STOCKHOLM: Some of the actions Aung San Suu Kyi has taken as Myanmar’s civilian leader are “regrettable” but her Nobel Peace Prize will not be withdrawn, the head of the Nobel Foundation told Reuters in an interview in Stockholm on Friday.
Lars Heikensten, speaking days before the awarding of this year’s peace prize, said it made no sense to withdraw awards in reaction to things that happened after they were given, as judges would constantly have to discuss laureates’ merits.
UN investigators issued a report in August accusing Myanmar’s military of carrying out mass killings of Muslim Rohingya with “genocidal intent” in an operation that drove more than 700,000 refugees across the border to Bangladesh.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for campaigning for democracy and now leads the Myanmar government, was accused in the same report of failing to use her “moral authority” to protect civilians.
“We see what she’s been doing in Myanmar has been questioned a lot and we stand for human rights, that’s one of our core values,” Lars Heikensten, the head of the Nobel Foundation, said.
“So of course to the extent that she’s responsible for that, that is very regrettable,” he added.
Government spokesman Zaw Htay did not answer phone calls seeking comment on Monday. He said last month he would no longer speak to the media over the phone, only at a biweekly conference.
Myanmar has rejected the UN findings as “one-sided.” It says the military action, which followed militant attacks on security forces in August last year, was a legitimate counterinsurgency operation.
Suu Kyi said last month that in hindsight her government could have handled the situation in Rakhine state better, but did not acknowledge any major crimes.
“We don’t believe it would make sense to try to withdraw prizes ... it would involve us in constant discussions about the merits about what people are doing afterwards, after they have received the prize,” Heikensten said.
“There has always been and there always will be Nobel laureates that are doing things after they’ve been awarded the prize which we do not approve of or which we don’t think are the right things. That we cannot avoid I think,” he added.
The Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation oversees the administration of all the Nobel Prizes, which are awarded by different organizations in Sweden and Norway.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Peace Prize, said in August that its rules did not allow awards to be withdrawn.
The laureate of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday in Oslo.
Suu Kyi’s actions “regrettable” but she will keep peace prize — Nobel chief
Suu Kyi’s actions “regrettable” but she will keep peace prize — Nobel chief
- UN investigators accused Myanmar’s military of carrying out mass killings of Muslim Rohingya with “genocidal intent”
- Suu Kyi said that her government could have handled the situation in Rakhine state better, but did not acknowledge any major crimes
Venezuela begins ‘large’ prisoner release amid US pressure
- The releases are the first since Maduro’s former deputy Delcy Rodriguez took over, with the backing of President Donald Trump
- The releases were announced by Rodriguez’s brother, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez
CARACAS: Venezuela on Thursday began releasing a “large number” of political prisoners, including several foreigners, in an apparent concession to the United States after its ouster of ruler Nicolas Maduro.
The releases are the first since Maduro’s former deputy Delcy Rodriguez took over, with the backing of President Donald Trump, who says he is content to let her govern as long as she gives Washington access to oil.
The White House credited Trump with securing the prisoners’ freedom.
“This is one example of how the president is using maximum leverage to do right by the American and Venezuelan people,” Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP.
The releases were announced by Rodriguez’s brother, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez, a key figure in “chavismo,” the anti-US socialist movement founded by Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez.
He said “a large number of Venezuelan and foreign nationals” were being immediately freed for the sake of “peaceful coexistence.”
He did not say which prisoners would be released, nor how many or from where.
Renowned Spanish-Venezuelan activist Rocio San Miguel, imprisoned since February 2024 over a purported plot to assassinate Maduro, was among five Spanish citizens freed, according to Spain’s foreign ministry.
Security was stepped up Thursday afternoon outside the notorious El Helicoide detention center in Caracas, used by the intelligence services to jail political and other prisoners.
Miguel was held in El Helicoide after her arrest.
Leading opposition figure Alfredo Diaz, who died in December in custody, was also held at the facility.
Families gathered outside on Thursday for news of their loved ones.
“I’m nervous. Please God may it be reality,” the mother of a detained activist from the party of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told AFP.
On Tuesday, Trump had told Republican lawmakers that Rodriguez’s administration was closing a torture chamber “in the middle of Caracas” but gave no further details.
His remarks had sparked speculation that Venezuelan authorities had agreed to close El Helicoide.
Venezuelan rights NGO Foro Penal estimates over 800 political prisoners are languishing in the country’s jails.
It welcomed the government’s plans to liberate some of them but was still verifying releases.
As tensions with Washington climaxed in the past month Venezuela had already released dozens of dissenters in two phases.
- Trump rebuked by Senate -
Thursday’s move by Caracas came as Trump suggested the United States could run Venezuela and tap into its oil reserves for years.
Shortly after Maduro’s seizure in US airstrikes and a special forces raid that left 100 people dead, according to Caracas, Trump announced that the US would “run” the Caribbean country for a transitional period.
“Only time will tell” how long Washington will demand direct oversight of the country, he told The New York Times in an interview published Thursday.
When asked whether that meant three months, six months or a year, he replied: “I would say much longer.”
Meanwhile, the US Senate on Thursday took a major step toward passing a resolution to rein in military actions against Venezuela.
The Democratic-led legislation, expected to pass a vote next week, reflects widespread disquiet among lawmakers over Saturday’s secretive capture of Maduro, conducted without their express approval.
It is expected to face resistance in the Republican-dominated House, however.
- Millions of barrels of crude -
Oil has emerged as the key to US control over Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven reserves.
Trump announced a plan earlier this week for the United States to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, with Caracas then using the money to buy US-made products.
Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday called the US attack to depose Maduro, who was taken to New York with his wife to face trial on drugs charges, a “stain” on relations with the United States.
But she also defended the planned oil sales to Washington.
On the streets of Caracas, opinions remain mixed about the plan.
“I feel we’ll have more opportunities if the oil is in the hands of the United States than in the hands of the government,” said Jose Antonio Blanco, 26.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump, who will meet oil executives on Friday, is also considering a plan for the US to exert control over Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA.
Trump has warned Rodriguez she will pay “a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she does not comply with his agenda.
“Her power comes from Washington, not from the internal structure. If Trump decides she’s no longer useful, she’ll go like Maduro,” Venezuela’s former information minister Andres Izarra told AFP in an email.
