The last time Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi
travelled 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 Organization 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.”
Her decision to attend took some by surprise.
People close to her with strong international connections voiced concerns it
could further tarnish her image abroad, according to two people familiar with
the discussions.
But at home the announcement has unleashed a
wave of popular support, with the leader who spent 15 years under house arrest
for defying the army lauded as once again championing the interests of the
people against a common enemy.
Richard Horsey, Myanmar advisor to the
International Crisis Group, said while her appearance carried considerable
risks for Suu Kyi overseas, “she likely feels that she must do all she can to
defend the national interest against what most people in Myanmar see as biased
and politically-motivated charges”.
Suu Kyi was still a heroine to many when she
last visited western Europe and the United States months after taking office in
2016. Her star faded in office amid sluggish reform and protracted ethnic conflicts,
and she faced increasingly harsh criticism from the West as the Rohingya crisis
unfolded.
‘NO GENOCIDE’
An offensive by security forces and local
Buddhists in northern Rakhine state in August 2017 drove more than 730,000
Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they created the world’s largest
refugee camp.
United Nations investigators have said the
exodus was the result of a military campaign executed with “genocidal intent”.
Myanmar authorities have strongly disputed
that conclusion, categorizing the military operation as a legitimate response
to attacks by Rohingya militants that killed 13 members of the security forces.
In September 2017, Suu Kyi said terrorists
were behind an “iceberg of misinformation” about the violence.
“Myanmar people do not support people being
driven from their homes. But it is different with these Bengalis leaving,”
spokesman Myo Nyunt said, using a term common in Myanmar but rejected by the
Rohingya because it implies they are interlopers from Bangladesh who invented
an ethnic identity.
Seven soldiers were jailed for 10 years for
killing 10 Rohingya men and boys in the village of Inn Din, but granted early
release last November after serving less than a year in prison.
Late last month, the military began a court
martial of an unspecified number of soldiers over events in another village, Gu
Dar Pyin, the site of an alleged massacre of 10 Rohingya. The military said the
soldiers were “weak in following the rules of engagement.” No further details were
given about the court martial, which is continuing.
“As far as we know there is Inn Din massacre
and Gu Dar Pyin,” said Myo Nyunt. “That’s all... As far as [Suu Kyi] knows,
there is no such thing as genocide.”
‘EVERYTHING IS POLITICS’
Recent weeks in Myanmar have had the flavour
of election season, with several pro-Suu Kyi rallies in major cities attended
by hundreds of people carrying flags. More are planned for the first day of the
hearings.
“Now there are demonstrations across the
whole country. This is an attempt to make her image stronger,” said Ko Ko Gyi,
a longtime democracy activist and former Suu Kyi ally. “There is a saying –
everything is politics.”
Myanmar is due to go to the polls again in
2020 and, while an opinion poll from the People’s Alliance for Credible
Elections, an independent group of election monitors, in July showed Suu Kyi
retains tremendous support, her government has faced criticism for failing to
bring an end to worsening ethnic conflicts in the borderlands or reform the
constitution.
Under the charter drafted by the former
ruling junta, the military chief nominates a quarter of lawmakers, giving it a
veto over constitutional change.
In the southeastern Karen state, regional
authorities put up dozens of billboards showing a smiling Suu Kyi flanked by
three green-clad soldiers laughing heartily underlined by the words “we stand
with you”.
By Reuters