Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected that she is taking a “soft” position with her country’s army, which the United Nations has accused of ethnic cleansing and said its relationship with military commanders is normal and aimed at establishing national reconciliation.On Tuesday, Suu Kyi denounced human rights abuses in Arakan state, where 421,000 Rohingya Muslims have been forced to seek refuge in Bangladesh since last month and confirmed that the culprits will be punished.But in its first speech to the nation on the crisis, it did not address the United Nations’ accusations of ethnic cleansing of the security forces.
“We have not changed our position at all,” she said in an interview with Free Asia radio in response to a question on whether her position was soft on the army she challenged over the years in her campaign for democracy.
“Our goal has been national reconciliation from the very beginning. We never criticized the army itself, but criticized its actions. We may disagree with these kinds of actions. “
“We will continue to make changes within parliament. I stood firm with the army before, and I still do now. ” It did not mention the accusations that the army was carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
In a telephone conversation, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson welcomed Myanmar’s commitment to allow refugees to return and urged them to facilitate access to aid to those affected by violence and to deal with allegations of “deeply disturbing” human rights violations.US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Patrick Murphy is scheduled to arrive in Myanmar this week. He will visit the capital city of Arakan, the capital of Arakan state, to meet with government officials and representatives of different communities but will not go to the conflict zone.
