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Desmond Tutu criticizes Suu Kyi over plight of Rohingya Muslims

Friday, 08 September 2017 2:07 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 13 September 2017 12:04 AM ]

Internationally-renowned South African human rights activist Desmond Tutu

Internationally-renowned South African human rights activist Desmond Tutu has rebuked fellow Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi over the massacre, persecution and forcible eviction of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

In an open letter written on Thursday, Tutu, 85, called on the 72-year-old leader to stop the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Rohingya minority.

In the letter addressing his “dearly beloved younger sister,” he expressed “profound sadness about the plight of the Muslim minority” in Myanmar.

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"My dear sister: If the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep," the retired Catholic Bishop said to Suu Kyi, who is now serving as Myanmar's state counselor.

In the 2015 elections, her junta-backed party won a landslide victory, taking 86 percent of the seats in the Assembly of the Union, and she became head of the government.

“As we witness the unfolding horror we pray for you to be courageous and resilient again,” Tutu said, adding, “We pray for you to intervene in the escalating crisis and guide your people back towards the path of righteousness.”