Canada strips Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi of honorary citizenship
The parliament of Canada has unanimously voted to strip Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary citizenship over her handling of the Rohingya crisis.
Thursday's vote came a week after Canadian MPs approved a motion recognising the crimescommitted against the Rohingya as genocide.
Aung San Suu Kyi received the honour from Ottawa in 2007, when she was a democracy advocate under long house arrest. But the Myanmar leader has been under fire for her failure to condemn the military campaign that has driven more than 700,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh in what the UN human rights chief called "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
Canadian parliament's decision to revoke the symbolic honour was due to a "persistent refusal to denounce the Rohingya genocide", said Adam Austen, spokesman for Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.
"We will continue to support the Rohingya by providing humanitarian assistance, imposing sanctions against Myanmar's generals and demanding that those responsible be held accountable before a competent international body," said Austen.
MP Gabriel Ste Marie, who proposed the motion, told reporters he thought the vote was "a great symbol".
Member of Parliament Salma Zahid called Aung San Suu Kyi's "unwillingness to take any moral leadership ... inexcusable, and deeply disappointing".
Parliament just unanimously agreed to revoke the honorary Canadian citizenship of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi. Her unwillingness to take any moral leadership for the genocide of the Rohingya in her country is inexcusable, and deeply disappointing.
— Salma Zahid (@SalmaZahid15) September 27, 2018
Rights organisations have accused Myanmar military of committing extrajudicial killings, gang rape and arson during their bloody campaign launched in August last year after army posts came under attack from Rohingya fighters.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya now live in cramped refugee camps in Bangladesh, fearful of returning home despite a repatriation deal.
Andrew Leslie, Minister Freeland's parliamentary secretary, said "the machinery of government will chew over the details of what specifically is required to implement" the motion.
Only five other individuals have ever been given honorary citizenship in Canada, including the Dalai Lama, Malala Yousafzai and Nelson Mandela.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Courtesy: www.aljazeera.com
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
B'desh: Lawyer killed in clash between security personnel, followers of Hindu leader
Dhaka, Nov 26: A lawyer was killed on Tuesday during clashes between the security personnel and followers of a Hindu community leader, who was denied bail and sent to jail by a Bangladesh court, according to local media reports.
The victim was identified as Saiful Islam, a 35-year-old assistant public prosecutor and a member of the Chattogram District Bar Association, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.
Citing Dr Nibedita Ghosh, a duty doctor at the emergency department of Chittagong Medical College Hospital, the paper said that six others were injured in the clashes that erupted after Chattogram’s Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate court denied bail to prominent Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, arrested on sedition charges.
Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, president of the Chittagong Lawyers' Association, said that protesters dragged a lawyer from beneath his chamber and hacked him to death.
As Das was being taken away in a police van, he addressed the crowd through a hand mike, urging them to remain calm.
Around 3 pm, the law enforcement agencies resorted to sound grenades, tear gas shells, and baton charges, dispersing the protesters.
Deputy Commissioner of City Police Liaquat Ali confirmed one death but said they were still investigating the cause.
The Daily Star newspaper reported that at least 10 people, including journalists, were injured during the clash.
