Kim Aris: Mother Aung San Suu Kyi Is Mentally Sharp After Five Years of Silence

Aung San Suu Kyi, 81, has been held in near-total isolation for five years, according to her son Kim Aris, who made his first contact with the former state counsellor on Thursday. Aris described his mother as mentally alert and physically strong during a call permitted at the Myanmar embassy in London. He estimated that she has lived without family or non-military companions since the 2021 coup.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was deposed by the military and subsequently moved to an unspecified location in the capital. Aris believes she is kept in a fenced-off residence in Naypyidaw surrounded by scrubby land. The military has controlled her access to the outside world for half a decade, limiting her interactions to security personnel and occasional state-arranged media appearances.

Aris characterized the recent phone call as part of a public relations campaign by the junta. This follows a series of image releases by the government, including a video from last week showing Suu Kyi smiling in a wood-paneled room while officials presented her with gardening books from King Charles. A paper calendar visible in the background confirmed the date. Aris noted that the regime has used similar photo opportunities in the past to project an image of fair treatment.

The former junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has sought to rebuild diplomatic ties abroad. He switched from military fatigues to civilian attire in April following elections that observers widely criticized as a sham. Despite these moves, activists continue to demand proof of life for Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. She was last seen during a Red Cross visit in August.

Aris said his mother is cut off from newspapers, radio, and television. He called the charges against her politically motivated and argued she should be free. He noted that global support for Suu Kyi has dwindled since the 2016 and 2017 Rohingya crisis, a period that also saw mass killings and expulsions of Muslims. At the International Court of Justice, Suu Kyi defended the government against genocide accusations while acknowledging that military units might have used disproportionate force.

The 2021 takeover triggered a civil war that conflict monitors say has killed more than 100,000 people. Aris argued that the lack of international attention to Myanmar now is unfair. He stated that people ignoring the situation in Burma should not be blamed on what was being done to the Rohingya. The former state counsellor has spent much of her life since the late 1980s under house arrest for leading pro-democracy movements.

Aris, who has lived most of his life in the UK, said his mother was never silent on the Rohingya crisis. He noted that under her leadership, Myanmar began a domestic inquiry and appointed former UN chief Kofi Annan to lead a commission. He described her position as state counsellor as a tightrope walk, knowing the military could remove her power at any time. The army worked to undermine her position before the 2021 takeover.