Burmese State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected a suggestion she is soft on the military, which the UN has accused of ethnic cleansing, saying her relationship with the generals was normal and her objective was national reconciliation.
Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday condemned rights abuses in Rakhine State, where conflict that began last month has forced 421,000 Rohingya Muslims to seek refuge in Bangladesh, and said violators would be punished.
However, in her first address to the Buddhist-majority nation on the crisis, she did not address UN accusations of ethnic cleansing by the security forces, drawing cool international responses.
“We’ve never changed our stand,” Aung San Suu Kyi said in an interview with Radio Free Asia, when asked if she had softened her stance on the military, which she challenged for years in her campaign for democracy.
“Our goal has been national reconciliation from the very beginning. We have never criticized the military itself, but only their actions. We may disagree on these types of actions,” she said.
She cited her unsuccessful bid in parliament to change a military-drafted constitution, which bars her from the presidency and gives the military responsibility over security and a veto over charter reform.
“We’ll continue to bring changes within the parliament. I’ve stood firm with the military before, and still do now,” she said.
She again did not refer to the accusations that the military is engaged in ethnic cleansing.
Western diplomats and aid officials had been hoping she would issue an unequivocal condemnation of violence and hate speech in her first address on the Rakhine conflict.
They welcomed the message, as far as it went, but some had been hoping for a stronger stand.
Aung San Suu Kyi condemned all rights violations and said she was committed to the restoration of peace and the rule of law.
On the return of refugees, she said Myanmar was ready to start a verification process under a 1993 arrangement with Bangladesh and “refugees from this country will be accepted without any problem.”
She also said diplomats could visit the conflict zone.
In a phone call to Aung San Suu Kyi, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson welcomed Myanmar’s commitment to allow the return of refugees, but urged it to facilitate aid to those affected by the violence and to address “deeply troubling” rights abuse allegations, the US Department of State said.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Patrick Murphy is in Myanmar this week. He is to travel to Rakhine’s capital, Sittwe, to meet government officials and representatives of different communities, but is not seeking to travel to the conflict zone.
China, which has close economic and diplomatic ties with Myanmar, has called for understanding of the government’s efforts to protect stability.
Britain said it had suspended its military training program in Myanmar and French President Emmanuel Macron condemned “unacceptable ethnic cleansing.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN General Assembly Myanmar must end military operations, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and recognize the right of refugees to return and the grievances of the Rohingya.
Twenty-two members of the US Congress wrote to Tillerson calling for a “strong, meaningful” response.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said Aung San Suu Kyi risked destroying her reputation.
“She had yet another opportunity today to stand up for the Rohingya minority ... but instead refused to acknowledge the military’s role in the ongoing atrocities,” he said.
Western governments that backed Aung San Suu Kyi’s campaign against military rule still see her as the best hope for Myanmar’s political and economic transition.
However, she has to avoid angering the army and alienating supporters by being seen to take the side of a Muslim minority that enjoys little sympathy in a nation that has seen a surge of Buddhist nationalism.
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