Myanmar's Suu Kyi stripped of human rights award

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of a human rights award by the City of London for the country's brutalities against the Rohingya community, local media reported on Friday.

Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar, received the City of London Corporation’s (CLC) Honorary Freedom award in 2017 in recognition for her struggle for democracy and peace.

The CLC is the body that runs London’s historic center and financial district.

It said the honor was revoked for her “close association” with the government of Myanmar and her appearance at the International Court of Justice, where she defended her country against accusations of mass killings of the Rohingya.

The corporation originally voted to take back the award last January, but then decided to suspend, rather than revoke, the honor.

In a statement, Sir David Wootton, chairman of the CLC’s Freedom Applications Committee, said: “Today’s unprecedented decision reflects the City Corporation’s condemnation of the humanitarian abuses carried out in Myanmar, which have been detailed during the recent genocide hearing in The Hague.

“The Freedom Applications Committee concluded that the argument for the removal of the award had been much strengthened by Aung San Suu Kyi’s close association with Myanmar’s government at the hearing, as well as her lack of response to letters from the Freedom Applications Committee.”

In 2018, Amnesty International stripped Suu Kyi of its highest award over the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar.