Kim Aris says mother Suu Kyi sounds alert after first call in five years
The former leader's son says she is mentally sharp but has had no access to news or family for six years.
By Marta Price ·
Aung San Suu Kyi has been held in near-total isolation for five years, according to her son Kim Aris, who spoke with her on Thursday for the first time in that period. The 81-year-old former leader appeared to be in good physical and mental condition during the conversation, Aris reported. He described her as sounding strong and mentally alert.
Aris stated that he believes his mother has no one around her other than military or police personnel. This arrangement amounts to solitary confinement, he said. She has been detained since the 2021 military coup that removed her from power. The junta has kept her location unspecified, though Aris thinks she is held in a fenced residence in the capital, Naypyidaw.
The call took place at the Myanmar embassy in London, where Aris is based. He characterized the invitation to speak 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, he changed his attire from military fatigues to civilian clothes following elections that were widely criticized as a sham.
Activists have long demanded proof of life for Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. A Red Cross visit in August provided photographic evidence of her wellbeing. Last week, a government spokesperson released images of her smiling in a wood-panelled room. Officials were seen handing her two gardening books gifted by Britain's King Charles. A paper calendar on the wall displayed the date, a detail Aris noted is a familiar tactic used by the regime to suggest fair treatment.
Aris said his mother remains completely shut off from the rest of the world. She is not permitted to read newspapers, listen to radio, or watch television. He described the charges against her as trumped-up and politically motivated. "She's been locked up for five years on trumped-up, politically motivated charges and she should be free," he said.
Suu Kyi has spent much of her life since the late 1980s in and out of house arrest for leading pro-democracy movements. She was deposed in 2021 after her party won the 2015 election overwhelmingly. 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 rejected the idea that his mother was silent on the Rohingya crisis. He said her comments on the issue could fill volumes. Under her leadership, Myanmar began a domestic inquiry and appointed former UN chief Kofi Annan to lead a commission. He noted that she was always walking on a tightrope as state counsellor, knowing the military could remove her fragile power at any time.
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 incredibly since the Rohingya crisis. He argued 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's happening in Burma shouldn't be down to what was being done to the Rohingya."
Source: The Guardian
