If Suu Kyi Returns To Detention, Rights Groups Might Prove Less Help - NPR

Members of the Burmese-American community hold a demonstration outside the Office of the Consulate General of Myanmar in Los Angeles in April.

Members of the Burmese-American community hold a demonstration outside the Office of the Consulate General of Myanmar in Los Angeles in April.

1 coup that toppled her, this time her stint in power and the atrocities that occurred on her watch are likely to dampen any enthusiasm to rally behind her.

The plight of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate had been a cause célèbre for Western governments and human rights campaigners, while the international media had treated her on par with Nelson Mandela.

Following reports of the atrocities, Amnesty International withdrew its highest award, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, given to her in 2009, saying Suu Kyi "no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying [defense] of human rights." Other rights groups followed suit.

As a result of all this, Suu Kyi has become "a complicated figure in the human rights community," Carolyn Nash, Amnesty International's Asia advocacy director, tells NPR.

When the West "turned its back" on her, "the military saw the end of her usefulness and the pretense for democracy," Byrd says.

This is a theatrical exercise," says John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.

In retrospect, Byrd says, the international community have hurt the cause of democracy in Myanmar by making Suu Kyi the "embodiment" of the movement.

Protesters make the three-finger salute during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon last month

Protesters make the three-finger salute during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon last month

Whatever the outcome for Suu Kyi, Sifton of Human Rights Watch says human rights campaigners are already taking a broader approach to the situation in Myanmar

"It's about the whole panoply of problems since the coup, the fact that democracy was overthrown in the abstract and that massive human rights abuses are going on right now."

Going forward, she says, "It's certainly not just Aung San Suu Kyi, and that's not where I believe the rights community will be focusing."