in 1947, that Suu Kyi’s father General Aung San signed the Panglong Agreement, a preliminary accord with several ethnic groups (but crucially, not all) that has since been viewed as a touchstone of betrayal among Myanmar’s minorities toward central government rule and its unmet promises of federalism.
Since taking power in early 2016, Suu Kyi has reformulated Union Day and its associated Panglong “spirit” as a vehicle for uneven ethnic peace-building and unification based on ethnic Burman domination. At this year’s event, the government fused military-era propaganda with Suu Kyi’s iron-discipline homilies and vague appeals to peace, “genuine Democratic Federal Union” and protecting the youth from the evils of drugs, crucially “(t)o strive with the collective strength of all ethnic nationals for rule of law, a fair justice system and the security and safety of all citizens.”
Suu Kyi’s concept of “unity”, it appears, is to celebrate ethnic diversity by commodifying and controlling it, not by seeing ethnic communities as equals or granting political concessions, economic equality and ending entrenched discrimination..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, About Aung San Suu Kyi, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar university students staged a rare protest during a speech by the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi at an education sector event in the capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday, criticizing the civilian-led government’s decision to extend the academic year by one month.
She was giving the opening speech at an education sector development workshop at the Myanmar Convention Center when students from the Yangon University Union, Sagaing University Student Union, and Educational College Union stood up with signs objecting to the Ministry of Education’s extension of the school year to March.
Other students demonstrated in a hallway outside the room where Aung San Suu Kyi was speaking.
They also blasted a decision by the ministry to cut in half the current 10-day classes for students enrolled in distance-learning courses.
Students from Mandalay’s Yadanabon University protested against the move in October, saying it would create additional expenses and hassle by requiring them to be physically present on campus for on-site classes two different times before taking their exams beginning with the 2020 school year, the Myanmar Times reported..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Gambian Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou's actions brought Aung San Suu Kyi to The Hague to deny that her country's military was committing a genocide. As the UN's highest court orders measures to prevent further mass killings, Anna Holligan takes a look at the man taking on the Nobel laureate.
Description:
"It was an unexpected detour that led Abubacarr Tambadou from his home in the tiny West African country of The Gambia to experience an epiphany on the edge of a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar.
Listening to survivors' stories he said the "stench of genocide" began drifting across the border into Bangladesh from Myanmar.
"I realised how much more serious it was than the flashes we'd seen on television screens," he told the BBC.
"Military and civilians would organise systematic attacks against Rohingya, burn down houses, snatch babies from their mothers' arms and throw them alive into burning fires, round up and execute men; girls were gang-raped and put through all types of sexual violence."
The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in mainly Buddhist Myanmar.
'Just like Rwanda'
These chilling scenes reminded Mr Tambadou of events in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of about 800,000 people.
"It sounded very much like the kind of acts that were perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
"It was the same modus operandi - the process of dehumanisation, calling them names - it bore all the hallmarks of genocide..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
'Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her partners in crimes should know that denial is a part of genocide'
Description:
"After having co-presided with the visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping over the signing of 33 agreements, including bilateral trade deals, Memorandums of Understanding, strategic partnership agreements, and technical cooperation, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was all smile again this Monday.
On the official website of Myanmar's Independent Commission of Enquiry, smiley Ms Suu Kyi was seen posing for cameras as the former Deputy Foreign Minister of the Philippines Ms Rosario Manalo presented her with the final report of the Myanmar-established Independent Commission of Enquiry which the Philippines diplomat chaired.
The Free Rohingya Coalition, an international network of Rohingya refugee activists and their supporters, issued a statement, refuting the findings of the commission that there is “no” or “insufficient” evidence to establish the genocidal intent behind Myanmar’s destruction of the Rohingya community in Rakhine state and the mass deportations of estimated 800,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh in 2016-2017..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"China’s president Xi Jinping expressed his support for Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is accused of overseeing a genocide against Rohingya Muslims.
During a meeting in Myanmar with Suu Kyi, Xi signed 33 infrastructure and trade deals between the two countries, a move that makes China Myanmar’s largest investor. According to Myanmar’s state-run media, Xi called his visit a “historical moment” for their bilateral relations.
Suu Kyi, a 74-year-old Nobel peace laureate, was once seen on the same level as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi. Her reputation has been damaged however, when she defended her country against a genocide complaint at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. She said that Myanmar was defending itself against attacks by militants.
The country denounces claims that it tried to exterminate the minoruty in a bloody 2017 crackdown by its military, during which some 740,000 Rohingya were forced to flee into camps in Bangladesh. Next week the court will rule on whether “emergency measures” should be taken against Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
New Europe (Brussels)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"China's President Xi Jinping will visit Myanmar on Friday to ink massive infrastructure deals and extend influence in a neighbouring country whose ties with the West were frayed by accusations that...
Sub-title:
China's President Xi Jinping is expected to tie up Belt and Road Initiative deals during his visit to Myanmar.
Description:
"China's President Xi Jinping will visit Myanmar on Friday to ink massive infrastructure deals and extend influence in a neighbouring country whose ties with the West were frayed by accusations that it conducted genocidal policies against ethnic Muslim-majority Rohingya people.
This is Xi's first visit to the Southeast Asian country as the leader of China - and the first visit of any Chinese president in 19 years. Analysts say Xi will bid to revive stalled multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects central to his flagship Belt and Road Initiative, which is described as a "21st-century Silk Road". More:
Myanmar to release its Rohingya crackdown investigation results
ICJ to rule on emergency measures in Myanmar genocide case
World Bank gives China billions in loans despite US objections
Xi is scheduled to meet state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and army chief Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyitaw, in addition to meeting with the heads of minor political parties.
Historically, the two countries have had a sometimes fraught relationship, with many in Myanmar suspicious of the tremendous sway that China holds over its smaller neighbour..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Myanmar is gearing up for elections this year. The general election, tentatively scheduled for some time in November, will essentially pit Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League...
Description:
"Myanmar is gearing up for elections this year. The general election, tentatively scheduled for some time in November, will essentially pit Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) against the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the country’s two major political parties.
As the country inches closer to D-Day, one thing political analysts and observers will be keeping a close watch on is social media – especially popular platform, Facebook. According to statistics from global social media agency, We Are Social, Myanmar doesn’t do too shabbily when it comes to social media penetration in the country. While there is certainly room to grow, the numbers are already significant.
As of January 2019, Myanmar had 21 million active social media users – a 39 percent penetration rate for its 54.1 million population. This is an increase of three million (17 percent) compared to the same period in 2018. Of that number, Facebook has an audience of 21 million, coming in first place for social media platforms in Myanmar. In comparison, Instagram was second with an audience of just 810,000.
We Are Social also noted that Facebook is the third most visited website by Myanmar netizens after Google and YouTube which came in first and second, respectively..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with ethnic Karenni youth in eastern Kayah state Wednesday to discuss local grievances there, the latest step to shore up her ruling National League for Democracy’s relations with ethnic groups as the party faces year-end elections.
The visit, and a trip on Jan. 10 to Kachin state, follows the formation last September of a new committee dedicated to engaging with and promoting relations with ethnic political parties in the multiethnic country that has seen decades of internal warfare.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s travel also comes as her government grapples with a sputtering peace process marked by ongoing warfare between national forces and rebel ethnic armies in its far-flung regions, producing hundreds of thousands of displaced villagers. She had made forging peace and creating a democratic federal union the primary goals of her administration after winning elections in 2015.
It also came as the government faces genocide-related lawsuits in three international courts, including the U.N.’s top court, the International Court of Justice. The ICJ will issue a decision on Jan. 23 on a request filed by Gambia to order provisional measures to prevent further violence against Rohingya Muslims, 740,000 of whom were driven into exile in Bangladesh in 2017..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Karenni (Kayah) State
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"When Xi Jinping travels to Myanmar on January 17, it will be the first visit by a sitting Chinese president since Jiang Zemin toured the country in December 2001.
Xi’s visit will show just how...
Sub-title:
Chinese leader to make historic Jan 17-18 visit in bid to advance contested Belt and Road Initiative
Description:
"When Xi Jinping travels to Myanmar on January 17, it will be the first visit by a sitting Chinese president since Jiang Zemin toured the country in December 2001.
Xi’s visit will show just how much times have changed between now and then. Jiang visited Myanmar when it was still ruled by a military junta and China was the then isolated nation’s closest ally.
Xi, on the other hand, will be meeting democratically elected leaders and China is no longer the country’s only important partner. Countries such as Japan and India are now vying for influence by offering various kinds of assistance — economic, political and in the case of India even military — to challenge China’s previously dominant role.
But in a curious twist of events, Myanmar’s still-powerful and autonomous military is the one wary of China and its intentions. The top brass see it as their duty to protect the country’s sovereignty, while nominal leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a politician who wants here government to be re-elected this year, has turned to Beijing for economic and other assistance after her previous allies and admirers in the West distanced themselves from her over the Rohingya refugee crisis..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, About Aung San Suu Kyi, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
She was once a beacon of democracy standing up to the country’s military but the genocide against the Rohingya has left Suu Kyi painfully exposed...Nobody denies the intractable difficulties she and her country face. But she ought to have used her moral authority to address the ethnic divide.
Description:
"Is she Cersei Lannister: cold, cynical and deadly? Or Sansa Stark: noble, long-suffering and genuine?
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi – the general’s daughter presiding over a desperately fragile state – has been transformed from being the military’s nemesis into its leading apologist or, worse yet, its enabler.
As the proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gear up and Myanmar again comes under global scrutiny, many have asked how she could have become so reviled?
She has allowed the darkest forces in her nation to wreak violence against the long oppressed Muslim Rohingya minority, whom she refuses to acknowledge..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Suu Kyi returned from the Hague on 14th December. She was received at the airport by enthusiastic colleagues and the people that included Members of Parliament, Locals, teachers and students. Significantly, no Senior Army Official was present.
At the court, in her final submission, Suu Kyi said that the case filed by Gambia should be dismissed or alternatively, the provisional measures requested by Gambia should be dismissed.
It should be noted that decisions on both the counts of “intent of Genocide” or “provisional measures” to protect the Rohingyas from future threats of violence will take a long time and are not enforceable also unless it is brought to the Security Council again for action. Here again both China and Russia may come to Myanmar’s rescue. It is in this connection, Joe Kumbum’ (an analyst from Kachin under a pseudonym) has suggested that Myanmar should keep in touch with the Western powers lest it does not go over to the Chinese. My response would be that it is the Western Powers including the USA that should take the initiative.
Suu Kyi while conceding that excesses may have taken place said that the country has had one Court Martial to try the guilty officers and one more is also in the offing. Surprisingly she even undertook that more Court Martials will be pursued once the report of the ICOE- Independent Commission of Enquiry submits its proposal that is expected in a few days..."
Source/publisher:
"Eurasia Review"
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Rohingya rebels who had been holding him for weeks said he died during military attacks on Christmas Day
Description:
"An official from Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party was killed in Rakhine state after planning a show of support for the leader’s defense of Myanmar against genocide allegations at The Hague, a spokesman said Thursday.
The National League for Democracy’s Ye Thein, party chairman in Buthidaung township, had been held for weeks by the Arakan Army, insurgents fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.
The rebels said he was killed in military attacks on Christmas Day but the claim could not be verified and NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt said the group bore responsibility. Ye Thein was detained on December 11 ahead of demonstrations backing Suu Kyi’s high-profile opening statements at the UN’s top court the same day.
“We, all members of NLD, are very sorry for the loss,” Myo Nyunt told AFP. “His gathering to support her was righteous and it was not a crime.”
The Arakan Army has carried out a series of daring kidnappings, bombings and raids against the army and local officials in Rakhine state.
Myanmar’s military has hit back hard, deploying thousands of additional soldiers to the western state and carrying out what Amnesty International called enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Discrimination against the Rakhine, The Military's political role
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"While Myanmar’s state counselor and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi focused her energies last month on personally defending her country’s appalling human-rights record in The Hague, bewildering ever more erstwhile supporters for papering over atrocities, “Rape as a Weapon of War and the Women Who Are Resisting: A Special Report” recently released by the Free Burma Rangers (FBR) reflects a more accurate portrayal of the true nature of the ethnic conflict embroiling the long-troubled country.
“Sexual violence has become a hallmark of the prolonged civil conflict and an indisputable tactic of the Burma Army against ethnic women,” the report states. “After several failed domestic and international agreements, the Burma Army continues to rape with impunity, but women across the ethnic states are tired of living in fear.” Working with local ethnic pro-democracy groups, FBR trains, supplies, and later coordinates with teams providing humanitarian relief. After training, these teams provide essential emergency medical services, basic necessities and human-rights documentation in their home regions..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Kachin State, Armed conflict in Kachin State - general articles, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Myanmar leader, Aung San Suu Kyi made a rare trip to a region bordering China days before President Xi Jinping is expected to push for controversial port and dam projects during a visit to the...
Description:
"Myanmar leader, Aung San Suu Kyi made a rare trip to a region bordering China days before President Xi Jinping is expected to push for controversial port and dam projects during a visit to the country.
Wearing traditional ethnic attire, Suu Kyi danced with a street procession on Friday in northern Kachin state's capital Myitkyina, a day after supporters cheered her arrival at the airport. She urged a crowd of thousands to "focus on the present" and called for peace in the remote region, where insurgents have clashed with the army over autonomy and resources.
She did not mention the China-backed Myitsone dam, a US$3.6 billion project halted in 2011 in the face of widespread opposition.
A proposal to reinstate the dam drew thousands of protesters onto the streets last year.
Myanmar is a vital piece of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Xi's US$1 trillion vision for maritime, rail and road projects across Asia, Africa and Europe.
During his two-day visit to the country starting 17 January, Xi and top Myanmar political and military leaders are expected to discuss the initiative, according to a Friday briefing by China's Vice Foreign Minister, Luo Zhaohui..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi called on all signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) to take responsibility and accountability in implementing the pact, saying its principles apply equally to all stakeholders.
She made the comments on Wednesday at the resumption of the long-awaited Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM) in Naypyitaw, at which she was joined by military representatives led by deputy army chief Vice Senior General Soe Win, and ethnic representatives led by Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) chairman General Yawd Serk.
The JICM is considered a gateway to resuming the formal peace process, which has been stalled for more than a year since two NCA signatories suspended their participation. The Karen National Union decided to temporarily suspend its participation in formal peace negotiations in October 2018 and the RCSS withdrew from the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) on the NCA the following month..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"On Dec 11, Myanmar's State Counsellor-cum-Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi stood at the podium of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague and defended her country against the accusation of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention over the military's clearance operations in northern Rakhine state, which caused more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee the Southeast Asian country for Bangladesh.
On behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, Gambia filed a case at the ICJ to order for"provisional measures to "protect and preserve the rights" of the Rohingya minority.
The ICJ's ruling can possibly have two outcomes. If the ruling goes in favour of Gambia, there may be a new wave of violence targeting not only the Rohingya, but the larger Muslim population in Myanmar. And if the court dismisses the case, it may provoke anger among the Rohingya and their supporters across the globe -- including the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.The legal process has triggered global attention and understandably it also divides the international community largely into two groups -- those who support Ms Suu Kyi and others who criticise or condemn her.
Among others, those who criticise Ms Suu Kyi have argued that she has transformed herself from an international democratic icon and a champion of human rights to a denier of genocidal acts..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar nominal leader’s defense of Rohingya crackdown at ICJ boosts her re-election chances
Description:
"To much of the world, Myanmar’s nominal leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate turned genocide denier. At home, she is seen as a heroine who went to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to defend and uphold her country’s honor, though not necessarily in defense of the powerful military with which she has been at loggerheads for years.
The case brought to the ICJ by Gambia “to protect and preserve the rights” of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority under the United Nations Genocide Convention will likely be a drawn-out and inconclusive legal process. That’s in part because all five permanent members of the UN’s Security Council may veto the enforcement of any verdict, which Myanmar allies China and Russia will likely do. Neither is an investigation ordered by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November into alleged “crimes against humanity” committed during a Myanmar army campaign against the Rohingyas in 2017, which killed thousands and forced hundreds of thousands to flee across the border into neighboring Bangladesh, expected to succeed in prosecuting the perpetrators..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Genocide
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
After decades and decades of iron-fisted rule by one of the most repressive military regimes the world has ever seen, its people deserve better. At least, Justice, accountability, truth, and national reconciliation are aspirations that many have fought and died for many years. Myanmar cannot lose sight of them.
Description:
"As 2019 draws to a close, with no positive progress on the situation of human rights, Myanmar[1] has drawn international attention regarding allegations of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for crimes committed against the Rohingya. However, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s decision to represent the country as the Agent at the ICJ court proceedings in the Hague in defense of “the national interest”, has caused and continues to cause deep divisions amongst diverse people of Myanmar inside and outside of the country. Meanwhile in Rakhine State, clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military has displaced more than 5,800 people in one week while in some parts of Rakhine State people are still unable to access the internet, making it six months since it was shut down by the government. On Saturyday, twenty civil society organizations in Myanmar issued a joint statement – initiated by Free Expression Myanmar and joined by others including Progressive Voice – condemning this continued shut down of internet access in parts of Rakhine State.
In her capacity as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi took the stand at the ICJ over the course of 10 – 12 December 2019 as the Agent of Myanmar. Although she denied the genocidal intent of the crimes, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi admitted at the world court that atrocity crimes have been committed by the Myanmar military. In her statement she admitted that “it cannot be ruled out that disproportionate force was used by members of the Defence Services in some cases in disregard of international humanitarian law.” The Myanmar military can no longer hide its brutal human rights violations against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities. However, what is troubling is that a number of public rallies were held across the country in support of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi without a clear understanding of the public hearings at the Hague. The Myanmar military and the National League for Democracy government has taken advantage of this lack of clarity, falsely claiming that the people of Myanmar are on trial, rather than the State, for violating the Genocide Convention. Therefore, many of those who gather at the rallies in support of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi believe that they have a duty to support their leader for “defending the country.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Progressive Voice" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Genocide
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Recent atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims were business as usual for Myanmar’s war-hardened army
Description:
"In her defense of Myanmar against charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague last week, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was at pains to stress the complexity of the ethnic conflict in Rakhine state and her country’s stumbling efforts to implement its own process of accountability and military justice.
As Myanmar’s de facto political leader and foreign minister, she was clearly hobbled by her inability to articulate what would have been a far more persuasive line of argument: the 2017 atrocities perpetrated on the Rohingya Muslims of Rakhine were hardly an exceptional campaign of genocide, but rather what for the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, was simply business as usual – in military jargon “standard operating procedure” (SOP) – that has not normally garnered international attention, let alone global outrage.
The sickening specifics of the Tatmadaw’s SOP in Rakhine have been spelled out in voluminous reports from a United Nations (UN) Fact Finding Mission and leading international human rights organizations. Some were again recounted by lawyers for the Gambia, which lodged the accusation of genocide with the court..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"The UN resolution passed on Friday expressed alarm at the continuing influx of Rohingya to Bangladesh over the past four decades "in the aftermath of atrocities committed by the security and armed...
Description:
"The UN resolution passed on Friday expressed alarm at the continuing influx of Rohingya to Bangladesh over the past four decades "in the aftermath of atrocities committed by the security and armed forces of Myanmar".
It highlighted the findings of an independent international mission "of gross human rights violations and abuses suffered by Rohingya Muslims and other minorities" by Myanmar's security forces, which the mission described as "the gravest crimes under international law".
The resolution called on Myanmar to protect all groups and to ensure justice for all violations of human rights. It was passed by a total of 134 countries in the 193-member world body, with nine votes against and 28 abstaining.
UN General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but can reflect world opinion.
The UN ambassador for Myanmar, Hau Do Suan, called the resolution "another classic example of double-standards [and] selective and discriminatory application of human rights norms".
He said it was designed to exert "unwanted political pressure" on Myanmar and did not attempt to find a solution to "the complex situation in Rakhine state"..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
2020 elections will show how much damage has been done to leader’s reputation as a democratic reformer
Description:
"A new huge billboard recently erected at a major intersection in Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon portrays the nation’s nominal leader with a message of support: “We stand with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”
Such billboards are not unique in Myanmar and appeared well before Suu Kyi headed to The Hague’s International Court of Justice in December to defend her nation against charges of genocide, a stand that was widely panned by foreign media but cheered by nationalist groups at home.
But the new signboard’s existence and message are noteworthy all the same. “Five years ago, it would not have been necessary,” says a local community worker who requested anonymity. “Then everybody in Yangon supported her and no-one had to be reminded of that.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
UN member states voted 134-9 with 28 abstentions to call for urgent action to stop racial hatred against the Rohingya.
Description:
"The UN General Assembly (UNGA) approved a resolution on Friday strongly condemning human rights abuses against Myanmar's Rohingya and other minorities, including arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and deaths in detention.
The 193-member body voted 134-9 with 28 abstentions in favour of the resolution, which also calls on Myanmar's government to take urgent measures to combat incitement of hatred against the Rohingya and other minorities in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states. More:
Transcript: Aung San Suu Kyi's speech at the ICJ in full
Rohingya refugees reject Aung San Suu Kyi's 'lies on genocide'
At top court, Myanmar urged to 'stop genocide of own people'
UNGA resolutions are not legally binding but they reflect world opinion.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be "Bengalis" from Bangladesh, in spite of their families having lived in the country for generations.
Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless; they are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said on Wednesday evening that Myanmar’s delegation defended the country “to the best of their ability” against genocide charges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in her first briefing to the nation since she returned from The Hague on Saturday.
The Gambia accused Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention over military clearance operations in northern Rakhine State, which caused more than 730,000 Rohingya to flee the Southeast Asian country for Bangladesh. The African country asked the ICJ to order “provisional measures” to prevent more violations.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi led the country’s legal team in presenting oral arguments before the court from Dec. 11 to 12.
In her 15-minute-long speech on Wednesday she said representing Myanmar at the ICJ was an honor but also “a grave responsibility”, as the case submitted by The Gambia accused Myanmar of the most serious of crimes, genocide.
However, she said, the delegation constantly kept in mind the honor of Myanmar, the aspirations of its people, and its obligations as a member of the international community..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday thanked supporters who staged large rallies on her behalf as she defended the country against genocide charges at The Hague, speaking to the nation for the first time since she returned on Sunday. Gambia accused Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention over a military campaign that drove more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh. It has asked the International Court of Justice to order “provisional measures” to prevent more harm.
“The support of our people, given generously and unquestioningly ... was a great source of strength to us when we presented our case at the ICJ,” Nobel laureate Suu Kyi said in a televised address screened by the state broadcaster.
Suu Kyi led a team to the Netherlands for three days of hearings last week, during which she denied genocide and argued the U.N. court should not have jurisdiction.
“Every country passes through difficult times and Myanmar is no exception. Such trials provide us with an opportunity to assess our strengths and weaknesses, to reinforce one and rectify the other,” she said..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi urged United Nations (UN) judges on Thursday to throw out a genocide case against Myanmar, warning it risked reigniting the crisis that forced nearly three quarters of a million Rohingya Muslims from their homes.
In her closing arguments after a three-day hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Myanmar's de facto civilian leader issued a stark warning to judges that allowing Gambia's case against Myanmar to go ahead could "undermine reconciliation".
Suu Kyi, whose defence of the same generals she once defied has shredded her reputation abroad as a rights icon, even showed pictures of a football match recently played in the area affected by the violence in 2017 as evidence that was peace was returning
"I pray that the decision you make with the wisdom and vision of justice will help us to create unity out of diversity," said Suu Kyi, who wore traditional Burmese dress and flowers in her hair..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Few people have risen so high in the international imagination only to fall as dramatically as Aung San Suu Kyi.
In 2013, after the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was released from house arrest in Myanmar, as the military regime gradually liberalized in the face of punishing international sanctions, Suu Kyi was hailed in the British parliament as a "conscience of a country and a heroine for humanity."
Two years later, as she celebrated victory for her National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar's first free elections in decades, the moment seemed to solidify her place in history as Asia's Nelson Mandela.
This week, the "heroine for humanity" appeared at the Hague to defend her country -- and by extension herself -- from accusations of genocide against Rohingya Muslims, hundreds of thousands of whom have been forced out of northwestern Myanmar by a yearslong military crackdown.
Few people are as perfect as their public image, especially when they are perceived as a saint. Nor did the 2015 election represent as much of a break with Myanmar's past as it first seemed -- the military kept a firm grip on power, while the ethnic strife and civil war which have racked the country since independence never went away..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"This week, the world was treated to an extraordinary sight. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner once hailed as “the bravest and most moral person in the world ... the immaculate heroine who allows us all to feel a little better about human nature”, sat in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague and defended her country against charges of genocide.
The brutal “clearance operations” by Myanmar’s security forces against the Muslim Rohingya population in Rakhine State between October 2016 and the end of 2017 have been extensively documented by governments and international organisations. In 2018, for example, an independent UN fact-finding mission released a 444-page report that described in horrific detail case after case of murder, torture, sexual assault and the destruction of property by the armed forces (known as the Tatmadaw) and the police.
The UN Human Rights Council stated that these operations demonstrated “genocidal intent”. A more politically nuanced US State Department investigation conducted at the same time stopped short of calling the atrocities in Myanmar genocide, but recorded broadly similar findings. Both reports noted that there were almost one million Rohingya refugees living in squalid camps in Bangladesh who stood as evidence of the crimes against humanity perpetrated against them..."
Source/publisher:
"The Interpreter"
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi is defending Myanmar in court against accusations of genocide.
According to a case brought by the country of Gambia at the United Nations’ International Court of Justice, the Myanmar military in August 2017 carried out a systematic, targeted campaign of terror, rape and murder against its Muslim population.
UN investigators say as many as 10,000 Rohingya – a Muslim minority in this Buddhist-majority nation – were killed. Another 730,000 Rohingya fled the massacre for Bangladesh, joining 300,000 Rohingya who had previously fled oppression in Myanmar.
Suu Kyi said during hearings at the Hague on Dec. 11 that the charge of genocide is “misleading” because “cycles of intercommunal violence” in Myanmar date “back to the 1940s.” The Myanmar military explains its campaign as a counter-terrorism effort against a violent Rohingya extremist group..."
Source/publisher:
"The Conversation"
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar's State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country against accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague Wednesday. Some Western media outlets lashed out at the Nobel Peace Prize winner, accusing her of being the spokesperson for the massacre in Rakhine state in northern Myanmar. But inside the Southeast Asian country, which has been under the spotlight over the ethnic controversy for years, Suu Kyi enjoys widespread support. After the Myanmar leader's announcement to go to The Hague in November, hundreds of rallies were held in Yangon to show support for her. Domestic supporters said it was unfair for Western countries to put pressure on the Myanmar government led by National League for Democracy (NLD) and on Suu Kyi herself.
That the Western countries have accused the NLD government of religious persecution has triggered resentment among Myanmese. In fact, the Rohingya issue has been a long-term political, historical, ethnic, religious, economic and social problem, with various interwoven factors, such as the immigration policy during British colonial rule, illegal cross-border immigration since the independence of Myanmar in 1948, poverty, as well as lack of rule of law and national security.
So far, successive governments in Myanmar have failed to find a proper solution to the thorny issue. After Myanmar's political transformation, the Rohingya issue has been widely discussed at home and abroad, and has also become a bargaining chip for political forces to fight for power and interests. The NLD government is confronted with immense pressure from all walks of life at home and from the international community which makes it even more difficult to deal with the Rohingya conundrum..."
Source/publisher:
"Global Times" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Muslim victims of Myanmar ‘clearances’ voice outrage as peace prize winner dismisses atrocity charges
Description:
"When Aung San Suu Kyi rose to denounce genocide charges against her country at the “world court” last week, three victims of Myanmar’s ethnic violence were sitting close behind the Nobel peace prize winner – disbelieving and seething with anger.
Hamida Khatun, Yousuf Ali and Hasina Begum had travelled from the sprawling Kutupalong refugee camp outside Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh to sit on the legal delegation attending the International Court of Justice’s emergency hearing in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
Only lawyers were allowed to address the 17 judges during the three-day session in the United Nations’ highest tribunal. The exiled Rohingya Muslims had to sit in silence, stifling their emotions.
Khatun, 50, and Ali, 46, voted for Aung San Suu Kyi in 2010 when, after 15 years of house arrest, she represented a figure of democratic hope defying the military dictatorship..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
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Description:
"It took 21 years for Myanmar's now de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to finally accept her Nobel peace prize after many years under house arrest. During her acceptance speech, she talked about how "wherever suffering is ignored, there will be the seeds of conflict, for suffering degrades and embitters and enrages". For the Rohingya people of her country, these were prescient words.
Last week, Suu Kyi found herself at the International Court of Justice at The Hague defending her country from accusations of genocide. The hearing against Myanmar, made by the tiny African nation of Gambia, centres on the more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims forced to flee to Bangladesh in 2017 after systematic "clearance operations" led by the military. Its case relies on a UN fact-finding mission, which described soldiers in the Myanmar state of Rakhine firing indiscriminately into houses and fields, houses set on fire with people locked inside, mass rapes, and children thrown into rivers and onto fires.
The military operation flared after many years of tension between the state’s two largest groups, the Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslims. The Rohingya minority have long suffered discrimination in the form of severe travel restrictions, limited access to education and Myanmar's unwillingness to give them citizenship, in effect making them stateless. When the Rohingya's frustrations led them to attack a military base in 2017, the response from Myanmar was devastating..."
Source/publisher:
"The Sydney Morning Herald" (Sydney)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
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Description:
"Rohingya civilians.” That’s the phrase conspicuously absent from Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s 3,500-word statement to the International Court of Justice on Wednesday. The omission is no accident.
Suu Kyi’s highly anticipated ICJ appearance was to answer to The Gambia’s official complaint of Myanmar’s violations of the United Nations’ 1948 Genocide Convention, linked to the extreme military abuses against Muslim Rohingya civilians. Yet her judicial defense strategy studiously avoided any mention of civilian suffering. Instead, Suu Kyi – the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate – peddled the Myanmar military‘s long-discredited narrative that its activities in northern Rakhine state in August 2017 constituted legitimate “clearance operations” in response to attacks on police posts, allegedly perpetrated by an insurgent group. According to Suu Kyi, what transpired was merely “an internal armed conflict started by coordinated and comprehensive attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, to which Myanmar’s Defense Services responded.”Unfortunately for Suu Kyi, that narrative is at odds with voluminous evidence compiled by the United Nations’ Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), and other rights monitors. That documentation demonstrates a vicious, widespread, and systematic targeting of Rohingya civilians by security forces in a weeks-long violence spree that began on August 25, 2017. That’s when security forces attacked hundreds of Rohingya villages, massacring thousands of their residents, gang-raping thousands more, and burning their homes to the ground..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
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Description:
"Two years ago, Myanmar's military launched its crackdown on the Rohingya after attacks on its soldiers by members of the mainly Muslim minority.
The UN described what happened next as a 'textbook example of ethnic cleansing'.
The army was accused of rape, torture and murder, and villages were burned to the ground.
Almost three-quarters of a million Rohingya were forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they live in the world's biggest refugee camp.
The Gambia wanted Myanmar's military tried for genocide, and went to the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
But Aung San Suu Kyi, Head of Myanmar's government, and a Nobel peace laureate, dismissed the case as "misleading and incomplete."
Why is this one-time champion of human rights defending the army that kept her under house arrest for years?..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
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Sub-title:
The spectacle of Aung San Suu Kyi, a once-persecuted Nobel peace laureate now defending her country against allegations of genocide over its treatment of the Rohingya minority, has been one of bewildering irony.
Description:
In the years after she was released from house arrest in 2010, princes, presidents and prime ministers welcomed Aung San Suu Kyi with open arms into their own opulent homes.
The feel-good factor of rubbing shoulders with someone who had dedicated much of her adult life to the pursuit of democracy was irresistible.
Then, the grandeur of the Peace Palace in The Hague - a marble-floored monument to global harmony - would have been comfortable surroundings for Myanmar's Nobel Peace Prize winner. A native habitat, even.
But not now. There was no red carpet, welcoming committee or brass band.
Aung San Suu Kyi: The democracy icon who fell from grace
Bangladesh 'to be tougher' on Rohingya refugees
Will Omar get justice for his murdered family?
Instead the light pouring through the stained glass of the Great Hall of Justice illuminated an often haunted-looking figure who had chosen to come and listen to descriptions of some of the most unimaginably gruesome acts. Acts said to have been committed in her country. On her watch..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
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Description:
"Canadian lawyer William Schabas, an international scholar on genocide, has been criticized by friend and foe for first researching crimes against the Muslim Rohingya of Myanmar, and now defending the state accused of perpetrating them. Schabas helped research a report in 2010 on systematic attacks against the Rohingya, which concluded that they met the international threshold of crimes against humanity.
Three years later, in an Al Jazeera documentary, he was filmed saying: “Denying their history, denying the legitimacy of their right to live where they live, these are all warning signs that mean that it’s not frivolous to envisage the use of the word genocide.”
This week Schabas stood alongside Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and denied genocide took place during a military campaign in 2017 in which thousands were killed and raped and hundreds of thousands displaced.
“William Schabas is basically selling out the Rohingya for some Myanmar gov’t $$$. Really the worst sort of behavior, how totally immoral and two-faced,” Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch said on Twitter on Thursday..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
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Description:
"Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the case brought against her country at the World Court was "incomplete and misleading" as she began her defence to accusations of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority on Wednesday.
Suu Kyi, once feted in the West as a heroine of democracy, spoke for about 30 minutes at the courtroom in The Hague in defence of the actions of the Myanmar military, which she said did not constitute genocide.
In three days of hearings this week, judges are hearing the first phase of the case: Gambia's request for "provisional measures" - the equivalent of a restraining order against Myanmar to protect the Rohingya population until the case is heard in full.
More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to Bangladesh after the military launched a crackdown in western Rakhine state in August 2017..."
Source/publisher:
"Global News" (Toronto)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
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Sub-title:
Leader says a report from an internal inquiry into Myanmar soldiers was due soon
Description:
"In a defiant closing address to the UN’s highest tribunal, Aung San Suu Kyi has pleaded with its 17 international judges to dismiss allegations that Myanmar has committed genocide and urged them instead to allow the country’s court martial system to deal with any human rights abuses.
The 74-year-old leader of the Asian country informed the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague that she expected a report by an internal inquiry to recommend more prosecutions of Myanmar soldiers soon.
“I can confirm there will be further court martials after the submission of the report ... in a few weeks,” she said. “It’s vital that our civil and military justice system functions in accordance with our constitution.”
The Nobel peace prize winner’s decision to attend the court in person has astounded human rights groups. Once an international icon representing peaceful defiance of military dictatorship, her reputation has plummeted as she has repeatedly defended her country’s army in the aftermath of the Rohingya exodus in 2017.
Thousands of people were killed and about 740,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority fled across the border into sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh after Myanmar launched a huge military crackdown in Rakhine state..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
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Sub-title:
While defending military against genocide charges, Myanmar leader does not use Rohingya to describe persecuted minority.
Description:
"In a speech on Wednesday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that lasted about 30 minutes, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country's military against allegations of genocide.
The case, filed by The Gambia, accuses Myanmar of violating the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, with regard to a bloody crackdown in 2017 in which thousands of Rohingya were abused, displaced and killed.
The hearing concludes on Thursday, but a final judgement could take several years.
More:
Transcript: Aung San Suu Kyi's speech at the ICJ in full
Rohingya refugees reject Aung San Suu Kyi's 'lies on genocide'
At top court, Myanmar urged to 'stop genocide of own people'
In her opening statement, the former human rights icon denied "genocidal intent" on the part of the military and outlined the history of tensions in Rakhine state.
She promised that civilians and members of the military who attacked innocent people would be prosecuted, but repeatedly termed the 2017 crackdown as an "internal conflict", saying Myanmar's military was responding to attacks by armed local groups, such as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
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Sub-title:
ICJ hearing draws to close as Aung San Suu Kyi faces fresh criticism for defending Myanmar against genocide allegation.
Description:
"Myanmar cannot be trusted to hold its soldiers accountable for alleged atrocities against its Rohingya minority, and measures to stop the violence need to be taken immediately, a lawyer presenting a genocide case against the country said on Thursday.
Speaking on the third and final day of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case brought by The Gambia under the 1948 Genocide Convention, the West African country's lead lawyer repeated its demand for "provisional measures" to restrain the Myanmar military until the case is heard in full. More:
Transcript: Aung San Suu Kyi's speech at the ICJ in full
Rohingya refugees reject Aung San Suu Kyi's 'lies on genocide'
At top court, Myanmar urged to 'stop genocide of own people'
Paul Reichler said Myanmar had not even tried during the hearings to deny most of the accusations of extreme violence made against its military, known officially as the Tatmadaw, nor of the mass deportation of Rohingya following a 2017 crackdown.
Statements from Myanmar that it was taking action to prosecute soldiers accused of wrongdoing were incredible, he said..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
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Description:
"The Muslim-majority African country has accused Myanmar of genocide in a case at the UN's top court.
Lawyers said Ms Suu Kyi had ignored widespread allegations of mass murder, rape and forced deportation.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has defended her country, calling the case "incomplete and incorrect".
In her closing remarks at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday, she said the genocide case could "undermine reconciliation".
What did The Gambia say?
Lawyers for The Gambia hit out at arguments from Ms Suu Kyi that a 2017 military crackdown in Rakhine state was a "clearance operation" targeting militants.
Thousands of Rohingya were killed and more than 700,000 fled to neighbouring Bangladesh during the crackdown in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. There were widespread allegations of sexual violence and rape..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
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Description:
"Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi urged UN judges on Thursday to drop a genocide case against her country, warning it risked reigniting the crisis that forced nearly three-quarters of a million Rohingya Muslims from their homes.
In her closing arguments after a three-day hearing at the ICJ, Suu Kyi issued a stark warning to judges that allowing The Gambia's case against Myanmar to go ahead could "undermine reconciliation."
The Nobel peace laureate earlier denied accusations of genocide caused by Myanmar's armed forces at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
Suu Kyi said the Myanmar army only intervened after an attack by fighters of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in August 2017. She pointed out that tensions have existed for centuries between different groups in the Rakhine state in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"China Global Television Network (CGTN)" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
In a speech that lasted about 30 minutes, Myanmar leader defended her country's military against genocide allegations.
Description:
"Aung San Suu Kyi has defended Myanmar's military against genocide allegations at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), amid accusations of mass killings, rape and expulsion of the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority.
In her opening statement in front of judges in The Hague on Wednesday, the former human rights icon rejected the case at the United Nations' highest court - which was filed by the Gambia with the support of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) - alleging Myanmar violated the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The hearing concludes on Thursday, but a final judgement could take several years.
More:
Aung San Suu Kyi defends Myanmar against genocide allegations
Rohingya refugees reject Aung San Suu Kyi's 'lies on genocide'
Timeline: How the crackdown on Myanmar's Rohingya unfolded
Here is her speech in full:
"Thank you, Mr President and members of the court. It is an honour to appear as Agent of the Union of the Republic of Myanmar in these proceedings, in my capacity as Union Minister of Foreign Affairs.
"For materially less resourceful countries like Myanmar, the World Court is a vital refuge of international justice. We look to the Court to establish conditions conducive to respect for obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law, one of the fundamental objectives of the United Nations Charter..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
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Sub-title:
De facto PM defends actions of government, saying attacks were initiated by insurgents
Description:
"The Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has defended Myanmar’s government against accusations of genocide at the international court of justice, calling the allegations an “incomplete and misleading factual picture of the situation”.
Addressing a bench of 17 judges from around the world, the 74-year-old leader dismissed reports of state violence against Rohingya Muslims and blamed the conflict on an uprising by sectarian insurgents.
An estimated 700,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh since late 2016, escaping military clearance operations that a UN fact-finding mission described as “brutal”. It warned that Myanmar was failing to prevent genocide.
Once internationally feted as a human rights champion, Aung San Suu Kyi is leading Myanmar’s delegation to the court in The Hague. The state counsellor, in effect the country’s prime minister, opened her defence with a 25-minute speech which placed primary responsibility for the violence on a terrorist uprising.
The attacks were initiated by members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), Aung San Suu Kyi told the court as she displayed detailed maps of Rakhine state showing, she claimed, where the first assaults began in late 2016..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi has defended her country against allegations of genocide at the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Description:
"The Nobel Peace Prize laureate responded to widespread claims that Myanmar (formerly Burma) committed atrocities against Muslim Rohingya.
In her opening remarks, she called the case against Myanmar "incomplete and incorrect".
She said troubles in Rakhine, where many Rohingya lived, go back centuries.
Thousands of Rohingya were killed and more than 700,000 fled to neighbouring Bangladesh during an army crackdown in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2017.
Myanmar has always insisted it was tackling an extremist threat in Rakhine state, and Ms Suu Kyi maintained that stance, describing the violence as an "internal armed conflict" triggered by Rohingya militant attacks on government security posts.
The democracy icon who fell from grace
Rohingya homes destroyed for government facilities
Conceding that Myanmar's military might have used disproportionate force at times, she said that if soldiers had committed war crimes "they will be prosecuted".
Ms Suu Kyi - once celebrated internationally as a champion of democracy - has been de facto leader of Myanmar since April 2016, before the alleged genocide began. She does not have control over the army, but has been accused by the UN investigator of "complicity" in the military clearances.
Ms Suu Kyi has chosen to stand up for the same army that kept her under house arrest for years..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Leaders in refugee camps says justice will be delivered based on the evidence they have provided of Myanmar atrocities
Description:
"Rohingya refugees have hit back at Aung San Suu Kyi’s claims at the international court of justice in testimony on Wednesday after she denied that Myanmar’s armed forces were guilty of genocide against the Muslim minority.
Suu Kyi told the court that the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to neighbouring Bangladesh was the unfortunate result of a battle with insurgents.
She denied the army had killed civilians, raped women and torched houses in 2017. Critics describe the actions by the army as a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee.
“The world will judge their claim of no genocide with evidence,” said a Rohingya leader, Mohammed Mohibullah, who is chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press (AP)" (New York) via "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
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Description:
"Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi returned to the International Court of Justice on Thursday to defend Myanmar against accusations it has committed genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority population.
Gambia, which brought the suit at the U.N.'s top court under the 1948 Genocide Convention, has asked judges to order "provisional measures" that would act as a kind of restraining order for the Myanmar military until the case is heard in full.
At Thursday's hearing each side will have a chance to counter arguments put forward by the other over the past two days, starting with Gambia, a small west African country that is supported by the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation.
On Tuesday, Gambia's legal team outlined graphic testimony of bloody excesses alleged committed by Myanmar's military since 2016 in a campaign that has seen more than 730,000 Rohingya driven across the border from Rakhine state to neighboring Bangladesh. U.N. investigators estimated 10,000 people may have been killed.
Suu Kyi on Wednesday argued the tribunal, also known as the World Court, should not have jurisdiction. She said even if there had been violations of humanitarian law during what she described as an "internal conflict", they did not rise to the level of genocide and are not covered by the Convention.
Gambia, led by Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou, was expected to argue on Thursday that Myanmar's actions do meet the definition of genocide, as attacks on the Rohingya were part of a coordinated plan of ethnic cleansing.
Suu Kyi and her team will have several hours to formulate a rebuttal and final statement by the end of on Thursday. The court has not set a date for a decision on provisional measures, but one could come in January.
Its decisions are binding and not subject to appeal, though it has no means of enforcement and countries have occasionally ignored them in the past or failed to fully adhere..."
Source/publisher:
"The Telegraph" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Political coverage and commentary takes up most of the front pages. The BBC, along with other broadcasters, is not allowed to report details of campaigning while the polls are open
Description:
"Away from the election, The Times considers what it calls the extraordinary transition of the Myanmar leader and Nobel Peace Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, following her appearance at the International Court of Justice defending her country's treatment of the Rohingya Muslims.
It says she's gone from dissident voice, political prisoner and opposition politician to the genocide-denying champion of an almost friendless government. It suggests that the Nobel Peace Prize awards committee should think carefully about whether she still deserves the honour.
The Daily Telegraph says that, often lauded for her principled stance against the military, Miss Suu Kyi has been criticised for now defending their actions.
For the Financial Times, her journey from the Nobel Peace Prize podium in Oslo to the UN court in The Hague is a symbol of her alienation from global admirers who once saw her as a human rights icon.
There's sharp criticism of a new law passed in India yesterday that will fast-track citizenship claims for immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan - but not if they are Muslim.
The Financial Times warns that the law threatens the history of Indian secularism. It is, the paper says, a milestone in the campaign by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to reshape India into an overtly Hindu nation..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"1. Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Court. It is an honour to appear as Agent of the
Republic of the Union of Myanmar in these proceedings, in my capacity as Union Minister for
Foreign Affairs. For materially less resourceful countries like Myanmar, the World Court is a vital
refuge of international justice. We look to the Court to establish conditions conducive to respect
for obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law, one of the fundamental
objectives of the United Nations Charter.
2. In the present case, Mr. President, the Court has been asked to apply the 1948 Genocide
Convention, one of the most fundamental multilateral treaties of our time. Invoking the 1948
Genocide Convention is a matter of utmost gravity. This is the treaty that we made following the
systematic killing of more than six million European Jews, and that my country whole-heartedly
signed as early as 30 December 1949 and ratified on 14 March 1956. Genocide is the crime that
the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda applied in response to the mass-killing of perhaps
70% of the Tutsis in Rwanda. It is the crime that was not applied by the Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia to the displacement of approximately one million residents of Kosovo in 1999.
Neither was it applied by that Tribunal nor by this Court when deciding upon the exodus of the
Serb population from Croatia in 1995. In both situations international justice resisted the
temptation to use this strongest of legal classifications because the requisite specific intent to
physically destroy the targeted group in whole or in part was not present.
3. Regrettably, The Gambia has placed before the Court an incomplete and misleading factual
picture of the situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar. Yet, it is of the utmost importance that the
Court assess the situation obtaining on the ground in Rakhine dispassionately and accurately..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar State Counsellor Office (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
153.4 KB (6 pages)
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Sub-title:
World’s failure to act over Myanmar is ‘stain on collective conscience’, UN court told
Description:
"Aung San Suu Kyi has sat impassively through graphic accounts of mass murder and rape perpetrated by Myanmar’s military at the start of a three-day hearing into allegations of genocide at the UN’s highest court.
“I stand before you to awaken the conscience of the world and arouse the voice of the international community,” Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, the Gambia’s attorney general and justice minister, said as he opened his country’s case against Myanmar at the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague. “In the words of Edmund Burke: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’
“Another genocide is unfolding right before our eyes yet we do nothing to stop it,” he said. “This is a stain on our collective conscience. It’s not only the state of Myanmar that is on trial here, it’s our collective humanity that is being put on trial.” Before dawn on Tuesday, a long queue had formed outside the Peace Palace in the Dutch city to witness the first of three days of hearings that will focus attention on military clearance operations in 2017 against the Rohingya Muslim minority, 700,000 of whom were forced to flee across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar
Language:
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Sub-title:
Myanmar leader will defend country against charges of genocide over a 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya filed by Gambia.
Description:
"Aung San Suu Kyi will appear at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Tuesday for a highly anticipated genocide case against Myanmar.
The country's civilian leader, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against Myanmar's military dictatorship, arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Sunday alongside Wouter Jurgens, the Dutch ambassador to Myanmar, and was greeted by a handful of supporters. More:
Rohingya campaigners say won't be 'silenced' by online threats
Myanmar sets up special legal unit as Rohingya cases loom
A boy who can sing: The life of a Rohingya child refugee
Several demonstrations, for and against her, are expected to take place in the coming days in the Dutch city.
The case, the first international legal attempt to bring Myanmar to justice over alleged mass killings of the Rohingya minority, comes after the Gambia on November 11 filed an application at the ICJ, accusing Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Aung San Suu Kyi's office confirmed last month that she would participate in the hearing and lead her country's team to "defend the national interest".
More than 700,000 Rohingya, a mostly-Muslim minority, fled to neighbouring Bangladesh after a bloody crackdown in 2017 by the Myanmar military, which UN investigators have concluded was carried out with "genocidal intent"..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"From democracy champion to defending Myanmar against genocide charges, the shock decision by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to face the UN’s top court risks further damaging her image overseas and deepening the siege mentality at home.
“We stand with you,” proclaim billboards across Myanmar, sporting beaming portraits of the Nobel laureate as she prepares to face the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the Rohingya crisis.
Suu Kyi’s supporters are printing off T-shirts, organising rallies and even signing up to VIP tours to The Hague to offer their backing.
Political parties and even some rebel armed groups have also fallen over themselves to give their support, in a country where the Rohingya garner little sympathy and are widely regarded as illegal immigrants.
Yet overseas, particularly in the West and in Muslim countries, Suu Kyi’s reputation lies in tatters with multiple awards and even an honorary citizenship revoked.
Critics say “The Lady”, once lauded alongside Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, has become an apologist for a murderous military intent on wiping out the country’s Rohingya Muslims.
The spectacle of Suu Kyi standing up in court on behalf of the nation might play well at home but she risks suffering a fatal blow to what remains of her international reputation.
“If she’s only going to use the visit to demonstrate defiance and continue to defend the indefensible, then it only widens the impasse,” Yangon-based analyst David Mathieson told AFP..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "The Daily Star" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"နယ်သာလန်နိုင်ငံက ICJ တရားရုံးအထိ ကိုယ်တိုင်သွားပြီး နိုင်ငံ့ကိုယ်စား ဦးဆောင်ရင်ဆိုင်ရဲတဲ့ ဒေါ်အောင် ဆန်းစုကြည်ရဲ့လုပ်ရပ်ကို ကြိဆိုထောက်ခံတယ်လို့ ဝါရင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးလှုပ်ရှားသူ Equality Myanmar ရဲ့ အမှုဆောင်ဒါရိုက်တာ ဦးအောင်မျိုးမင်းကပြောပါတယ်။ One News က ဦးထက်အောင်ကျော်နဲ့ သီးသန့် မေးမြန်းခန်းအတွင်း သူက အဲဒီလိုပြောခဲ့တာပါ။
အခု ထုတ်လွှင့်ပေးမယ့် မေးမြန်းချက် ပထမ ပိုင်းမှာတော့… ICJ နဲ့ ICC ဘာကွာသလဲ၊ ICC က စွပ်စွဲစဉ်က ဘာမှမတုန့်ပြန်ဘဲ ICJ ပြောမှ နိုင်ငံတော်အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ်ကိုယ်တိုင် သွားရောက်ဖြေရှင်းတာ ဘာကြောင့်လဲ၊ တရားရုံးရဲ့ ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်က ဘာဖြစ်နိုင်သလဲ၊ လူထုထောက်ခံပွဲတွေက ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်ကို ထောက်ခံ တာအပြင် ရခိုင်အရေးဖြစ်စဉ်တွေအပေါ်ပါ ကရက်ရိုက်မှုရှိလာနိုင်သလား… စတဲ့အကြောင်းအရာတွေကို ဆွေးနွေးတင်ပြထားပါတယ်။..."
Source/publisher:
One News (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Criminal Court (Myanmar), Genocide, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese-language news sources: Broadcast (radio and TV)
Language:
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Sub-title:
Peace prize winner will lead her country’s defence against claims at court in Netherlands
Description:
"A momentous legal confrontation will take place at the UN’s highest court on Tuesday when the Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi appears in person to defend Myanmar against accusations of genocide.
Once internationally feted as a human rights champion, Myanmar’s state counsellor is scheduled to lead a delegation to the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
The claim that Myanmar’s military carried out mass murder, rape and destruction of Rohingya Muslim communities has been brought by the Gambia, a west African state that belongs to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The contrast is repeatedly drawn between Aung San Suu Kyi’s 1991 peace prize win and 15 years spent under house arrest, and her present position as chief denier that any ethnic violence has been perpetrated against the Rohingya. Last year, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum revoked her Elie Wiesel award..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"From democracy champion to defending Myanmar against genocide charges, the shock decision by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to face the UN’s top court risks further damaging her image overseas and deepening the siege mentality at home.
“We stand with you,” proclaim billboards across Myanmar, sporting beaming portraits of the Nobel laureate as she prepares to face the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the Rohingya crisis.
Suu Kyi’s supporters are printing off T-shirts, organizing rallies and even signing up to VIP tours to The Hague to offer their backing.
Political parties and even some rebel armed groups have also fallen over themselves to give their support, in a country where the Rohingya garner little sympathy and are widely regarded as illegal immigrants..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar leader and Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi departed on Sunday for the U.N’s top court in The Hague to defend the country against charges of genocide of its Rohingya Muslim minority. Suu Kyi was pictured smiling as she walked through the airport in the nation’s capital, Naypyitaw, flanked by officials, a day after thousands rallied in the city to support her and a prayer ceremony was held in her name.
Crowds are expected to gather again in the afternoon to send off several dozen supporters who will travel to The Hague in the Netherlands and demonstrations are planned throughout the coming week, with hearings set for Dec. 10 to 12.
Gambia, a tiny, mainly Muslim West African country, filed a lawsuit in November accusing Buddhist-majority Myanmar of genocide, the most serious international crime, against its Rohingya Muslim minority.
During three days of hearings, it will ask the 16-member panel of U.N judges at the International Criminal Court of Justice to impose “provisional measures” to protect the Rohingya before the case can be heard in full..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
" From democracy champion to defending Myanmar against genocide charges, the shock decision by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to face the UN's top court risks further damaging her image overseas and deepening the siege mentality at home.
"We stand with you," proclaim billboards across Myanmar, sporting beaming portraits of the Nobel laureate as she prepares to face the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the Rohingya crisis.
Suu Kyi's supporters are printing off T-shirts, organising rallies and even signing up to VIP tours to The Hague to offer their backing.
Political parties and even some rebel armed groups have also fallen over themselves to give their support, in a country where the Rohingya garner little sympathy and are widely regarded as illegal immigrants.
Yet overseas, particularly in the West and in Muslim countries, Suu Kyi's reputation lies in tatters with multiple awards and even an honorary citizenship revoked..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Thousands rallied in support of Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar Saturday, on the eve of her departure for the UN’s top court to defend Myanmar against charges of genocide against Rohingya Muslims.
The raucous rally in the capital Naypyidaw came as China’s foreign minister arrived for a visit at Suu Kyi’s invitation.
Analysts say Beijing’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council – and its veto vote – makes it a valuable ally as Myanmar faces intensifying scrutiny over its treatment of the Rohingya.
Once-lauded democracy champion Suu Kyi’s shock decision to face the International Court of Justice (ICJ) next week to defend Myanmar against charges it committed genocide against the Muslim minority risks further damaging her already tattered overseas reputation.
But domestically “The Lady” remains revered, and the resolve of her supporters has only hardened in the lead-up to the ICJ hearing scheduled for December 10-12.
“We are proud of her taking accountability... by going to The Hague to protect the nation’s image,” shouted prominent writer Htin Lin Oo into a microphone in front of a banner emblazoned with the words “We stand with our leader.”
“Our blood shall come together and unite us when it is important,” he shouted to a cheering crowd, who hoisted colourful artwork of Suu Kyi in the air..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"ISN’T IT TIME Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was indicted for war crimes and genocide at the International Criminal Court?
This Sunday marks two years since the Burmese military, the Tatmadaw, arrived in Rakhine state, in western Myanmar, to launch a renewed campaign of terror and violence against the country’s long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority. Unspeakable crimes were committed by Burmese troops and vigilantes: Rohingya men hacked to death; children burned alive; women and girls raped and sexually assaulted in their hundreds and thousands. Scores of villages were pillaged and razed to the ground as more than 700,000 Rohingya were driven from their homes. One cautious estimate put the death toll at more than 10,000.
Two years on, as Rohingya refugees languish in squalid camps across the border in Bangladesh, it is difficult to overstate the sheer barbarism they have had to endure. The U.S. State Department has called it “ethnic cleansing,” with Sam Brownback, the U.S. ambassador for international religious freedom, describing the violence against the Rohingya “as bad as or worse than any other I have personally seen — including as one of the first U.S. officials to visit Darfur in 2004.” In August 2018, a United Nations fact-finding commission accused the Burmese military of genocide — a view endorsed by, among others, experts at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and a unanimous vote by the Canadian parliament in Ottawa. The U.N.’s investigators even demanded Myanmar’s top military commanders be investigated and prosecuted for the “gravest” crimes against civilians under international law..."
Source/publisher:
"The Intercept"
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"On Tuesday, World Human Rights Day, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will fight accusations of genocide brought against her country at the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Myanmar has been called to answer for alleged atrocities committed during a military-led crackdown two years ago that saw more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The case has been filed with the court by Gambia.
This timeline charts Suu Kyi’s journey from political prisoner to leader of her troubled nation:
June 19, 1945: Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero General Aung San, is born. Her father is assassinated when she is 2 years old.
1988: She returns to Myanmar to care for her dying mother and is swept up in nationwide protests against decades of military rule.
1989: Having crushed the protests and killed thousands, the military puts Suu Kyi under house arrest..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The last time Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi traveled to western Europe, she was feted as the freshly elected civilian ruler of a fledgling democracy who had brought an end to half a century of military dictatorship.
When the Nobel peace prize laureate returns next week, her first trip to the region since a 2017 military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar, it will be to face accusations of genocide, alongside the army she spent much of her life battling.
Gambia, a tiny, mainly Muslim West African state backed by the 57-nation Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), lodged a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month against Myanmar for genocide, including mass murder and rape.
Myanmar denies the allegations, and Suu Kyi’s office said she would fly to The Hague for the first hearings, from Dec. 10, to “defend the national interest”.
“There is a discrepancy between the opinion of Myanmar and the international community,” said Myo Nyunt, the senior spokesman for her National League for Democracy Party. “She has to explain what has really taken place in northern Rakhine.”...."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Leaders currently in office rarely make an appearance before either the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court. International law remains affixed to the notion that heads-of-state are, at least for the duration of their time in office, safe from prosecution. Matters change once the time in office expires.
Be that as it may, Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, with an ever dwindling number of peace prizes and awards to her name for questionable responses to the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority, has a plan. She intends to personally plead the case of her country against charges of genocide being made in the International Court of Justice. As the Ministry of the Interior has claimed, the argument against state brutality against the Rohingya has arisen due to ignorance about “the complexities of the issue and the narratives of the people of Myanmar.”
The case itself is drawn from the well of universal jurisdiction, a concept that Henry Kissinger finds so troubling to the freedom of flexible statecraft. The former US secretary of state, in 2001, warned that subjecting international relations to judicial procedures came with risks. “The danger lies in pushing the effort to extremes that risk substituting the tyranny of judges for that of governments; historically, the dictatorship of the virtuous has often led to inquisitions and even witch-hunts.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Eurasia Review"
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Going to the ICJ
Description:
"Leaders currently in office rarely make an appearance before either the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court. International law remains affixed to the notion that heads-of-state are, at least for the duration of their time in office, safe from prosecution. Matters change once the time in office expires.
Be that as it may, Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, with an ever dwindling number of peace prizes and awards to her name for questionable responses to the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority, has a plan. She intends to personally plead the case of her country against charges of genocide being made in the International Court of Justice. As the Ministry of the Interior has claimed, the argument against state brutality against the Rohingya has arisen due to ignorance about “the complexities of the issue and the narratives of the people of Myanmar.”
The case itself is drawn from the well of universal jurisdiction, a concept that Henry Kissinger finds so troubling to the freedom of flexible statecraft. The former US secretary of state, in 2001, warned that subjecting international relations to judicial procedures came with risks. “The danger lies in pushing the effort to extremes that risk substituting the tyranny of judges for that of governments; historically, the dictatorship of the virtuous has often led to inquisitions and even witch-hunts.”.."
Source/publisher:
"Dissident Voice" (California)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"There has been strong reaction in Myanmar to Aung San Suu Kyi's decision to appear at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to defend the country against charges of genocide. While Western diplomats have tried to persuade the civilian leader that she was embarking on a high-risk strategy, and should reconsider. Attitudes amongst the intellectuals, politicians, MPs and civil society range from animated support to more measured approaches.
Myanmar's civilian government and its military leaders are accused of crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide towards its Muslim population in the strife-torn western Rakhine state during the last three years of military operations. These "clearance campaigns" forced nearly a million Muslims -- or Rohingya as they call themselves -- to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh for safety.
While the move came as a surprise to most people in the country including foreign diplomats, the response was swift. Demonstrations of support -- organised by the governing party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), "spontaneously" took place in the commercial capital Yangon and other urban centres almost hours after the official announcement of the State Counsellor's planned trip. More demonstrations are planned in the coming weeks before hearing opens on Dec 10..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
International pressure to rehabilitate the Rohingya and reform Rakhine is unlikely to dissipate
Description:
"Myanmar’s top leaders -- both military and civilian -- have been shell-shocked by the avalanche of international legal cases they are now facing. In the space of days, three cases have been lodged in separate courts, all intended to make the Myanmar government and the country’s military leaders accountable for the horrendous events that unfolded in strife-torn western Rakhine state during military operations over the last three years.
But the key case -- at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by Gambia on behalf of the 57-nation member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) -- has finally propelled the Myanmar government to take decisive action. The State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, announced late last week that she will lead the country’s defense team, supported by a panel of prominent international lawyers to contest the case submitted by Gambia.
“The Myanmar government is taking this case very seriously,” the minister for international cooperation and deputy foreign minister, Kyaw Tin told the Bangkok Post in the sidelines of a major economic conference in the capital Naypitaw on Friday. In fact, as Myanmar is a signatory to this convention -- which the democratic government of U Nu’s signed in 1956 -- it cannot ignore the process..."
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post (Thailand) via "Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
‘What’s your take on Aung San Suu Kyi?’
Description:
"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was in his element Monday morning as he welcomed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the University of Louisville.
The Kentucky Republican served as interviewer for an onstage discussion with Pompeo, who is widely known to be the preferred candidate of McConnell and other senior Republicans for the Senate seat in Kansas being opened by the pending retirement of GOP Sen. Pat Roberts.
While McConnell did not ask the former CIA director and House member from Kansas about his interest in running for that Senate seat next year (at least not on stage), the question and answer session hit on some of McConnell’s other favorite topics.
“What’s your take on Aung San Suu Kyi?” McConnell asked in his closing question at the event hosted by the McConnell Center. The Senate majority leader has long been the leading voice on U.S. policy toward Myanmar, having a decades-long association with Suu Kyi, whose holds the title of State Counsellor, where she leads the civilian government of the country also known as Burma..."
Source/publisher:
"Roll Call" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace prize winner who spent years under house arrest in Myanmar before being elected leader of the country in 2015, will travel to the Hague next month to defend her country against allegations of genocide. Few have been punished since the military-led crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state in 2017, which left thousands dead and forced more than 700,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. Aung San Suu Kyi is thought to have little control over the army (a junta until recently), but she has refused to condemn its actions. Until now, Aung San Suu Kyi has defended the onslaught as a legitimate counterinsurgency against Muslim militants. The first public hearing at the International Court of Justice will begin on December 10.
Violent clashes in Lebanon – Clashes between Lebanese protesters and supporters of Hezbollah and Amal – the forces representing the country's large Shia population – intensified on Tuesday with reports of gunfire in some cities. The confrontations are some of the worst since protests erupted in mid-October, forcing Prime Minister Saad Hariri to step down. And they're a worrying display of precisely the political and sectarian strains that demonstrators say they want to get rid of. Consultations to appoint a new prime minister are expected to begin later this week. We're watching to see if this new appointment– a post reserved for a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system – will defuse tensions, or inflame them..."
Source/publisher:
"GZERO Media"
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"As Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi prepares to travel to the Netherlands to fight charges of genocide against her country at the International Court of Justice, her supporters have embarked on an impassioned publicity campaign. Suu Kyi’s reputation overseas has sunk to its lowest ebb over the treatment of Rohingya Muslims but the Nobel Peace Prize laureate enjoys overwhelming support at home, where her image is undented by accusations of complicity in atrocities.
On Sunday, several hundred people gathered in downtown Yangon for the third in a series of rallies organized by supporters since the announcement was made that she would personally fight the charges.
“Aung San Suu Kyi is the bravest leader in the world,” Saw Phoe Kwar, a reggae singer known for his hits ‘Love Each Other’ and ‘Stop the Hate’, told the crowds, who waved flags and chanted..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"About 700 people rallied Sunday to show support for Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, as she prepares to defend the country against charges of genocide at the U.N.’s highest court.
Members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party swelled the ranks in front of the colonial-era City Hall in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, as the crowd waved national flags and listened to music and poetry. A popular local singer told them “Mother Suu is the bravest human being in the world – her weapon is love.”
Many carried banners saying, “We stand with you, Mother Suu.”
The case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague relates to a harsh counterinsurgency campaign waged by Myanmar’s military against members of the country’s Muslim Rohingya community in August 2017 in response to an insurgent attack.
More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape what has been called an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rapes, killings and the torching of homes..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Former democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is among several top Myanmar officials named Wednesday in a case filed in Argentina for crimes against Rohingya Muslims, the first time the Nobel Laureate has been legally targeted over the crisis.
Rohingya and Latin American human rights groups submitted the lawsuit in Argentina under the principle of "universal jurisdiction," a legal concept enshrined in many countries' laws.
The premise is that some acts - including war crimes and crimes against humanity - are so horrific they are not specific to one nation and can be tried anywhere.
"This complaint seeks the criminal sanction of the perpetrators, accomplices and cover-ups of the genocide. We are doing it through Argentina because they have no other possibility of filing the criminal complaint anywhere else," lawyer Tomas Ojea told AFP.
The lawsuit demands top military and political leaders - including army chief Min Aung Hlaing and civilian leader Suu Kyi - face justice over the "existential threat" faced by the Rohingya Muslim minority..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "The Telegraph" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"Next month, Myanmar’s government will get the first taste of what it has fought hard to prevent for more than two years: international accountability for widespread and systematic violence against...
Description:
"Next month, Myanmar’s government will get the first taste of what it has fought hard to prevent for more than two years: international accountability for widespread and systematic violence against its Muslim Rohingya minority.
Between December 10 and 12, Myanmar’s de facto civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will lead this first phase of her government’s defense at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague against The Gambia’s official complaint against Myanmar for violations of the United Nations’ 1948 Genocide Convention. That complaint hinges on abuses inflicted by Myanmar security forces against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine state in 2017.
Suu Kyi will not face Myanmar’s accusers alone. Myanmar has already warned that it will deploy unidentified “prominent international lawyers” to challenge The Gambia’s complaint. Myanmar has not shared what its legal strategy at The Hague will entail beyond “defending the national interest.” What’s certain is that Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s lawyers face an uphill battle in challenging the extensively documented campaign of mass murder, gang rape, and mutilation targeted at Rohingya civilians..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The problem of the 21st century is the problem of colour lines
Description:
"If Aung San Suu Kyi had been in London last week, a visit to the sprawling Westfield shopping mall in unfashionable Stratford might have reiterated for her the truism that England is indeed the home of lost causes. A trip to the other Westfield, the older and seemingly somewhat smaller mall in equally insalubrious Shepherd’s Bush, might have shown that hope, like love, still flourishes among the ruins.
Myanmar’s Nobel laureate State Counsellor, the equivalent of a prime minister, should at once have realized that both malls portray variants of the trauma suffered by Manchester United’s French-born, ethnic Guinean midfielder, Paul Pogba. The anti-racism body, Kick It Out, is currently investigating the racist abuse aimed at Pogba on social media. The Red Cross’s modest eight-day interactive exhibition in the Stratford Westfield depicted the plight of the darker-skinned Rohingyas whom Myanmar treats with the utmost cruelty. Gurinder Chadha’s film, Blinded by the Light, at the Shepherd’s Bush Westfield, shows how Javed, a young British-born Pakistani, triumphed over what used to be called the ‘colour bar’ in the British industrial town of Luton in the Eighties..."
Source/publisher:
"The Telegraph" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Myanmar's military began a rare court martial of soldiers on Tuesday following a probe into alleged atrocities during a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, a spokesman said, as the country prepares to...
Sub-title:
Army blames soldiers and officers deployed to one village saying they were 'weak in following rules of engagement'.
Description:
"Myanmar's military began a rare court martial of soldiers on Tuesday following a probe into alleged atrocities during a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, a spokesman said, as the country prepares to face genocide charges at an international court in The Hague.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape a Myanmar military offensive launched in August 2017 that United Nations investigators described as having been executed with genocidal intent.
Soldiers, police, and Buddhist villagers are alleged to have razed hundreds of villages in the remote western Rakhine state, torturing Rohingya as they fled, carrying out mass killings and gang rapes..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Myanmar-based executives and investors are bracing for a business slowdown in the run-up to next year’s general elections, as uncertainty rises over the Southeast Asian nation’s political and policy...
Sub-title:
Businesses are bracing for a slowdown and possibly worse ahead of risk-laden 2020 polls
Description:
"Myanmar-based executives and investors are bracing for a business slowdown in the run-up to next year’s general elections, as uncertainty rises over the Southeast Asian nation’s political and policy directions.
The election, tentatively scheduled for November 2020, will essentially pit de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) against the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the country’s two major political parties.
The NLD romped to victory in 2015 in the nation’s first competitive election in 25 years, a shift from quasi-military to quasi-democratic rule that many then hoped would fuel a foreign investment-led economic boom.
But Suu Kyi’s ability and willingness to orchestrate that boom has been constrained by a power-sharing arrangement with the autonomous military, which controls the crucial defense, home affairs and border affairs ministries, as well as her singular focus on flagging peace process..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Articles on the NLD, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"One of the enduring mysteries in recent years is what happened to Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi. Somehow, some way, the woman known as “the Lady of Burma”—who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 after she spent 15 years under house arrest in Myanmar for her democratic activism—seems to have lost her soul. Her drive to the top of Myanmar’s political hierarchy and quest to burnish her political legacy have been relentless, but also devastating for all those who once hailed her commitment to democracy and nonviolence.
Since she became the de facto civilian head of Myanmar’s government following landmark elections in 2015, assuming the newly created position of state counselor, equivalent to prime minister, Aung San Suu Kyi has emerged as one of the most virulent defenders of the military junta that separated her from her family for years and ruled Myanmar for decades—and whose generals still wield most of the power in the country. This week, however, the Nobel laureate showed just how much she will compromise for the sake of power when she announced that she will personally lead the legal team defending Myanmar against charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Next month, she will travel to The Hague to fight tooth and nail in a case brought to the ICJ recently by Gambia, with the support of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, alleging that Myanmar’s military committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in its campaign to drive minority Rohingya Muslims out of western Myanmar. The announcement comes at an inauspicious time for Myanmar, since this is not the only case seeking justice for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have been displaced from their homes since the military onslaught began in August 2017. As noted by Andrew Boyle at Just Security, in addition to the war crimes charges at the ICJ, government officials in the majority-Buddhist country are also facing additional charges of genocide and crimes against humanity brought on behalf of the Rohingya under a universal jurisdiction claim in Argentina. Meanwhile, judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague have also authorized the court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, to move forward with a formal investigation into charges that Myanmar’s leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi and her military compatriots, were complicit in genocide..."
Source/publisher:
"World Politics Review (WPR)"
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rakhine, Genocide, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Buddhist-majority Myanmar is accused of genocide against Rohingya in a 2017 crackdown by the country's military.
Description:
"Myanmar's leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi will head a delegation to the United Nations' top court to argue against a case accusing the mainly Buddhist country of genocide against the Rohingya, the government said.
More than 730,000 Rohingya, most of them Muslims, fled to neighbouring Bangladesh following a 2017 crackdown by Myanmar's military, which UN investigators said was carried out with "genocidal intent". More:
Rohingya crisis through the eyes of Al Jazeera's journalists
Lawsuit: Aung San Suu Kyi 'committed crimes' against Rohingya
Gambia files Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar at UN court
The Buddhist-majority country has repeatedly justified the crackdown on the Rohingya as necessary to stamp out fighters. It also insists its own committees are adequate to investigate allegations of abuse..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Criminal Court, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Aung San Suu Kyi is among several top Myanmar officials named in a case filed in Argentina for crimes against Rohingya Muslims, the first time the Nobel Laureate has been legally targeted over the...
Sub-title:
Case launches in Argentina under ‘universal jurisdiction’ demanding justice over ‘existential threat’ to minority
Description:
"Aung San Suu Kyi is among several top Myanmar officials named in a case filed in Argentina for crimes against Rohingya Muslims, the first time the Nobel Laureate has been legally targeted over the crisis.
Rohingya and Latin American human rights groups submitted the lawsuit in Argentina on Wednesday under the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” a legal concept enshrined in many countries’ laws.
The premise is that some acts – including war crimes and crimes against humanity – are so horrific they are not specific to one nation and can be tried anywhere. “This complaint seeks the criminal sanction of the perpetrators, accomplices and cover-ups of the genocide. We are doing it through Argentina because they have no other possibility of filing the criminal complaint anywhere else,” lawyer Tomas Ojea told AFP.
The lawsuit demands top military and political leaders – including army chief Min Aung Hlaing and civilian leader Suu Kyi – face justice over the “existential threat” faced by the Rohingya Muslim minority.
“For decades, the Myanmar authorities have tried to wipe us out by confining us to ghettos, forcing us to flee our home country and killing us,” said Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK).
Argentinean courts have taken up other universal jurisdiction cases, including in relation to ex-dictator Francisco Franco’s rule in Spain and the Falun Gong movement in China.
Myanmar faces mounting legal pressure in courts around the world for the 2017 expulsion of the Rohingya..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
'Drowned out by the noise of the Rugby World Cup and overshadowed by the deadly devastation wrought by Typhoon Hagibis was a meeting between Japan’s leaders and an alleged war criminal, which went largely unreported by the media and unnoticed by the public.
Myanmar military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing – whom a United Nations-backed fact-finding mission found should be “investigated and prosecuted” for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state – visited Tokyo this month at the invitation of Japan’s Defense Ministry. There he met with government ministers, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe reportedly told Min Aung Hlaing that the Myanmar military should address the allegations of human-rights violations in Rakhine state by implementing proposals from the government-created Independent Commission of Inquiry. Abe apparently did not mention ongoing efforts by the UN and concerned governments to carry out a genuinely independent and impartial investigation into the atrocities, according to a Defense Ministry press release..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Japan-Burma relations, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"My interest in Myanmar goes back to the 1950s when the country was called Burma. I first visited it in 1967 but did not begin focusing on it as a scholar until 2007. For the past ten years, it has been my primary policy research project at Brookings. I’ve made about 20 trips from my home in Washington, DC to Myanmar since then and have written many op-eds, research papers, and reports on the country.
Whenever I speak to a group about Myanmar, however, one of the first things I say is that if you don’t speak the Burmese language you don’t know what’s going on in this country and you can’t know. And I don’t speak Burmese. So take the words that follow with a grain of salt. They are just my best guess.
I have been asked to write about “genocide and violence that has plagued Myanmar.” I’m not an expert on genocide, but I don’t see anything in Myanmar’s post-independence (in 1948) history that looks like an attempt by the government to exterminate by death any group of people living within the country’s borders.
What I do see is a pattern of violence by the Buddhist ethnic Bamar majority (at least 60 percent of the population), with the armed forces (Tatmadaw) as its instrument, to forcibly assimilate or subjugate most if not all of the ethnic minority groups, or drive them out into neighboring countries. No other country in the world today is experiencing a civil war that has continued without interruption for this long – 70 years..."
Source/publisher:
"The Global Post" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"“The mix within her of global human rights icon and steely Burmese politician is bound to be uneasy.”
So wrote Mr William Burns, former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, of...
Sub-title:
In countries undergoing a transition to democracy, deeply engrained social and intellectual tendencies are often at odds with idealistic international political norms.
Description:
"“The mix within her of global human rights icon and steely Burmese politician is bound to be uneasy.”
So wrote Mr William Burns, former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in his contemporaneous notes on meeting her in Myanmar (The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal. NY: Random House, p. 270).
This prescient conclusion captures the essence of Aung San Suu Kyi’s dilemma, and that of much of the Western world, in balancing international opinions and policies with Burmese political realities. She considers herself, as she has stated, a politician not an icon. She is, however, both.
This unease has been dually fostered: in the West by Myanmar’s egregiously discriminatory and disastrous policy of ethnic cleansing (some claim genocide) against the Rohingya Muslim minority, but in Myanmar itself – where anti-Rohingya sentiment is virtually ubiquitous and repressive legislation against them enforced – by her administration’s lack of economic progress for those most in need. Among the urban and intellectual community, there is further disquiet because of the use of anti-democratic legislation, some of it dating from British colonial rule and continued under military autocracies.
Although reports indicate her falling, if not failing, reputation, she remains relatively popular..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, International Relations, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi met U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell on Tuesday in Naypyidaw to discuss continued American support for the country’s democratic transition, a visit that came as supporters in Myanmar questioned her commitment to pledged reforms that helped her win power in 2015.
Despite U.S. concerns and efforts, analysts in Myanmar say State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has not made significant democratic progress in her three years in office as she must run her administration within the confines set out by the powerful military that directly ran the country from 1962-201.
In an interview with Japan’s Nikkei Asian Review on Oct. 23, Aung San Suu Kyi said that Myanmar’s constitution drafted by a former military junta more than a decade ago must be changed in order for the Southeast Asian nation to achieve “complete democracy,” but that this would not occur before the next general election in late 2020..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National and State constitutions, draft constitutions and amendments (commentary), Laws, decrees and regulations relating to the parliamentary process (commentary), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Is she the only one to blame?
Description:
"The Rohingya crisis has dramatically changed the portrayal of Aung San Suu Kyi. The Western media, which once romantically touted her as “The Lady,” has now turned on her. Amnesty International withdrew the prestigious “Ambassador of Conscience” award from her. Petitions, calling for stripping her of her Nobel Prize, are being signed.
It seems that Suu Kyi is on the receiving end of most of the criticism relating to the Rohingya genocide. Considered to be one of the most respected world leaders even a few years ago, she has now become an international pariah.
But can she alone be blamed for the Rohingya genocide?
Most people aware of the civil-military dynamics in Myanmar know that the Tatmadaw is still the most powerful political force in the country. The military’s hold on power was weakened after the 2015 election, in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory.
However, the role of their military in national politics was far from over. The 2008 constitution guaranteed the military an influential position in Myanmar’s decision-making process. The Tatmadaw controls the ministries of home affairs, defence, and border affairs..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will pay an official visit to Thailand soon where she will attend the 35th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and related meetings, according to an official announcement published in state media of the Global New Light of Myanmar Tuesday.
At the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Suu Kyi will make the trip to Bangkok.
The 35th ASEAN Summit, the second of its kind hosted by Thailand in 2019, will last from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 and the summit will discuss issues related to the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry.
Suu Kyi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with other ASEAN leaders during the summit..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"New political groups are emerging to contest Myanmar’s next election in 2020, aiming to challenge the hegemony of national civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she has been weakened by escalating ethnic conflicts and slowing economic growth. Those factors were blamed by party officials for the poor performance of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in by-elections in November, when it won only seven of the 13 seats up for grabs as regional and army-linked parties made gains.
“Now that ethnic parties have allied with one another and prepared, we can’t fully rely on the power of the party. We must try harder than before to win the trust of the people,” said Dashi La Seng, an NLD lawmaker from the northern state of Kachin, where the party lost a seat in November.
At stake is the future of Myanmar’s transition to democracy. The NLD swept to power in a landslide in 2015, winning a comfortable majority in parliament despite 25 percent of the seats being reserved for the army..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Articles on the NLD
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The Myitsone Dam, the largest of seven hydropower projects planned on the Upper Irrawaddy, has been shrouded in controversy since it was first mooted in 2009 when Myanmar was under military junta rule.
Estimated at an initial cost of US$3.6 billion, the project was announced as a joint venture between the China Power Investment Corporation (CPIC; now State Power Investment Corporation) and Myanmar conglomerate Asia World Company. However, in a move that surprised observers, shortly after coming to power in 2011 then President U Thein Sein announced the project would be suspended for the remainder of his term. At the time Lu Qizhou, president of CPIC, told Chinese media that he was “totally astonished” by the decision.
The issue has now been pushed onto the agenda of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), which took power in 2016, but a decision has still not been made about the future of Myitsone..."
Source/publisher:
"South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Campaigns, About Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has bemoaned the lack of global scrutiny on extremism and "terrorists" inside Rakhine state, where her country's army stands accused of committing genocide against Rohingya Muslims.
The comments from the Nobel laureate are part of a longstanding defence of the army campaign against the Rohingya, which drove nearly three-quarters of a million of the minority into Bangladesh in 2017.
That campaign brought US sanctions on key military figures and allegations of genocide by United Nations investigators.
The Myanmar military has said its actions were necessary and proportionate to stamp out Rohingya militants - a defence Ms Suu Kyi reiterated in an interview with Japan's Nikkei newspaper on Wednesday (Oct 23).
"There are certain extremist elements who do not want peace in Rakhine... because for many terrorists, problems are what they thrive on," she said, referencing attacks by Rohingya rebels in 2017 that sparked a scorched-earth army operation..."
Source/publisher:
"The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Kyaw Zwa Moe: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy. It is supposed to be one year until the next general election. The 2015 poll was the first general election in over 50 years that was free and fair and...
Description:
"Kyaw Zwa Moe: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy. It is supposed to be one year until the next general election. The 2015 poll was the first general election in over 50 years that was free and fair and whose results were recognized.
We will discuss to what extent the next election, due in 2020, will meet democratic norms; if it will deliver accurate results; and to what extent it will impact upon shaping free and fair elections, the essence of democracy, in the future. Executive director Ko Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint of the People’s Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE), and vice chair of the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS) Ma Noe Noe Htet San join me. I’m The Irrawaddy English editor Kyaw Zwa Moe.
Looking at the history of Myanmar since 1962, the 2015 election was relatively free and fair, and its results were recognized. Though the 1990 election was free and fair, the military regime did not recognize the results. To what extent will the 2020 election be free and fair, and what will be the difficulties?
Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint: It is widely agreed that the 2015 election was aimed at power transfer. It can be said that it was the ultimate aim of the 2015 election. It is time to aim beyond that in the 2020 election.
It is important to make elections become a normal part of the political transition. So it is important to make sure the 2020 election is not postponed because postponing it will impede the political transition..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, About Aung San Suu Kyi, National League for Democracy - Policies, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"As a general election draws near in Myanmar, a contest that will pit pro-democracy against military forces, political parties are already preparing for the 2020 race.
On September 27, the...
Sub-title:
Civil-military relations are deteriorating as opposed pro-democracy and military forces gear up for 2020 elections
Description:
"As a general election draws near in Myanmar, a contest that will pit pro-democracy against military forces, political parties are already preparing for the 2020 race.
On September 27, the National League for Democracy (NLD) party that won the 2015 election commemorated its 31st anniversary with a spokesman’s lament that the nation’s democracy was not yet “genuine.”
In a gauntlet-dropping pronouncement, NLD delegates gathered in the old capital of Yangon said that the military-drafted 2008 constitution, which grants vast powers to the men in green, must be amended to promote more democracy.
At the same time, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, has recently acted more like a politician than both incumbent president Win Myint and nominal national leader State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
The military chief, who some suspect has presidential ambitions, has recently visited and donated to Muslim mosques, Christian churches and Hindu temples, in an apparent bid to raise his grass roots profile and soften his public image..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Articles on the NLD, Elections (Burma)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Since Burma embarked on its transition from a military government to a nominally civilian-led one in 2010, ?national reconciliation? has become a ubiquitous concept amongst its politicians and advocates for peace. The 2010 election was seen as an important opportunity for dialogue and cooperation, as well as a potential catalyst for peace in a country torn apart by more than 60 years of civil war. With the National League for Democracy?s (NLD) historic electoral win in 2015, hope was further renewed for rebuilding Burma into a genuine democracy and uniting its fragmented society....."
Source/publisher:
Teacircleoxford
Date of publication:
2018-01-18
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National League for Democracy (NLD), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Multiple periods of Burmese history, Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Dramatic reforms in Myanmar in recent years have transformed this long-isolated country into a more
open society, one actively seeking to re-engage with the region and the world. Competitive elections, a
lively parliament, a more vibrant media, and a growing civil society have allowed for debates on a range
of issues concerning the nature of the state and the development agenda that were previously not pos
-
sible. The landslide electoral victory of the opposition National League of Democracy under Aung San
Suu Kyi?s leadership in November 2015 created the potential to deepen the democratic transition..."
Source/publisher:
The Asia Foundation
Date of publication:
2017-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Civil Society
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
467.05 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"It?s difficult to imagine a more dramatic drop in public stature than the one Aung San Suu Kyi has experienced these past few weeks. No doubt due in large part to the overwhelming sense of betrayal felt by many, the Nobel Laureate has been harshly criticized for her country?s recent treatment of the Rohingya. Words like ?Genocide” and ?Ethnic Cleansing” have, to my mind, been aptly used to define the situation in Rakhine State. With hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands fleeing across the border to Bangladesh, it?s difficult to imagine a more systematic and purposeful deprivation of life and human rights currently unfolding. In the bloody corpus of human suffering, this chapter should without a doubt serve as the stereotypical example of ethnic cleansing.
To a large extent, the international media agrees with that statement. And yet, though their denunciation of recent events has been forceful, the condemnation of Aung San Suu Kyi has proved a qualified one especially in more analytically minded circles. As it turns out, holding a Nobel prize inclines people, specifically those who consider themselves thoughtful, towards leniency. This is why you?ll hear arguments claiming that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has no good options, that she must appease the military leaders who are truly behind this massacre, that she risks damaging Myanmar?s fledgling democracy with too strong a denunciation of violence, and that the majority Bamar would turn against her should she speak out too strongly in defense of the Rohingya. Suu Kyi?s chief moral failing, by these accounts, is one of inaction. Her silence, rather than any active effort to tangibly harm people, is the main cause for disappointment..."
Haroon Atcha
Source/publisher:
TEACIRCLEOXFORD
Date of publication:
2017-09-25
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Ethnic Cleansing, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
"Since the National League for Democracy?s landslide November 2015 election victory, discussions of Myanmar?s political future have taken an interesting turn. The NLD—ruling in coalition with military and ethnic political interests—needs to maintain a delicate balance. It cannot afford to alienate the millions of voters who showed it such exuberant support. In practice, this means certain issues are deemed too hot for strong policy action. At the top of that list is the Rohingya conundrum: a political stalemate that has morphed into a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The NLD is not prepared to risk its support from among Buddhist voters who resent any suggestion that the Rohingya, or other Muslims, deserve equal treatment from state authorities. The military also appears to have determined that any shift in NLD discussion of the topic threatens the red lines around its continued partnership with the elected government.
For a long time, it was possible for activists from around the world, and from inside Myanmar, to project their personal expectations onto a hypothetical NLD government. Aung San Suu Kyi was a convenient symbol of peaceful resistance to military rule. Unsullied by the pragmatics of day to day decision making, her supporters, from near and far, rejoiced in her defiant purity: her Nobel Peace Prize; her years of imprisonment; her sacrifice of self and family; her steely and dignified resolve. The world fell in love with the idea that she could lead a democratic and inclusive country, where justice would prevail, and where a popular mandate would right history?s wrongs.
Unfortunately, in this model, wishful thinking often substitutes for careful analysis of the challenges confronting every Myanmar government, as well as the specific limitations encountered by the NLD. Their coalition with the military is the engine for an evolving compromise about the distribution of power in the country, with the 2008 constitution setting the terms of the army?s continuing dominance of those areas where it perceives its core interests at stake. Nobody in a position of real power, least of all Aung San Suu Kyi, has made any serious move to question the basis of this arrangement. Where the NLD previously proposed constitutional amendments, the focus remained on clearing obstacles to Aung San Suu Kyi?s personal ambitions, rather than to deleting the military?s controlling stake. The footwork required to allow Aung San Suu Kyi?s elevation to the new role of State Counsellor goes to show that the military has few serious concerns about her capacity to challenge their mandate. In fact, they have Aung San Suu Kyi exactly where they want her..."
Nicholas Farrelly
Source/publisher:
"New Mandala"
Date of publication:
2017-07-28
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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