Following the death in junta custody this month of Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, the deputy chairman of the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD), public concern is growing that detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi could suffer the same fate. The junta put the 79-year-old in detention on the first day of the coup in February 2021.
Apart from her old age, there have been reports that she is facing health issues. Making matters worse, the junta has been holding her incommunicado and barred her family and lawyers from seeing her.
Here Kim Aris talks to The Irrawaddy about his worries about his mother’s health and being kept in the dark, and calls on the junta at least to move her into house arrest and allow him to visit her on a regular basis.
Nyein Nyein: After NLD deputy chairman Dr. Zaw Myint Maung’s death in the military junta’s detention this month, people are worried that your mother Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will see the same fate, because she’s 79 years old and she has been in detention since February 2021. Do you have any comments?
Kim: Firstly, I’d like to extend my condolences to the family of Dr. Zaw Myint Maung. From what I gather, reports indicate that the junta officials hurried to the hospital just hours before his passing to inform the unconscious politician of his pardon. This is just another cynical and desperate effort to cover up their failure in providing adequate healthcare for him while in prison that could have saved his life.
From what I understand, you know, May May’s (Mom’s) conditions in prison are terrible. So, I worry a lot for what’s happening to her.
Since the coup, at least 2,000 people have died in military custody, including 125 women and 88 children. As such I’d call on the junta to free all political prisoners, especially the elderly and infirm to avoid further deaths in custody.
May May will be 80 next year, so including the past three-and-a-half to four years that she’s spent in prison in Naypyitaw and the time she spent under house arrest, she would have spent pretty much a quarter of her life incarcerated for her peaceful pursuit of democracy in Burma.
Some people say she is now under house arrest, while others say she is in prison. What is your take?
Kim: From what I understand, she is still in prison in Naypyitaw and essentially, she is being held under solitary confinement because she is not allowed to see the other prisoners, she’s not been allowed any visitors for a long time now, not even her legal team are allowed to go and see her. So, I know that she has ongoing health concerns.
You mentioned before that dental treatment for her has been denied, and she may not be getting proper treatment until now, so?
Kim: She has ongoing dental problems and dizziness. From what I can understand from the few reports that I hear, she is also experiencing acute osteoporosis and heart related problems.
Have you also heard any updates on her other health issues, that you mentioned?
That’s all I’ve heard really. And it’s hard to know what is true and what’s not, since none of the reports that come out are verified.
According to Sean Turnell, who is May May’s economic adviser, who was also locked up in Naypyitaw Prison, the conditions in Naypyitaw Prison are horrendous with rats and mosquitoes and damp cells, [and] overheating. Given May May’s ongoing health concerns and the conditions within Naypyitaw Prison, I obviously have a lot of worry that she could die in prison, and if she does that [would be] due to the military and Min Aung Hlaing’s lack of care. The fact is that she shouldn’t be in prison at all anyway. All of the charges against her are completely fraudulent. I again urge Min Aung Hlaing to release my mother and all other political prisoners.
Also do you have contact with ICRC [the International Committee of the Red Cross]?
ICRC has been denied access to May May and to all other political prisoners. If they were to be allowed to see her and verify her condition, that would be something at least.
In January this year, you received a letter from her. Have you got any further communications after that through this military junta’s official channel?
No, I haven’t received anything. No letter since that one letter. I have sent other letters and a care package but I haven’t had any confirmation that she received that.
How many of the letters and care packages have you delivered?
Well, there’s been a number that have been sent. I don’t know how many have actually got through. I tried to send some from other members of the family as well. They were all returned to me, so I know they are not allowing all the letters to go through. I know that the military have said in the past they are allowing political prisoners to have visitors and to have letters and communication and care packages, but so far I haven’t seen evidence that May May received the last care package or the letters that I sent to her. Also, I know that the military has made it very hard for people to see their families in prison. They’ve made such rules and regulations that it’s actually still very difficult for people to visit their families.
When was the last package that you tried to deliver?
It was about three months ago, I believe.
Thailand’s former foreign minister Don Pramudwinai has been the only outsider who has met your mother in prison. That was in July 2023. Did you reach out to him to learn about your mother?
No, I didn’t. His reported statement after the junta-arranged meeting with May May was limited to the fact that she was physically and mentally healthy and that she encouraged dialogue.
And as a minister in Thailand’s outgoing army-backed government, which had a strong relationship [and showed] longstanding support of the junta, his reported visit and seemingly friendly gestures towards the military, who were … anticipating to overcome the resistance at that time, sparked a lot of controversy within ASEAN and potentially undermined ASEAN’s efforts to resolve the crisis.
Even though he was reported to have seen May May there isn’t anything to verify what was actually said in that meeting. And the reports that did come out of what the minister said, I think that’s quite unlikely.
In Myanmar, prison officials only allow family members to meet political prisoners, like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. As a family member, would you like to go and see her in person?
Yes, I would. I’ve been requesting to be allowed to go and visit her for some time now. And the military has not responded to any of my requests for any communication with her or access to see her.
I imagine that’s the same with so many people in Burma (Myanmar). Not just political prisoners who are famous, but everyday prisoners in Burma will be finding it very hard to get access to their loved ones, to know what’s happening to them.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi used to be a towering figure in democracy and human rights. But now, it’s rare to hear international requests calling for her release or expressing their concerns about her. Why?
Well, sadly Burma doesn’t attract the same geopolitical focus to the West as the wars in Ukraine or the Middle East, for example. The UN humanitarian response plan is currently 85 percent underfunded, making it the most under-resourced of all humanitarian initiatives.
This shortfall persists despite the UN-verified military atrocities that have led to over 3 million internally displaced people and 20 million individuals who are urgently requiring humanitarian assistance—a situation which is only getting worse since Typhoon Yagi, you know, so many more people have been displaced and so many more people have died now. The military’s disaster relief plan is non-existent basically.
They took all the money my mother had put aside for disaster relief and spent it on fighting against their own people. So, despite the immense suffering, you know, people in Burma are still winning against the military, and despite not having any help from the outside world.
I think part of that comes down to the fact that when the Rohingya crisis was first reported on, the Western media, the international media completely misrepresented May May and what the NLD was trying to do at the time, to try and help with what’s happening to the Rohingya.
They were doing everything they possibly could. And that wasn’t how it was represented by the international media. So that would have affected the support that she gets and that the resistance forces in Burma get. It gives the international community an excuse to ignore what’s happening there.
So I think one of the first things that we need to do to try and bring more attention from the international community is to retell the story of what was being done to try and rectify the situation at the time.
The military is planning to hold an election, probably next year. There is speculation that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi could be asked to enter the election. Do you think she will accept?
Well, at the moment, it’s very hard to say. I think there is only one way that she would accept; that’s if the military stood down and allowed the parties that actually need to be in a position to be elected to be allowed to [be] involved in this election. At the moment, there’s nothing to say that any proper democratic party would be elected. It’d still just be the same, if not worse, than it was before.
Until recent years, you avoided media appearances. Why are you speaking to the media these days?
Well, since I haven’t been allowed any communications with May May, and the situation in Burma is so much worse than it has been ever before, in my lifetime anyway, I think that someone needs to speak out, and given my unique position, I need to speak out and let the world know what’s happening in Burma and try to draw more awareness to the situation.
Has your voice been heard by the international community?
I feel like it hasn’t really been heard. The international community is still not taking notice of what’s happening in Burma so despite my efforts to try and bring awareness, it’s a long way from actually having a proper effect yet. I shall keep trying my best.
People say she is very disciplined and sometimes call her a ‘stubborn’ lady. How would you describe her?
She is definitely disciplined. I think she has to be, if she is going to deal with what she’s got to deal with in Burma. Trying to deal with all the different factions within Burma can be extremely challenging.
Even the small Burmese community here has a lot of different factions, so I can’t imagine what it’s like trying to work with everybody in Burma. So while she is disciplined, I’d say she is very fair also.
You once said that you are not interested in politics. You said you want Daw Aung San Suu Kyi out of politics, when she’s out of prison. Do you still keep that thought?
I’d like to see her be able to take a back seat at least and not have to work so hard. After all, she is getting old now and it would be good if she could have some rest.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi loves Burma and the Myanmar people a lot. She’s dedicated her life to that. Do you think, you know, in this difficult time she would quit politics?
No. I think the fact that she is in prison and the fact that when other prisoners were offered air conditioning in their cells and she said, I mean, when she was offered air conditioning in her cell, she said unless the other prisoners were given air conditioning, she wouldn’t accept it for herself. That’s the same with how she feels about being there with the Burmese people and going through what they are going through. She wouldn’t want to be treated any different to how they are.
Would you like to give your message to the international community and the military junta?
Again, to the military junta, I’d ask them to free my mother and all the political prisoners and to return Burma to its democratically elected government.
Failing that, I’d like her to at least be moved to house arrest in her home in Rangoon (Yangon), where I’d know where she was at least.
Failing that, I’d at least like to be allowed to go and visit and communicate with her on a regular basis.
For the international community, I’d like them to take notice of what’s happening in Burma and realize that there is a lot they could be doing to try and help the situation there, and to try to do as much as possible to get their governments to do something, to stop the meaningless slaughter that’s going on in Burma right now.
