Sacharovprijs voor Aung San Suu Kyi moet ingetrokken worden
De leider van de burgerregering van Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, heeft de afgelopen tijd bewezen dat ze de Sacharovprijs niet waard is. Ik roep David Sassoli, voorzitter van het Europees Parlement, daarom op de prijs in te trekken.
De Sacaharovprijs wordt sinds 1988 jaarlijks uitgereikt door het Europees Parlement voor verdedigers van democratie en mensenrechten. Suu Kyi won deze prijs in 1990. De laatste jaren heeft Suu Kyi echter niets gedaan voor de mensenrechten voor de Rohingya en daarnaast staat de godsdienstvrijheid van deze gemeenschap onder druk. Volgens de Verenigde Naties is deze etnische groep op grote schaal getroffen door brandstichting, moord en verkrachting. Ruim 1,3 miljoen zijn door deze crisis geraakt en door al deze grote misstanden is er een massamigratie op gang gekomen. Suu Kyi ontkende echter onlangs voor het Internationaal Gerechtshof in Den Haag dat het leger van haar land genocide pleegde op de Rohingya-minderheid en vond dat de soevereiniteit van haar Myanmar gerespecteerd moest worden.
Ik vind het onjuist dat Suu Kyi zich op deze manier opstelt en niets doet tegen deze misstanden in haar land en daarom onderteken ik de brief van mijn collega, Europarlementariër Younous Omarjee.
Mr David SASSOLI
President of the European Parliament
Subject: Withdrawal of the Sakharov prize awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi
Dear President,
In the last three years, more than 1.3 million people have been affected by the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, leading to mass migration. A quarter of refugee’s children suffer from malnutrition in overcrowded camps. Since 1982, the continuous absence of formal recognition as an ethnic group by the Burmese government has made the Rohingya stateless and devoid of citizenship. This situation has facilitated the persecution of the Rohingya by militants and the Burmese army, rooted in a history of a 200-year old conflict between Rohingya and the rest of the population.
In a report published on the 16th of September 2019, the United Nations mission in Myanmar declares having witnessed genocidal acts, population cleansing, mass rapes and thousands of people killed by the Burmese army. The report concludes by calling for immediate actions by the Burmese government, and warns of the risk of a total genocide of the Rohingya population in the coming times. This report has led Myanmar to have to face the International Court of Justice to answer the alleged crimes committed by their army. In this context, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel peace prize for having resisted peacefully to the military Junta, and current president of Myanmar, arrived on Tuesday 10th of December to the ICJ to answer these accusations. She has since denied any involvement of the army and even reiterated her support for them once again, denying any responsibility of the government in the crisis, and arguing that there is a “rebellion” in the country and that “sovereignty” should be respected.
Such an attitude is regrettable for a woman that was once considered fitting to receive a Nobel peace prize as well as the Sakharov prize from the European Parliament.
After several Nobel Prize winners have called for her Nobel Prize removal and following the removal by Amnesty international of the prize they awarded to her, we now call upon you to take actions for the withdrawal of the Sakharov prize awarded to her. The Sakharov prize for Freedom of Thought represents people fighting for freedom and against oppression, and cannot be associated with a repressive government and allegations of genocide. Allowing Aung San Suu Kyi to keep her prize is not only a moral wrongdoing; it would also be a fault for our institution if we want to preserve the prestige and the value of this award.
We, Members of the European Parliament, ask you, Mr President, to withdraw the Sakharov Prize awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi, for her lack of actions, her responsibility and her acceptance of the ongoing crimes in Myanmar.
Yours sincerely,
