Is Aung San Suu Kyi the real enemy?

By Mark Farmaner   |   Monday, 06 May 2013

There is an old saying that love can easily turn into hate but it has been surprising to see how quickly this has happened regarding Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
It was always going to be impossible for her to meet expectations. First, because of the sheer scale of the problems Myanmar faces, and second because after spending so many years under house arrest, she became all things to all people. In the absence of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi being able to comment and act herself, expectations were based on hope, not reality.
Successive dictatorships in Myanmar ruthlessly pursued divide and rule policies. Unity was essential to counter this. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, though, has now chosen the path of party politics rather than leading a whole movement. In the 2012 by-elections, the National League for Democracy stood alone, not as part of a coalition of pro-democracy parties and organisations. As such, the situation has changed. Criticism of political parties and their policies is an essential part of any democracy. It would be dangerous and unhealthy if people were not criticising Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
However, the level of vitriol and hatred being directed at her by some people in Myanmar, and some external observers, is worrying. Her picture has been burned during protests, and she has even been compared to Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. These attacks are all the more worrying because the level of criticism exceeds that directed at President U Thein Sein.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has made compromises that many people are unhappy with. She has been silent on key human rights issues where her intervention could have made a real difference. Her role in the Letpadaung commission has been controversial. There are many decisions she has made that are worthy of comment and debate. In doing so, however, it is important to keep things in perspective.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi does not keep hundreds of political prisoners in jail. She does not have an army which is committing war crimes by targeting civilians in Kachin State, with soldiers who rape ethnic Kachin women, and even children. But President U Thein Sein does.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi doesn’t control a government budget which allocates around five times as much to the military as health, or have security forces committing horrendous abuses against the Rohingya. President U Thein Sein does.
There has not been a single repressive law completely repealed that is not already covered by another law, or has not been replaced by another law that does not meet international standards. Myanmar is violating multiple international humanitarian and human rights laws. As head of state it is U Thein Sein who is responsible for this, not Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Aung San Suu Kyi used to be the one winning peace awards but now faces criticism that crosses the line into personal attacks. Now it is President U Thein Sein who is winning the peace awards – and avoiding criticism.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would be among the first to admit she isn’t perfect. Her actions and decisions should be scrutinised and questioned. But let’s not forget it is the head of state who has ultimate responsibility for human rights abuses. U Thein Sein rules a country that two years into the reform process still has one of the worst human rights records in the world – and he is getting a free ride.
(Mark Farmaner is Director of Burma Campaign UK.)