UNDER FIRE

Holocaust Museum Rescinds Award to Myanmar Leader

The museum said Aung San Suu Kyi failed to address violence against the Rohingya.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has rescinded the Elie Wiesel Award from Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a letter sent to the Myanmar Embassy on Tuesday. The museum, which gave Aung San Suu Kyi the award in 2012 for her “advocacy for freedom and human rights for all the people of Myanmar,” took back the honor because of her abysmal response to "the military’s attacks against the Rohingya," it said. "We had hoped that you—as someone we and many others have celebrated for your commitment to human dignity and universal human rights—would have done something to condemn and stop the military’s brutal campaign and to express solidarity with the targeted Rohingya population," the museum explained. It added that under her leadership, the National League for Democracy has “promulgated hateful rhetoric against the Rohingya community, and denied access to and cracked down on journalists trying to uncover the scope of the crimes in Rakhine State.” The Nobel Peace Prize winner has come under fire for failing to criticize the Myanmar military for starving the Rohingya out of their homes and burning down their villages—leaving the population stateless.