He claimed the panel was a “whitewash” and accused Ms Suu Kyi, his long-time friend, of lacking “moral leadership”.

Myanmar said he should “review himself” over the “personal attack”.

More than 650,000 Rohingya people, from a mostly-Muslim minority in Buddhist Myanmar, fled to Bangladesh last year in the face of a military crackdown.

Many are now living in refugee camps in the neighbouring country. Bangladesh has said they will all be returned to Myanmar within two years.

Mr Richardson added that Ms Suu Kyi had been “furious” when he raised the case of two Reuters reporters on trial in Myanmar.

Mr Richardson, a former adviser to the Clinton administration, has known Ms Suu Kyi for decades, and visited the Nobel laureate while she was under house arrest in the 1990s.

He told Reuters he was resigning from the advisory board because it was a “whitewash” and he did not want to be part of a “cheerleading squad for the government”.

He was “alarmed by the lack of sincerity with which the critical issue of citizenship was discussed,” he wrote in a statement.

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Source: BBC

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The 85-year-old South African archbishop, who has formally retired from active work said he was forced to write publicly on the matter due to Madam Suu Kyi’s posture.

In an open letter on Thursday to Suu Kyi, Desmond Tutu said, ‘Your emergence into public life allayed our concerns about violence being perpetrated against members of the Rohingya but what some have called “ethnic cleansing” and others “a slow genocide” has persisted – and recently accelerated …”

“We pray for you to speak out for justice, human rights and the unity of your people. We pray for you to intervene in the escalating crisis and guide your people back towards the path of righteousness,” Desmond Tutu said.

“We know that you know that human beings may look and workshop differently – and some may have greater firepower than others – but none are superior and non-inferior; that when you scratch the surface we are all the same… 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. A country that is not at peace with itself, fails to acknowledge and protect the dignity and worth of all its people, is not a free country,” he added

There are about 1 million Rohingya Muslims in Burma and they have for several years complained of being victims of persecution from the state.

But Madam Suu Kyi largely remained silent on the matter despite being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1991 for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

Many global icons have condemned Madam Suu Kyi for the stance in the matter including, Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever peace prize winner.

The UN refugee agency announced an estimated 270,000 Rohingya have sought refuge in Bangladesh over the past two weeks due to attacks from the military.

An online petition for the revocation of Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nobel Peace Prize has been launched on Change.org and have so far gathered about 400,000 signatures.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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