The rules regulating the Nobel prizes did not allow for a prize to be withdrawn, said Olav Njoelstad, the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on the same day as UN report is released.
UN report issued by the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar has released on Monday (27/8). It said that the army was responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity against minorities across the country.
The report comes just two days after the anniversary of the crackdown against Rohingya ethnic on August 25, in which on that day thousands of Rohingya refugees rallied and demanded 'justice' at Kutupalong refugees camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
The crackdown by Myanmar military killed nearly 7,000 Rohingya in the first month alone, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and forced more than 700,000 Rohingya people to flee Myanmar and cross to Bangladesh.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who leads the Myanmar government and won the Nobel peace prize in 1991 for campaigning for democracy, has been widely criticized for failing to speak out against the army crackdown in Rakhine state.
“It’s important to remember that a Nobel prize, whether in physics, literature or peace, is awarded for some prize-worthy effort or achievement of the past. Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel peace prize for her fight for democracy and freedom up until 1991, the year she was awarded the prize,” explained Njoelstad as cited by The Guardian.
In 2017 the head of the committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, also said it would not strip the award after previous criticism of Aung San Suu Kyi’s role in the Rohingya crisis.
“We don’t do it. It’s not our task to oversee or censor what a laureate does after the prize has been won,” she said. “The prizewinners themselves have to safeguard their own reputations.”
The Nobel Prize is a set of six annual international awards bestowed in several categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural, or scientific advances. It is awarded by a committee of five, appointed by the Storting (the Norwegian parliament).
Source: The Guardian, India Times