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Aung San Suu Kyi She lives a quiet life in the UK, away from Myanmar’s fraught politics, raising two children with her husband. Even when she returned to China in 1988 to care for her dying mother, she had no intention of entering politics. Until after witnessing her country’s bloody crackdown on mass protests military ruler She realized she couldn’t stand idly by.
A year later, in the summer of 1989, she was arrested by the military junta for the first time. This is the beginning cycle of imprisonmenthouse arrest and terms of release will determine her life.
This week, Aung San Suu Kyi reached a grim milestone – a total of 20 years in detention in Myanmar. Her multiple incarcerations, from her first house arrest to her current highly uncertain situation, are testament to the military’s determination to maintain control of the country at all costs.
“My mother was detained by the military for 20 years for her commitment to a democratic and prosperous Myanmar,” said her son, Kim Aris, using the country’s name before the junta’s unilateral decision in 1989 to change it to Myanmar.
“Today, at the age of 80, she remains behind bars, completely isolated and buried alive in a system that lacks transparency and justice.
“Guided by her philosophy of peace and practical steps towards reconciliation, she is the only figure with the moral authority and popular mandate to bridge the country’s divides,” Aris told independent. “The junta must release her as a first step towards restoring peace in Myanmar.”
Ever since Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of modern Myanmar’s founding father Aung San, entered politics, the military has viewed her as a threat to its power.
Aung San Suu Kyi became a global symbol of peaceful resistance during her first detention. In 1991, while still under house arrest, She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize In recognition of her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights in Southeast Asian countries.
Suu Kyi’s widespread appeal allowed her party, the National League for Democracy, to win a landslide victory in the 1990 election despite her isolation – a result that the military refused to recognize.
Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest in 1995, but her movements outside Yangon remain restricted.
In September 2000, she was arrested again after trying to travel to meet supporters outside Yangon and was held under house arrest for approximately 20 months.
Suu Kyi was imprisoned for more than seven years after an attack in Depayin in May 2003 when a pro-military thug ambushed her convoy, including an extension in 2009 after an American man swam to her lakeside home. She was released after the 2010 election.
Her most recent detention began in February 2021, when the military overthrew her government in a coup and the country descended into a deadly civil war. She has not been heard from in public since.
Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted After her party’s landslide election victory. This incident, and the collapse of international support for the military’s consolidation of power, Featured in Documentaries independent Release at the end of 2024.
Now the same general hold elections Analysts say the actions are aimed at consolidating military rule through proxy parties and removing its only serious rival – Aung San Suu Kyi’s party – from the political scene.
In the November 2020 elections, the National League for Democracy won 82% of the contested seats, easily defeating the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.
A major turning point in Aung San Suu Kyi’s political career occurred in 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown on militants. Rohingya Muslims In Rakhine State.
Her global standing as a human rights defender has been severely damaged because not only did she fail to condemn this action, which resulted in mass killings and the displacement of more than 700,000 Rohingya people, but she even Defending the military against genocide charges.
Aung San Suu Kyi stands International Court of Justice at The Hague 2019 She argued that the accusations against the military presented an “incomplete and misleading factual picture” and blamed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a militia group, for sparking what she called “internal conflict.”
Six years later, court hearing begins this week landmark case The Gambia filed a lawsuit in 2019, accusing Myanmar’s military of deliberately targeting the Muslim minority.
independent Visited one of the largest Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and heard testimonies of the community’s ongoing persecution in Myanmar.
Some spoke of changes in their views of Aung San Suu Kyisaying she was a victim of the military just like them.
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detention |
key details |
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1989-1995 |
She was first imprisoned after becoming a leader of the pro-democracy movement; in 1991, she won the Nobel Peace Prize while in detention. |
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2000–2002 |
He was arrested again after trying to travel to meet with supporters outside Yangon and held for about 20 months. |
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2003–2010 |
She was detained after her convoy was ambushed by pro-military thugs in De Paine; her detention was extended in 2009 after an American man swam to her home. |
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2021– |
Arrested following the military coup that overthrew the government; initially placed under house arrest and later transferred to a military prison in Naypyitaw. |
Unlike previous incarcerations, today’s situation is more severe. Little is known about her health or the conditions in which she is being held, although she is believed to be being held in a military prison in the capital, Naypyitaw.
“For all I know, she could be dead,” Aris said recently.
The ruling military junta insists Suu Kyi is in good health.
“She dedicated nearly 40 years to her country’s struggle for democracy, half of that time in detention. The military regime plunged the country into an escalating conflict with dire humanitarian and human rights consequences, for which it must be held accountable. fake electionThe purpose is simply to legitimize and reshape authoritarian regimes, but that is not the answer. ” said Benedict Rogers, a senior director at Strengthening Rights and author of three books on Myanmar.
“The release of Ms Suu Kyi and all political prisoners and an end to attacks on civilians are vital first steps if Myanmar is to escape this horrific cycle of repression and war.”
Her son told before independent His mother suffered from a worsening heart condition. “I am deeply saddened to hear that my mother’s health has deteriorated. She has been suffering from heart complications that have undoubtedly been exacerbated by the conditions of her confinement,” Aris said. “She needs to see a cardiologist outside the prison and has requested one. I have no way of knowing if that has been approved.”
The government-in-exile, the Government of National Unity, which is made up of pro-democracy and anti-junta groups, said the fact that Suu Kyi spent 20 years in prison “is a profound injustice and we live with heavy hearts every day.”
“This was an act of deliberate, slow-motion cruelty by an army of terrorists who feared her influence even from behind bars.”
The government-in-exile has called for global action, saying they not only want international attention but also concrete steps to secure her release. “Her release, along with the release of more than 20,000 other political prisoners, is a non-negotiable step towards ending this conflict.”