What silences Suu Kyi?

What is the point of Myanmar having Nobel Peace Laureate and one-time democracy icon Aung San Suu Ky in power as de facto head of state if she can’t – or won’t – exercise that power to protect people’s basic rights?
The latest abuse occurred last week, spurring further outrage around the world. Two journalists working for news agency Reuters – both Myanmar citizens – were arrested for trying to report on the plight of the Rohingya minority.
Police detained Thet Oo Maung Maung, 31, also known as Wa Lone, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, aka Moe Aung, on the outskirts of Yangon on December 12. They were charged under the archaic 1923 Official Secrets Act after it was determined they’d obtained information about security operations in western Rakhine state, home to the Rohingya prior to the government’s massive and murderous “clearance operation”. They could each face 14 years in jail. Two security officers who allegedly handed over the notes are charged under the same colonial-era law. 
It can only be assumed that the government knows the information exchanged is so damning that it had to silence the journalists and officials taking such brave steps to alert the world about the true nature of what’s happening in Rakhine. The United Nations and United States have already agreed that attacks on the Rohingya by government forces and vigilante groups amount to ethnic cleansing. Since late August, more than 650,000 people have fled across the border into Bangladesh in fear of their lives. 
Suu Kyi’s government is cowering from the international spotlight. It bars aid workers, foreign journalists and other investigators from travelling independently in the strife-torn western state. We have limited ways of knowing the extent of the brutal suppression that’s taking place, but word does trickle out. Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) was recently able to reveal that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the first month after violence broke out in August, including at least 730 children under the age of five. 
The authorities of Myanmar have a long history of hiding atrocities, predating Suu Kyi’s rise and perhaps learned from British colonialists. The problem today is that Suu Kyi appears uninterested in breaking that habit. Freedom of speech, which she championed while still a figure in the political wilderness, continues to be suppressed, just as minorities continue to be butchered.
Rights defenders are concerned that the situation has actually worsened since Suu Kyi took office in 2016. With military intimidation eased, more defamation suits are being filed. A notorious telecommunications law is frequently evoked to gag online activists and journalists. In July, the head of the news agency Myanmar Now, Ko Swe Win, was charged with defamation over his online articles about U Wirathu, the extremist monk who fans nationalist hate against Muslims. In October, journalists from Malaysia and Singapore were arrested in Nay Pyi Taw for using a drone to take photos of the parliament building. They were jailed for two months.
Again, as with the Rohingya calamity, the world’s disappointment rests at the feet of Suu Kyi, who always spoke so inspiringly about truth and freedom. Freeing the journalists and letting them do their jobs could help bring peace to Rakhine. As matters stand, she’s only causing harm.