At The Hague, Burma’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is attempting to defend the Burmese military from charges of genocide against Muslim Rohingya at the U.N. International Court of Justice. The Burmese military killed and raped thousands of Rohingya and forced more than 700,000 to flee into neighboring Bangladesh in a brutal army crackdown in 2017. During Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech, she never said the word Rohingya, and she claimed that no genocide had taken place.

Aung San Suu Kyi: “Regrettably, the Gambia has placed before the court an incomplete and misleading factual picture of the situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar. Yet, it is of the utmost importance that the court assess the situation obtaining on the ground in Rakhine dispassionately and accurately.”

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was placed under house arrest for 15 years while campaigning against Burmese military rule. She is now defending that same military, while she continues to hold vast power in Burma. This is Rohingya refugee Shamsul Alam speaking from Bangladesh after watching Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech at The Hague.

Shamsul Alam: “Aung San Suu Kyi was in jail. She is afraid of that jail, so she is lying only to stay in power. She is lying to the ICJ court. We are carrying so much pain. We call upon the U.N. and all nations: please help us to get justice from this genocide.”