Aung San Suu Kyi’s defensive denial of the Rohingya massacre: A rhetorical analysis of denial and positive-image construction

Abstract

In December 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accused the Myanmar government of genocide against Rohingya Muslims. Represented by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar authorities denied such accusations. To understand how a political leader can deny ingroup wrongdoings, we unpacked Suu Kyi’s ICJ speech and analyzed her defensive rhetorical style through critical narrative analysis. We aimed to identify and describe the denial strategies Suu Kyi used as well as how she maintained a positive ingroup image to support her position. Our findings showed that Suu Kyi engaged in interpretative denial of genocide by arguing that genocide cannot occur when there is armed conflict, that there were victims and perpetrators on both sides, and that misconducts by law enforcement had been addressed. To maintain the ingroup’s positive image, she portrayed Myanmar as moral by emphasizing the government’s knowledge of ethical standards and laws, as well as their support for peace and justice. By examining political discourse used by a national leader internationally renowned for supporting human rights, our findings shed light on the dynamic, constructive nature of denial. Theoretical and applied contributions to understanding denial of ingroup wrongdoing are discussed.

Understanding the supporters and opponents of Myanmar's civil disobedience movement against the military coup in 2021

“…The aim of the present study is to investigate the psychological factors that play a role in supporting and opposing Myanmar's CDM against the military coup. Based on previous studies on the feeling of connection to others (see, e.g., Mashuri et al, 2012;, 2013, endorsement of solidarity (Subaši c et al, 2008), positioning stand , collective blaming (Lickel et al, 2006;Putra et al, 2021), empathy (Mashuri et al, 2017) and metaprejudice, we expected that perceived country's internal problems, support for human To discuss further, among Muslim participants, Indonesia's internal problems were the stronger predictor in which it controlled and mediated the relationships of other key variables to support the Myanmar people. On the other hand, among non-Muslims, support for human rights and victim blaming were the stronger predictors that also mediated the relationships of other key variables to support for the Myanmar people.…”

“…Second, reflecting on the accusation of Rohingya genocide and how Myanmar's leaders denied the accusation (Putra et al, 2021), we argue that the indifference or lack of empathy expressed by international communities towards the current situation makes considerable sense. Empathy is the ability to understand and feel others' perceptions and experiences (Seu & Cameron, 2013).…”

“…Reflectively, other things that may play a role in preventing support for the Myanmar people are related to Myanmar's past wrongdoing of committing the Rohingya genocide (Putra, Selvanathan, Mashuri, & Montiel, 2021).…”

“…She has also denied the accusation in previous interviews (Putra et al, 2021). Not just Suu Kyi, other elements like the military and the Buddhist monks (Crisis Group, 2017) had also denied the accusation of wrongdoings, despite obvious evidence.…”

Political psychology of Southeast Asia

“…However, due to the submission time limits, this special thematic section did not cover all of the timely socio-political issues in Southeast Asia. One example is the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's denial of the accusation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2019 that the Myanmar government has perpetrated genocide against Rohingya Muslims (Putra et al, 2021a). Another example is the civil collective protests against a coup d'état by the Myanmar military regime in February 2021 (Putra & Shadiqi, 2022).…”