Detained Suu Kyi Speaks With Her Son for the First Time in Over Five Years

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader, spoke by telephone with her son on Thursday for the first time since the military seized power in February 2021, a conversation her family welcomed but warned should not be mistaken for a change in her circumstances.

Kim Aris, who lives in Britain, said the roughly 20-minute call was placed through Myanmar’s embassy in London. A spokesperson for Myanmar’s military-backed president confirmed the call on social media and released photographs of mother and son on the phone. Aris, 49, told NPR he believed the conversation was monitored, and that his 81-year-old mother’s first words were to ask about his health.

In a Facebook post afterward, Aris wrote that hearing her voice meant more than words could express, but that his mother remains unjustly detained and that one conversation is not regular family access.

The call gave a rare glimpse of how the Nobel Peace Prize laureate is being held. Myanmar’s authorities say she was moved in April from a prison in the capital, Naypyidaw, to house arrest. Aris said he learned she is kept at a residence near the capital, fenced off and guarded, with a small garden she is apparently allowed to use. He described her situation as effectively solitary confinement. She is allowed books, he said, but he believes she receives no radio, television or newspapers.

Her health has long worried her family. Aris said she sounded strong but told him she suffers from painful tendonitis in her hand, at times so severe she cannot use it, and that she receives a medical checkup every six months. Until the call, he said, he had received only a single censored letter, three years ago, and occasional secondhand reports.

Suu Kyi was convicted in a series of trials after the coup on charges including corruption and electoral fraud and sentenced to a total of 33 years, later reduced. The United States, other Western governments and human rights groups have condemned the cases as fabricated.

The call fits a pattern of recent gestures. In recent months the authorities have published photographs of her meeting the country’s Red Cross representative and, this week, announced that she had received a package from Britain’s King Charles, including books and a sealed diplomatic letter. The military’s leader, Min Aung Hlaing, was installed as civilian president this year after an election that democracy watchdogs have described as a charade.

Myanmar’s government presents these steps as evidence of improved treatment. Analysts and Aris see a bid for international acceptance. Aris said the generals want to present a better image of themselves while giving very little, and he urged foreign governments not to be taken in. A spokesperson for the government did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.

The coup set off a civil war that has killed about 100,000 people, according to the conflict monitor ACLED, and displaced millions, according to the United Nations. Aris said he did not know whether he would be allowed to speak with his mother again.