Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Aung San Suu Kyi, seen here at a business summit in Singapore on Monday

Amnesty International is stripping Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour, the Ambassador of Conscience Award.

The politician and Nobel peace prize winner received the honour in 2009, when she was living under house arrest.

The rights group said it was profoundly dismayed at her failure to speak out for the Rohingya minority, some 700,000 of whom have fled a military crackdown.

This is the latest honour in a string of awards Ms Suu Kyi, 73, has lost.

"We are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights," Amnesty's Secretary General Kumi Naidoo wrote in a letter to the Myanmar leader.

"[Her] denial of the gravity and scale of the atrocities [against the Rohingya] means there is little prospect of the situation improving," Mr Naidoo said.

The organisation, which once feted her as a beacon for democracy, announced its decision on the eighth anniversary of Ms Suu Kyi's release from house arrest.

Revoked one by one

Nick Beake, BBC Myanmar correspondent

Aung San Suu Kyi's unswerving pursuit of democracy for Myanmar in the face of a brutal military dictatorship brought her nearly 15 years of house arrest. It also spurred a succession of governments, cities and human rights groups around the world to bestow their honours upon her.

As far back as 1989, Amnesty International declared Ms Suu Kyi a "prisoner of conscience" and 20 years later awarded her its most prestigious award. Nelson Mandela had been a previous recipient.

Now, Amnesty International has written to Ms Suu Kyi saying it's withdrawing its prize because - as they put it - "we can no longer justify her status as an Ambassador of Conscience".

United Nations investigators concluded that, while she was not complicit in the alleged genocide last year, she had failed to use her moral authority to help prevent the murder and rape of thousands of Rohingyas by the still-dominant army.

One by one, the freedoms, fellowships and even an honorary citizenship have been revoked for a civilian leader who stubbornly denies crimes against humanity have taken place on her watch.

Ms Suu Kyi came to power as the de facto head of Buddhist-majority Myanmar's civilian administration in 2016.

She has since faced international pressure, including from Amnesty International, to condemn the army's alleged brutality against the Rohingya. However she has refused to do so.

She has also defended the jailing of two Reuters journalists investigating the killing of Rohingya Muslims.

The last time Ms Suu Kyi spoke to the BBC in April 2017, she said: "I think ethnic cleansing is too strong an expression to use for what is happening."

Her government claims it will begin to welcome back the first groups of refugees later this week as part of a deal with Bangladesh, which has alarmed the UN and aid agencies.

The UN refugee agency wants Rohingya families to be able to return to their former villages and decide for themselves if they feel they are able to live there safely and with dignity.</s>SINGAPORE (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed has sharply criticized Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi for her handling of an ethnic crisis that led to mass killings and the exodus of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims from her country.

Mahathir said Tuesday that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi is "trying to defend the indefensible" in justifying violence by Myanmar security forces against Rohingya in Rakhine state.

He said that as a former political prisoner, Suu Kyi should understand suffering.

Mahathir was asked about the issue at a news conference on the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore.

Suu Kyi became an icon for democracy after spending about 15 years under house arrest for opposing Myanmar's earlier military dictatorship. She has been severely criticized for her handling of the Rohingya.</s>Aung San Suu Kyi was globally hailed as a freedom fighter who stood up to her country's feared military junta while spending 15 years under house arrest. (Photo: File)

London: Amnesty International on Monday stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour over the de facto Myanmar leader's "indifference" to the atrocities committed by the military against Rohingya Muslims.

It was the latest in a string of awards the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner lost since Myanmar's military drove 720,000 Rohingya out of the Buddhist majority country in what the United Nations has called an act of genocide.

The London-based global human rights organisation said it was revoking the Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Suu Kyi in 2009 while she was still under house arrest.

"Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights," Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Suu Kyi released by the group.

"Amnesty International cannot justify your continued status as a recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience award and so with great sadness we are hereby withdrawing it from you."

Amnesty said it informed the 73-year-old of the decision on Sunday. She has so far issued no public response.

Suu Kyi was globally hailed as a freedom fighter who stood up to her country's feared military junta while spending 15 years under house arrest.

Her plight received added attention when she was visited by Hillary Clinton when the two-time US presidential candidate was still Secretary of State in 2011.

Suu Kyi then reaffirmed her commitment to working with the United States to bring democracy to her country of around 50 million people.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to power in a 2015 landslide that brought hope of Myanmar correcting injustices inflicted over 50 years of brutal military rule.

But her tenure has been marred by a failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims. Her government is also fighting an uphill struggle against corruption and local conflicts.

Amnesty said it believes thousands of Rohingyas were killed in Myanmar's western Rakhine province since the campaign began August 2017.

Many more are thought to have been either tortured and raped.

Myanmar has justified the military's actions as necessary to combat terrorism.

Amnesty conceded that the civilian government Suu Kyi informally heads does not directly control the powerful security services.

But it accused her of standing up for the crimes and "obstructing international investigations into abuses".

It added that human rights campaigners and journalists continued to be detained and intimidated by the government since her party's victory.

Suu Kyi was stripped of her honourary Canadian citizenship over her failure to speak up for the Rohingyas last month.

She has also lost numerous smaller awards from individual universities and local and regional governments.</s>Amnesty International has stripped the former human-rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi of its most important award, accusing the Myanmar leader of perpetuating human rights abuses.

Amnesty accusesd Suu Kyi of standing by and not condemning the violence and genocidal campaign conducted by the Myanmar security forces against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Once hailed as a champion in the fight for democracy, Suu Kyi has been stripped of a series of international honours over a Rohingya exodus that began in August 2017.

Amnesty International's Secretary General Kumi Naidoo wrote to Aung San Suu Kyi to inform her the organization is revoking the 2009 award.

Eight years after her release from house arrest, Naidoo expressed Amnesty's disappointment that she had not used her political and moral authority to safeguard human rights, justice or equality in Myanmar, citing her apparent indifference to atrocities committed by the Myanmar military and increasing intolerance of freedom of expression.

"As an Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience, our expectation was that you would continue to use your moral authority to speak out against injustice wherever you saw it, not least within Myanmar itself," wrote Naidoo.

Suu Kyi's once iconic image as an upholder of human rights, and as a protector of her country has been decimated by the Rohingya crisis.

"Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights. Amnesty International cannot justify your continued status as a recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience award and so with great sadness we are hereby withdrawing it from you."

The international human rights group named Suu Kyi as its 2009 Ambassador of Conscience Award recipient when she was still under house arrest as the de facto leader of opposition to Myanmar's oppressive military junta led by the country's powerful generals.

In the eight years since she was released, Suu Kyi led her party to election victory in 2015 and set up a government the following year, but she has had to share power with generals and has no oversight and no appetite to rein in military forces.

Amnesty International said in a statement on Tuesday Suu Kyi had failed to speak out and had "shielded the security forces from accountability."

Amnesty called Suu Kyi's failure to stand against the violence against the Rohingya, a "shameful betrayal of the values she once stood for."

Aung San Suu Kyi greets Burmese immigrants at Talad Talay Thai Hall in Bangkok, Thailand. Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Thailand on Thursday, where she met immigrants from her country during the three-day official visit to Thailand. It was Suu Kyi's highest profile overseas visit since her pro-democracy party took power in April, after nearly half a century of military rule. Borja Sanchez-Trillo/Getty Images

United Nations investigators have most recently in October concluded that Myanmar's generals directed a campaign of killings, rape and arson upon the Rohingya with "genocidal intent."

A United Nations report released in August shows how during a Myanmar "clearance operation" in September last year, soldiers shot and stabbed villagers, raped women, and burned homes while driving 6,000 ethnic Rohingya from their homes at Inn Din.

A Reuters investigation in February detailed the murder of 10 Rohingya men and boys at the hands of Myanmar troops, police officers and Rakhine Buddhist villagers on September 2, 2017. The Myanmar government corroborated this report when it sentenced seven soldiers involved to 10 years imprisonment.

Altogether it is thought more than 700,000 stateless Rohingya fled across Myanmar's western border into Bangladesh after the Myanmar military launched a crackdown in response to a Rohingya insurgency targeting Myanmar security forces.

Unsurprisingly, Suu Kyi's administration rejected the findings and said the military was engaged in a legitimate counter-insurgency operation.

Human-rights lawyer Chris Sidoti told Business Insider that placing pressure on Suu Kyi has no impact unless the generals are being isolated.

Sidoti, currently a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council's Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar and an adjunct professor at the Australian Catholic University said a binding council resolution passed in October was a far more effective tool to pressure the ultimate perpetrators of the persecution of the Rohingya.

"The Myanmar generals are now under more pressure than they have ever been. They are fast running out of friends, running out of countries where they can feel safe from international justice," Sidoti said.

Last month, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution to establish a new mechanism to prepare cases to prosecute them for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The resolution had overwhelming support. It was carried in the 47 member Council by 35 votes to 3. (Seven states abstained and two were not in the room for the vote.) Over 100 UN member states co-spons

The International Court of Justice has also commenced an investigation heading towards prosecutions.

"The generals face a future where, if they set foot in any country in the world, they could be arrested and charged and prosecuted for crimes under international law in local courts or be handed over to the International Criminal Court," Sidoti said.

"In addition many states have already imposed targeted travel and financial sanctions on many of the top generals."

At this stage however, Myanmar's top two, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Vice Senior General Soe Win, haven't been targeted but Sidoti says, "it is only a matter of time."

The fact-finding mission has recommended sanctions on them both.

Sidoti says, "for Myanmar, this is very good news. Myanmar has no future with the generals running the country."

The 50-year military junta — an effective dictatorship — has left the country economically ruined and politically infantile, with Suu Kyi presenting little more than an internationally acceptable face.

"Myanmar has now endured 70 years of civil war, due to the dismal failures of the generals. Its transition to democracy has barely begun and has now seems permanently stalled."

"The country and its people have a future only if the military is transformed. That can only begin when all the top generals have been removed," Sidoti said.

Reuters reports that in March, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum withdrew its top award from Suu Kyi and she has been stripped of other significant honours, including the freedom of the cities of Dublin and Oxford, England, over the Rohingya crisis.

In September, Canada's parliament voted to strip Suu Kyi of her honorary citizenship.

While some critics have called for her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize to be withdrawn, the foundation that oversees the award said it would not do so.

Speaking at a business forum in Singapore ahead of the ASEAN regional summit, pleaded for international investment to return to Myanmar.

She did not address the ongoing crisis which has driven hundreds of thousands of the Muslim minority into crumbling and dangerous camps on the border with Bangladesh and extinguished hopes of a brighter future for Myanmar.

Amnesty International also accused Suu Kyi of not condemned military abuses in conflicts between the army and ethnic minority guerrillas in northern Myanmar and her government had imposed restrictions on access by humanitarian groups.</s>Amnesty International said it was revoking Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Suu Kyi in 2009 while she was still under house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi was globally hailed as a freedom fighter who stood up to her country's feared military junta while spending 15 years under house arrest. (Photo: File | AFP)

London: Amnesty International on Monday stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour over the de facto Myanmar leader's "indifference" to the atrocities committed by the military against Rohingya Muslims.

It was the latest in a string of awards the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner lost since Myanmar's military drove 720,000 Rohingya out of the Buddhist majority country in what the United Nations has called an act of genocide.

The London-based global human rights organisation said it was revoking the Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Suu Kyi in 2009 while she was still under house arrest.

"Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights," Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Suu Kyi released by the group.

"Amnesty International cannot justify your continued status as a recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience award and so with great sadness we are hereby withdrawing it from you."

Amnesty said it informed the 73-year-old of the decision on Sunday. She has so far issued no public response.

Suu Kyi was globally hailed as a freedom fighter who stood up to her country's feared military junta while spending 15 years under house arrest.

Her plight received added attention when she was visited by Hillary Clinton when the two-time US presidential candidate was still Secretary of State in 2011.

Suu Kyi then reaffirmed her commitment to working with the United States to bring democracy to her country of around 50 million people.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to power in a 2015 landslide that brought hope of Myanmar correcting injustices inflicted over 50 years of brutal military rule.

But her tenure has been marred by a failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims. Her government is also fighting an uphill struggle against corruption and local conflicts.

Amnesty said it believes thousands of Rohingyas were killed in Myanmar's western Rakhine province since the campaign began August 2017.

Many more are thought to have been either tortured and raped.

Myanmar has justified the military's actions as necessary to combat terrorism.

Amnesty conceded that the civilian government Suu Kyi informally heads does not directly control the powerful security services.

But it accused her of standing up for the crimes and "obstructing international investigations into abuses".

It added that human rights campaigners and journalists continued to be detained and intimidated by the government since her party's victory.

Suu Kyi was stripped of her honourary Canadian citizenship over her failure to speak up for the Rohingyas last month.

She has also lost numerous smaller awards from individual universities and local and regional governments.</s>London - Amnesty International on Monday stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour over the de facto Myanmar leader’s “indifference” to the atrocities committed by the country’s military against Rohingya Muslims.

The London-based global human rights organisation said it was revoking the Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Suu Kyi in 2009 while she was still under house arrest. “Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights,” Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Suu Kyi released by the group.

“Amnesty International cannot justify your continued status as a recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience award and so with great sadness we are hereby withdrawing it from you.”

The group said it informed Suu Kyi of the decision on Sunday. She has so far issued no public response. Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to power in 2015 in a landslide victory ending decades of military rule in the southeast Asian country of around 50 million. But her tenure has been marred by a failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims who were driven out of the country by the army in what the United Nations has called an ethnic cleansing campaign.

The 73-year-old was stripped of her honourary Canadian citizenship over her failure to speak up for the Rohingyas last month. She has also lost numerous smaller awards from individual universities and local and regional governments.

More than 720,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the Buddhist majority’s western Rakhine state in a military crackdown from August last year. Many are believed to have been either murdered or tortured and raped. Suu Kyi was globally hailed as a freedom fighter who stood up to her country’s feared military dictatorship while spending 15 years under house arrest. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.</s>SINGAPORE (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed has sharply criticized Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi for her handling of an ethnic crisis that led to mass killings and the exodus of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims from her country.

Mahathir said Tuesday that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi is "trying to defend the indefensible" in justifying violence by Myanmar security forces against Rohingya in Rakhine state.

He said that as a former political prisoner, Suu Kyi should understand suffering.

Mahathir was asked about the issue at a news conference on the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore.

Suu Kyi became an icon for democracy after spending about 15 years under house arrest for opposing Myanmar's earlier military dictatorship. She has been severely criticized for her handling of the Rohingya.</s>Amnesty International on Monday stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour over the de facto Myanmar leader's "indifference" to the atrocities committed by the country's military against Rohingya Muslims.

The London-based global human rights organisation said it was revoking the Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Suu Kyi in 2009 while she was still under house arrest.

"Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights," Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Suu Kyi released by the group.

"Amnesty International cannot justify your continued status as a recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience award and so with great sadness we are hereby withdrawing it from you." The group said it informed Suu Kyi of the decision on Sunday. She has so far issued no public response.

Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to power in 2015 in a landslide victory ending decades of military rule in the southeast Asian country of around 50 million.

But her tenure has been marred by a failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims who were driven out of the country by the army in what the United Nations has called an ethnic cleansing campaign.

The 73-year-old was stripped of her honourary Canadian citizenship over her failure to speak up for the Rohingyas last month.

She has also lost numerous smaller awards from individual universities and local and regional governments.

More than 720,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the Buddhist majority's western Rakhine state in a military crackdown from August last year.

Many are believed to have been either murdered or tortured and raped.

Suu Kyi was globally hailed as a freedom fighter who stood up to her country's feared military dictatorship while spending 15 years under house arrest.

She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.</s>Amnesty International on Monday stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour over the de facto Myanmar leader's "indifference" to the atrocities committed by the military against Rohingya Muslims.

It was the latest in a string of awards the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner lost since Myanmar's military drove 720,000 Rohingya out of the Buddhist majority country in what the United Nations has called an act of genocide.

The London-based global human rights organisation said it was revoking the Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Suu Kyi in 2009 while she was still under house arrest.

"Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights," Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Suu Kyi released by the group.

"Amnesty International cannot justify your continued status as a recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience award and so with great sadness we are hereby withdrawing it from you."

Amnesty said it informed the 73-year-old of the decision on Sunday. She has so far issued no public response.

Suu Kyi was globally hailed as a freedom fighter who stood up to her country's feared military junta while spending 15 years under house arrest.

Her plight received added attention when she was visited by Hillary Clinton when the two-time US presidential candidate was still Secretary of State in 2011.

Suu Kyi then reaffirmed her committment to working with the United States to bring democracy to her country of around 50 million people.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to power in a 2015 landslide that brought hope of Myanmar correcting injustices inflicted over 50 years of brutal military rule.

But her tenure has been marred by a failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims. Her government is also fighting an uphill struggle against corruption and local conflicts.

Amnesty said it believes thousands of Rohingyas were killed in Myanmar's western Rakhine province since the campaign began August 2017.

Many more are thought to have been either tortured and raped.

Myanmar has justified the military's actions as necessary to combat terrorism.

Amnesty conceded that the civilian government Suu Kyi informally heads does not directly control the powerful security services.

But it accused her of standing up for the crimes and "obstructing international investigations into abuses".

It added that human rights campaigners and journalists continued to be detained and intimidated by the government since her party's victory.

Suu Kyi was stripped of her honourary Canadian citizenship over her failure to speak up for the Rohingyas last month.

She has also lost numerous smaller awards from individual universities and local and regional governments.</s>LONDON (AFP) - Amnesty International on Monday (Nov 12) stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour over the de facto Myanmar leader's "indifference" to the atrocities committed by the military against Rohingya Muslims.

It was the latest in a string of awards the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner lost since Myanmar's military drove 720,000 Rohingya out of the Buddhist majority country in what the United Nations has called an act of genocide.

The London-based global human rights organisation said it was revoking the Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Suu Kyi in 2009 while she was still under house arrest.

"Today, we are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights," Amnesty International chief Kumi Naidoo said in a letter to Suu Kyi released by the group.

"Amnesty International cannot justify your continued status as a recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience award and so with great sadness we are hereby withdrawing it from you."

Amnesty said it informed the 73-year-old of the decision on Sunday.

She has so far issued no public response.

Suu Kyi was globally hailed as a freedom fighter who stood up to her country's feared military junta while spending 15 years under house arrest.

Her plight received added attention when she was visited by Hillary Clinton when the two-time US presidential candidate was still Secretary of State in 2011.

Suu Kyi then reaffirmed her committment to working with the United States to bring democracy to her country of around 50 million people.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to power in a 2015 landslide that brought hope of Myanmar correcting injustices inflicted over 50 years by brutal military rule.

But her tenure has been marred by a failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims.

Her government is also fighting an uphill struggle against corruption and local conflicts.

Amnesty said it believes thousands of Rohingyas were killed in Myanmar's western Rakhine province since the campaign began August 2017.

Many more are thought to have been either tortured or raped.

Myanmar has justified the military's actions as necessary to combat terrorism.

Amnesty conceded that the civilian government Suu Kyi informally heads does not directly control the powerful security services.

But it accused her of standing up for the crimes and "obstructing international investigations into abuses".

It added that human rights campaigners and journalists continued to be detained and intimidated by the government since her party's victory.

Suu Kyi was stripped of her honourary Canadian citizenship over her failure to speak up for the Rohingyas last month.

She has also lost numerous smaller awards from individual universities and local and regional governments.
Amnesty International strips Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honor, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, which she received in 2009, because of her inaction regarding the persecution of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim population in Rakhine State and the military operations in Kachin and Shan State.