Aung San Suu Kyi Son Confirms Five Years of Solitary Confinement

Kim Aris confirmed on Friday that his mother, Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is in good physical and mental health but has lived in near-total isolation for five years. Aris made the announcement after making his first telephone contact with his mother since she was detained in 2021. He stated that she sounds strong and mentally sharp, though he believes she is held in solitary confinement with only military or police personnel present.

The 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate was deposed in a military coup in 2021 and moved to an unspecified location in the capital. Aris, who lives in the United Kingdom, said he is not certain of her exact whereabouts but believes she is held in a fenced residence in Naypyidaw with scrubby land surrounding it. He was permitted to speak to her on Thursday at the Myanmar embassy in London.

Aris described the invitation to call as part of a public relations campaign by the country’s military leaders. Former junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has sought to rebuild diplomatic ties abroad. In April, Hlaing changed his military uniform for civilian clothes following elections that many observers condemned as a sham. Aris said he welcomed the chance to talk but viewed the gesture as a calculated move by the regime.

Activists have long demanded proof of life for Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. In August, she was photographed during a visit from the Red Cross. Last week, a government spokesperson released images of her smiling in a wood-paneled room while officials presented two gardening books gifted by Britain’s King Charles. A paper calendar on the wall behind her displayed the date. Aris called such photo opportunities familiar stunts used to suggest fair treatment.

He stated that she remains completely shut off from the rest of the world and is not allowed access to newspapers, radio, or television. Aris said she has been locked up for five years on politically motivated charges and should be free. His mother, the daughter of independence hero Gen Aung San, has spent much of her life since the late 1980s in house arrest while leading pro-democracy movements.

Myanmar saw a brief democratic opening after Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won the 2015 election overwhelmingly. She served as state counsellor under a civilian-military power-sharing arrangement. Her international standing suffered after the mass killings and expulsions of Rohingya Muslims in 2016 and 2017. At the International Court of Justice in The Hague, she acknowledged that military units might have used disproportionate force but defended the government against accusations of genocide.

Aris said his mother was never silent on the Rohingya crisis and that her comments on the issue could fill volumes. He noted that under her leadership, Myanmar began a domestic inquiry and appointed former UN chief Kofi Annan to lead a commission. He added that she was always walking on a tightrope as state counsellor, knowing the military could remove her fragile power at any time, and that the army worked to undermine her position.

The 2021 takeover triggered a civil war that conflict monitors say has killed more than 100,000 people. Aris said global public support for his mother has dwindled since the Rohingya crisis and that the country now suffers from a lack of international attention. Using the country’s former name, he said the fact that people ignore what is happening in Burma shouldn’t be down to what was being done to the Rohingya.