AUNG SAN SUU KYI UNDER HOUSE ARREST
Alarmed by her fearlessness and the support she commanded, the generals placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest in July 1989 in Rangoon under martial law that allows for detention without charge or trial for three years. In August 1991, the military regime retroactively amended the law under which Aung San Suu Kyi was held to allow for detention for up to five years without charge or trial.
In January 1989, huge crowds of supporters showed up for the funeral of Aung San Suu Kyi’s mother. After that Aung San Suu Kyi started criticizing the brutality of the government. On April 5, 1989 she was place in front of a firing squad and just before they were going to shoot her a senior official stopped them. She was given the choice of staying in Burma under house arrest or leaving and enjoying her freedom. She stayed and continued to campaign for democracy.
During her six years of house arrest between 1989 and 1995, Aung San Suu Kyi stayed in her family house. She spent the first couple of years of her life in that house, which more recently had been where her mother lived before she passed away. When Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest The government told her they would let her go if she left the country immediately and never came back. While under house arrest Aung San Suu Kyi told the New York Times, "Whatever they do to me I can take it." She asked for police to be posted outside her house so she could not be blamed for any disturbances that took place on the streets in front of her home.”
Aung San Suu Kyi didn’t have much money coming in while she was under house arrest. The garden at the house became an overgrown jungle because she couldn't afford a gardener. For a long time she bought food and other necessities with royalties from her book “Freedom from Fear” . The royalties were transferred by her publisher into a bank account in Yangon.
To pay for food, Aung San Suu Kyi sold much of the furniture in her house. The only two items she refused to sell were her mother's piano and the round coffee table wheres member of the pro-democracy movement gathered in the late 1980s to plot strategy. When Philip Shenon of the New York Times visited her home the front hall was covered with papers carrying pro-democracy and pro-rule of law stating written by her father. One of them said: "You cannot use martial law as an excuse for justice."
Myanmar’s military regime released her in 1995, but it re-arrested and imprisoned her several times after that on various pretexts, including posing a threat to state security. The government also claimed it took her into “protective custody” after deadly attacks on her own supporters.
Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995, 2000 to 2002, and from May 2003 to November 2010. After her 2003 detention her house arrest was extended on a year by year basis. By the time Suu Kyi was released from house arrest for good on November 13, 2010 she had spent 15 of 21 years either imprisoned or under house arrest.
On her house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi said: “I was in a much easier position than many of my colleagues because, from the very beginning, I had the protection of my father’s name. My father was the founder of the Burmese army, so they were quite restrained in how they treated me. The same restraint was not practised with regard to many of my colleagues, who were arrested, brutally interrogated, and imprisoned for years under terribly bleak circumstances.”
Aung San Suu Kyi’s House
Aung San Suu Kyi's House (54 University Avenue on Inya Lake) is the modest, slightly-rundown, lakeside residence of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. It is located in a posh neighborhood not far the homes of many of generals she battled for decades. Ne Win, the retired general who ruled Burma for more than 30 years, lived about a mile away, across Inya Lake. The New Yorker described her house as a “two-story colonial villa, stately but threadbare.”
Partially hidden by an overgrown garden, trees and a six-foot green and yellow picket fence, the house is not only the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, it was also the home of her late father, Aung San, a national hero and the leader of Burma's independence movement after World War II. Aung San Suu Kyi spent the early years of her life at the house and returned to it in 1988 after her mother had a stroke.
Kenneth Denby wrote in The Australian, “Aung San Suu Kyi's house has one of the loveliest views in Rangoon. Meters from the weathered two-storey building, in its garden of crumbling outhouses and tropical trees, the waters of the Inya Lake glitter in the late morning sun. Families look down on the city from the big wheel in the nearby amusement park and young couples sit on benches holding hands. At night, the restaurants light up along the shore and the traffic noise from the road to the airport goes on all night. [Source: Kenneth Denby, The Australian, November 20, 2010]
On July 20, 1989, about year after hundred were killed in the brutal 1988 crackdown of pro-democracy demonstrations, Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested during a protest rally and taken to the house. Eleven truckloads of armed soldiers later showed up, cut her phone lines and prevented her from leaving. Two years later she was awarded the Nobel Peace prize but she couldn't leave her house to receive it. On July, 10, 1995, after six years of house arrest, she was finally allowed to leave.
Speeches at Aung San Suu Kyi’s House in the 1990s
After her release then, Aung San Suu Kyi was largely confined to her house. Her attempts to leave were thwarted in various ways. Once the train carriage she was traveling on was unhooked from the rest of train. On another occasion, her car was blocked and after she refused to get out. Some thugs then literally picked up the car and turned it around.
In the early 1990s people were arrested for taking photos of the house. On the walls outside it were signs that read "No Slowing Down" and "No U-turn". Soldiers were discretely posted outside near a sign in Burmese that read, "The enemy of the army is the enemy of the people." In the mid-1990s, after her release, Aung San Suu Kyi appeared every Saturday and Sunday on her driveway at 4:00pm to address her supporters who stood behind barricades while traffic police directed traffic along University Avenue.
She usually spoke for about an hour, using a microphone, and answered questions that had been dropped off earlier in her mailbox. She seemed relaxed when she spoke, and often cracked jokes that were greeted with rounds of applause and laughter. She often spoke in English for the benefit of the tourists that had gathered to hear her.
Initially the crowds were small, and made up mostly of foreigners. Most Burmese were afraid to come. By the spring of 1996, the crowds were several thousand strong and mostly Burmese. Not long after that, the government decided enough and was enough and prohibited the speeches. The house was then cordoned off and people often couldn’t even drive by and look at the house anymore. Not long after that Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested again. She spent much of the 2000s under house arrest in the house.
Hunger Strikes and Concessions While Aung San Suu Kyi Was Under House Arrest
Aung San Suu Kyi only went on hunger strike once during her detention, but she became severely malnourished. She had no money to buy food for herself and she refused to accept food from the military. "I was very malnourished for about a month or so," she told the New York Times. "I couldn’t get out of bed for a week." [Source: Philip Shenon, New York Times, February 15, 1994]
In 2008, Associated Press reported: “ Aung San Suu Kyi was expected to stop shunning food deliveries after the junta approved several requests, including the right to receive regular mail deliveries and certain foreign news publications, her lawyer said. The apparent concessions came amid growing concerns that Suu Kyi was on a hunger strike to protest her ongoing detention. The 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has refused daily food delivered to her home for over three weeks. "She will most probably accept her food deliveries as some of the conditions she had asked for were smoothed out," her lawyer, Kyi Win, told The Associated Press. [Source: AP, September 12, 2008 |||]
Among the conditions were Suu Kyi's request to be allowed regular mail deliveries from her two sons, who live in Britain, and other family members, Kyi Win said. Until now, delivery was spotty with some mail permitted and some blocked, he said. Suu Kyi was also granted permission to read foreign publications, "including Time, Newsweek, etc.," her lawyer said. She relies on food delivered by her opposition National League for Democracy for sustenance. She lives in a lakeside home in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, with two female companions who help take care of the house. Suu Kyi had demanded greater freedom of movement for the two women, who were previously barred from leaving the home but will now be allowed out during the daytime, the lawyer said. She will also be allowed monthly medical checkups by her personal physician, which the junta had previously promised her but then blocked. |||
Daily Life of Aung San Suu Kyi Under House Arrest
While under house arrest Aung San Suu Kyi spent most of her time listening to news broadcasts on the radio, reading and meditating. She lived without a telephone or a computer. Her bugged phone was disconnected. She “patchy electricity” but had no Internet access and virtually no contact with the outside world. She was given food supplies that often did not include fresh produce. On May 2, 2008, when Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, Suu Kyi lost the roof of her house and lived in virtual darkness after losing electricity. She used candles at night as she was not provided any generator set.
Joshua Hammer wrote in The New Yorker, “During her imprisonment, Aung San Suu Kyi developed an unvarying schedule. Waking before dawn, she would meditate, then spend the rest of the morning doing household chores while listening to the BBC and other stations on shortwave radio. “I was listening five to six hours a day. I was more in touch with the news than were many people outside,” she said. After lunch, she devoted the afternoon to reading books that her doctor had procured for her, mostly through contacts at foreign embassies. [Source: Joshua Hammer, The New Yorker, January 24, 2011]
Aung San Suu Kyi told Scott Kraft of the Los Angeles Times, "I felt free when I was under house arrest because it was my choice. I chose to do what I'm doing, and because of that, I found peace within myself. She said that her incarceration was not harsh except for the period when she was malnourished. While under house arrest Aung San Suu Kyi usually got up at around 4:30am and exercised and listened to the Voice of America as well as the BBC on her short wave radio. During her detention she became fond of listening to the Grateful Dead and Bob Marley and enjoyed tuning into the “Good Show, a BBC radio show cancelled in 2001 hosted by the disc jockey Dave Lee Travis, once known as “the hairy Cornflake.” She usually went to bed around 9:30pm.
Aung San Suu Kyi told the Australia: "I had regular meditation sessions. I had a lot to do. Really. People seem to be surprised. You want to keep your house clean and tidy - you have to spend some time doing that. And then, of course, reading takes up time and listening to the radio took up a lot of hours every day because I didn't want to miss any of the news about Burma. I listened to the Burmese service on the BBC, VOA, RFA, that was about five or six hours every day. It was a big chunk out of my day but I couldn't afford to miss it. Because any news I missed, I missed - no one was going to come in and fill the gaps for me. So that was a duty." [Source: Kenneth Denby, The Australian, November 20, 2010]
On her house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi told The Australia: "It wasn't all that difficult. I was in my own home. What was I going through? I was simply sitting in my house. I've never been one for going out a lot. I listened to music. I like sketching a bit and so on. I'm a very indoors sort of person, if you like, so it was no great hardship." Then she compared her treatment with the thousands of political prisoners in Burma. "What do you think it would be like for those who have been imprisoned for years and years and years?" she asked. Suu Kyi told the Washington Post:“I had enough to do to keep this house from toppling down. I could listen to the radio, and I had access to books from time to time. Not all the time. [Source: Kenneth Denby, The Australian, November 20, 2010; Lally Weymouth, Washington Post, January 20, 2012]
Aung San Suu Kyi's Visitors During Her Early Years Under House Arrest
During Aung San Suu Kyi's detention her husband and two sons came to visit her on holidays whenever the generals allowed them to get a visa. A small group of doctors and army officers were allowed to see her. One Burmese who had contact with these people told the Washington Post, "She used to exude arrogance. Now she exudes tolerance...She has become serene, more confident. The only regular visitor she had was her Burmese maid.”
The first non-family member allowed by the generals to visit Aung San Suu Kyi was Bill Richardson, then a congressman from New Mexico, New York Times correspondent Philip Shenon and representative of the United Nations who visited her in February 1994. Richardson said Aung San Suu Kyi is "a woman of passion and commitment...who stands for the best ideals of democracy."
Richardson said there was a lot of laughter in her house even where they were about to be arrested. "She asked me if I thought Michael Jordan was going to make it as a baseball player. We made a friendly bet she bet that he would make it and I bet he wouldn't. And hopefully we will see the result of this bet after spring training, and perhaps I can return to collect my bet."
Hobbies While Aung San Suu Kyi Was Under House Arrest
Most of Aung San Suu Kyi’s afternoons were spent reading. She read and reread many books on Buddhism as well as biographies and autobiographies and the Encyclopedia Britannica. Over the years she told the New York Times she had read hundreds of books— "Politics, philosophy, religion—mostly about Buddhism, but also about other religions." She was particularly interested in reading about the lives of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharial Nehru and Nelson Mandela. "I've read about Mandela and I admire him very much," she told Philip Shenon of the New York Times.
During her first year under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi used to practice the piano nearly everyday. When her neighbors stopped hearing the piano they feared she might be ill or even dead. Once an accomplished pianist, she was done in by Myanmar's muggy heat which deformed her piano. Later she told Shenon she stopped playing because the piano was out of tune and keys stuck. "It's totally out of tune," she said, there are broken strings. My poor old piano." She then joked about her neighbors. "perhaps they were relived," she said, "My piano playing is very rusty, not that I was ever every musical.
When arrested seemed imminent Suu Kyi prepared for her detentions by stockpiling medicine and books in English, French and Burmese. During her last spell of house arrest she requested French history books, novels by John Le Carre, biographies on Winston Churchill and Burmese language books on Buddhism. She told The New Yorker, “I had always intended to read ‘Les Misérables’ in French, and I managed that.”
When asked by the Washington Post if she knew how to use a computer, Aung San Suu Kyi said, “I do. I learned to work on a computer years before I was placed under house arrest. Fortunately I had two laptops when I was under house arrest — one an Apple and one a different operating system. I was very proud of that because I know how to use both systems. I had no contact with the outside world. But I learned how to use different programs — I would make little invitation cards for myself just for fun. Just to learn how to use it. [Source: Lally Weymouth, Washington Post, January 20, 2012]
Kenneth Denby wrote in The Australian, “The thrillers of John le Carre and the detective novels of Georges Simenon were uncontroversial, but surprisingly useful when she was put on trial again last year after a bizarre incident in which an eccentric American well-wisher swam to her house late at night, earning her another 18 months on her sentence. "I found when I was facing this case in court that all these detective novels were a bit of a help," she said. "I knew a lot more about the law." She has produced no prison memoir or volume of political writing. "I didn't write a lot at all because I don't like to - how shall I put it? - I don't like to keep writing which might fall into other people's hands." [Source: Kenneth Denby, The Australian, November 20, 2010]
Meditation, Buddhism and Aung San Suu Kyi’s House Arrest
Aung San Suu Kyi is a Theravada Buddhist. She has said that mediation has helped her relax and focus her inner awareness on her political goals. She told Alan Clements, "I think a lot of us within the organization have been given the opportunity to develop spiritual strength because we have been forced to spend long years by ourselves under detention and in prison.”
Joshua Hammer wrote in The New Yorker: “Meditation proved invaluable in dealing with the “intense irritation and impatience” that she felt toward her captors. “I would think, Why can’t we just get on and do what needs to be done, rather than indulge in all this shilly-shallying?” she said. “Because I listened to the radio many hours every day, I knew what was going on in Burma, the economic problems, the poverty . . . and I’d get impatient and say, ‘Why are we wasting our time in this way?’ ” The impatience, she said, “didn’t last, because I had the benefits of meditation. Even when I was very annoyed, I would know that within twenty-four hours this would have subsided.” [Source: Joshua Hammer, The New Yorker, January 24, 2011]
Joshua Hammer wrote in Smithsonian magazine, “Aung San Suu Kyi found meditation difficult at first, she acknowledged. It wasn’t until her first period of house arrest, between 1989 and 1995, she said, that “I gained control of my thoughts” and became an avid practitioner. Meditation helped confer the clarity to make key decisions. “It heightens your awareness,” she told me. “If you’re aware of what you are doing, you become aware of the pros and cons of each act. That helps you to control not just what you do, but what you think and what you say.” [Source: Joshua Hammer, Smithsonian magazine, September 2012 ]
“As she evolves from prisoner of conscience into legislator, Buddhist beliefs and practices continue to sustain her. “If you see her diet, you realize that she takes very good care of herself, but in fact it is her mind that keeps her healthy,” I’m told by Tin Myo Win, Aung San Suu Kyi’s personal physician. Indeed, a growing number of neuroscientists believe that regular meditation actually changes the way the brain is wired—shifting brain activity from the stress-prone right frontal cortex to the calmer left frontal cortex. “Only meditation can help her withstand all this physical and mental pressure,” says Tin Myo Win. It is impossible to understand Aung San Suu Kyi, or Myanmar, without understanding Buddhism. Yet this underlying story has often been eclipsed as the world has focused instead on military brutality, economic sanctions and, in recent months, a raft of political reforms transforming the country.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s Health
Suu Kyi has a chronic stomach problem. She sometimes has a minimal diet of water and a little food. In June 2006 she received hospital treatment for a severe stomach problem and was returned to house arrest when condition improved. After her release from house arrest in 1995 she reportedly injured hr neck and back after falling down some stairs in her house.
In September 2003, Aung San Suu Kyi underwent three hours surgery in a Rangoon hospital for gynecological problems. The operation was a success. After the surgery she was placed under house arrest. CNN reported: “Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi underwent a successful operation for gynecological problems at a hospital in Yangon, her doctor said. Dr Tin Myo Win said the pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate was in excellent health after the procedure, which lasted over three hours. Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention for more than three months, since a clash between her supporters and a pro-government group. Myanmar's military government has said she is being held in "protective custody" following threats to her life — a claim that has been rejected by supporters and human rights groups as a sham. The U.S. State Department recently said Suu Kyi was on a hunger strike to protest her detention and warned the Myanmar authorities that they hold "full responsibility for her health." The hunger strike report was later retracted representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross visited her and said that she was eating. A Red Cross official who met with her in July said she was in "good health" and being held in "fair and decent conditions" although he gave no details as to her location. Some reports have said she is being held in a special compound inside Yangon's notorious Insein Jail, a facility which has been condemned by rights groups and past inmates as inhumane. [Source: CNN, September 19, 2003]
During Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial in 2009 there were concerns about her health after she complained she couldn’t sleep because of severe leg cramps. She was also treated for dehydration and low blood pressure. At one point she was so weak her doctor placed her on a drip and ordered she be given food rations. The BBC reported: “The health of jailed Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is improving after she complained of leg cramps and a lack of sleep, her lawyer has said. Ms Suu Kyi had recovered after taking medicine and "can now sleep well", lawyer Nyan Win said after meeting her at the jail where she is being held. Ms Suu Kyi's NLD party on Friday voiced "grave concern" over her health. Shortly before her arrest on 14 May she was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure. [Source: BBC, May 30, 2009]
In April 2010, AFP reported: “ Aung San Suu Kyi was admitted to hospital briefly over concerns about her heart, a Myanmar official said. "Suu Kyi was taken to Yangon General Hospital to check her heart condition for about 45 minutes," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said she returned to her lakeside house, where she is held under house arrest. Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win said he was as yet unaware of the visit, which is thought to be her first to hospital since 2003, although the 64-year-old has monthly medical check ups by a doctor at her home. [Source: AFP, April 11, 2010]
In March 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi fell ill and started vomiting while campaigning in southern Myanmar. Her doctors said the illness was due to exhaustion and hot weather and advised her take some rest. Before that she told The New Yorkerm “My doctor told me that I can’t keep going at this pace.” Tin Myo Win told me that he had been monitoring her blood pressure since her release, and that he had so far given her “eight or nine” injections of “a cocktail drip”—a blend of vitamins, proteins, and glucose—to keep her from collapsing from exhaustion. [Source: Joshua Hammer, The New Yorker, January 24, 2011]
Aung San Suu Kyi and Her Family While She Was Under House Arrest
Aung San Suu Kyi saw her husband five times between 1989 and 1995. The last one was for Christmas in 1995. When asked about how often she saw her husband she told the Washington Post: "He came for Christmas, but last year he was refused a visa for the Easter holidays. So he comes if he gets a visit." Aris' visit in Christmas 1995 turned out to be the last time that he and Suu Kyi met, as Suu Kyi remained in Burma and the Burmese dictatorship denied him any further entry visas.
Aung San Suu Kyi was also separated from two sons, who lived in the United Kingdom during her long captivity. Both sons were repeatedly denied visas to Myanmar until 2011. Aung San Suu Kyi has said that she is that missed important years with her children. Aris spent time accepting honorary degrees on her behalf and delivering messages that she had smuggled out of the country.
Kenneth Denby wrote in The Australian, “In her seven years of most recent detention, she revealed that she was allowed to receive only one letter each from her two sons, Alexander and Kim. In Ms Suu Kyi's front room stands a drum kit and a pair of out-of-tune electric guitars - reminders of Kim, now 33, who played them on his last visit more than 10 years ago. Since the weekend, she has spoken to her sons every day but is no closer to seeing them. Today Kim is in Thailand, waiting for a Burmese visa that will almost certainly not be given. [Source: Kenneth Denby, The Australian, November 20, 2010 ]
"I was speaking to Kim just about a couple of hours ago," she says. "I was telling him on the phone that these guitars don't work any more so he said he'd have to buy one. He was telling me that he went to the Burmese embassy to ask (about a visa) and they said that they knew nothing about it, which I thought was a little silly."
Michael Aris While Aung San Suu Kyi Was In Myanmar
Rebecca Frayn wrote in The Telegraph, “In England, Michael could only anxiously monitor the news as Suu toured Burma, her popularity soaring, while the military harassed her every step and arrested and tortured many of her party members. He was haunted by the fear that she might be assassinated like her father. And when in 1989 she was placed under house arrest, his only comfort was that it at least might help keep her safe. [Source: Rebecca Frayn, The Telegraph, December 11, 2011 ++]
“Michael now reciprocated all those years Suu had devoted to him with a remarkable selflessness of his own, embarking on a high-level campaign to establish her as an international icon that the military would never dare harm. But he was careful to keep his work inconspicuous, because once she emerged as the leader of a new democracy movement, the military seized upon the fact that she was married to a foreigner as a basis for a series of savage – and often sexually crude – slanders in the Burmese press. ++
“But neither of them ever contemplated her doing such a thing. In fact, as a historian, even as Michael agonised and continued to pressurise politicians behind the scenes, he was aware she was part of history in the making. He kept on display the book she had been reading when she received the phone call summoning her to Burma. He decorated the walls with the certificates of the many prizes she had by now won, including the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. And above his bed he hung a huge photograph of her. ++
“Inevitably, during the long periods when no communication was possible, he would fear Suu might be dead, and it was only the odd report from passers-by who heard the sound of her piano-playing drifting from the house that brought him peace of mind. But when the south-east Asian humidity eventually destroyed the piano, even this fragile reassurance was lost to him. ++
“When I met Michael’s twin brother, Anthony, he told me something he said he had never told anyone before. He said that once Suu realised she would never see Michael again, she put on a dress of his favourite color, tied a rose in her hair, and went to the British embassy, where she recorded a farewell film for him in which she told him that his love for her had been her mainstay. The film was smuggled out, only to arrive two days after Michael died. ++
Aris’ friend Justice Marcus Einfeld said: “His determination to avoid personal publicity was sometimes misinterpreted as remoteness and indifference to her and the cause to which she was so selflessly devoting herself. In fact it disguised an intensive life of behind-the-scenes activism and support for Suu Kyi and her struggle. He once estimated that 80 percent of his time was spent working for the cause, much of it travelling the world representing her at ceremonial events and meetings with government and community leaders. In 1997 he made seven international trips to collect honorary degrees awarded to her; in 1998 there were a similar number. He also played a key role, backed by the USA and Australia, in the appointment by the U.N. of a special envoy to press the case for change in Burma. [Source: Justice Marcus Einfeld, an Australia judge and UNICEF official, from a speech at Michael Aris’s funeral ^]
“Suu Kyi has of course continued to struggle against the intransigent brutal regime in her country, while her husband waited to be reunited with a wife who had become not only the embodiment of Burma's struggle for democracy, but also an international symbol of non-violent resistance. Her extraordinary capacity to withstand the relentless psychological warfare and physical deprivations mounted against her by a crude and threatening regime left him in awe, even after 26 years of marriage. When Michael knew he was dying, he applied again for a visa and was refused. Of course she could have flown to him except that had Suu Kyi left Rangoon, she would not have been able to return and continue the struggle for the freedom of her people, for whom she is a beacon. Can anyone imagine the torture of such a dilemma? ^
Aung San Suu Kyi and Her Family While She Was Under House Arrest
Aris was allowed to visit Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon in Christmas 1995. That visit it turned out would be the last time Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi would see each other. "It seems', he wrote, "that the authorities had hoped I would try to persuade her to leave with me. In fact, knowing the strength of Suu's determination, I had not even thought of doing this ... The days I spent alone with her that last time, completely isolated from the world, are among my happiest memories..."
Rebecca Frayn wrote in The Telegraph, “In 1995, Michael quite unexpectedly received a phone call from Suu. She was ringing from the British embassy, she said. She was free again! Michael and the boys were granted visas and flew to Burma. When Suu saw Kim, her younger son, she was astonished to see he had grown into a young man. She admitted she might have passed him in the street. But Suu had become a fully politicised woman whose years of isolation had given her a hardened resolve, and she was determined to remain in her country, even if the cost was further separation from her family. [Source: Rebecca Frayn, The Telegraph, December 11, 2011 ++]
“That 1995 visit was the last time Michael and Suu were ever allowed to see one another. Three years later, he learnt he had terminal cancer. He called Suu to break the bad news and immediately applied for a visa so that he could say goodbye in person. When his application was rejected, he made over 30 more as his strength rapidly dwindled. A number of eminent figures – among them the Pope and President Clinton – wrote letters of appeal, but all in vain. Finally, a military official came to see Suu. Of course she could say goodbye, he said, but to do so she would have to return to Oxford. ++
Aung San Suu Kyi's Released in 1995
Aung San Suu Kyi was suddenly freed after six years of incarceration on July, 10, 1995. When asked how it felt to be released after six years, she said: "Quite frankly, I did not what to feel. I said to myself, ‘Well, I'm free. I did not really hanker for the great world outside. I felt that the important thing was to be able to live inside myself and be free."
The government controlled Burmese media made no mention of Aung San Suu Kyi's release, but people quickly heard about it through foreign radio broadcast and word of mouth. Joining wellwishers, journalist, opposition activities and diplomats were plain-clothed intelligence officers.
Death of Michael Aris, Aung San Suu Kyi’s Husband
On March 27 1999, Aung San Suu Kyi’s husband, Michael Aris, died of cancer in London. He had petitioned the Burmese authorities to allow him to visit Aung San Suu Kyi one last time, but they had rejected his request. He had not seen her since a Christmas visit in 1995. The government always urged Aung San Suu Kyi to join her family abroad, but she knew that she would not be allowed to return to Burma.
Aris died from prostrate cancer. The government denied him a visa on the ground it didn't have the medical facilities to take care of him. At that time Aung San Suu Kyi was temporarily free from house arrest but was unwilling to depart, fearing that she would be refused re-entry if she left, as she did not trust the military junta's assurance that she could return.
More than 1,000 people gathered at Aung San Suu Kyi house to take part in a religious ceremony honoring her husband. She appeared in a white suit without the orchids and flowers she usually wears in her hair. In a statement Aung San Suu Kyi said: "On behalf of behead of my sons Alexander and Kim, as well as on my own behalf, I want to thank all those around the world who have supported my husband during his illness and have given me and family love an sympathy. I have been fortunate to have such a wonderful husband who has always given me the understanding I needed."
Aris was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997 which was later found to be terminal. Among those that appealed for him being given a visa were U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Pope John Paul. Aris’s funeral was held at Oxford Crematorium. A wooden box containing his ashes are housed at Kagyu Samye Ling Buddhist Tibetan Center in rural Dumfriesshire at the end of a walkway lined with Tibetan prayer wheels. Next to the box is picture of Michael Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi,
At Aris’ funeral his friend Justice Marcus Einfeld said: “It was more than three years before his death that they last saw each other. And they had not even been able to speak since early 1998, when the erratic phone line to the old house by Rangoon's Inya Lake was cut permanently. He would dial her number at her house again and again, and when finally he heard her voice, the line would go dead. Michael's and Suu's sons have seldom been allowed by the regime to visit her. The last to see her was Kim in September 1997. Such is the cruelty of the fascists who run Burma. [Source: Justice Marcus Einfeld, an Australia judge and UNICEF official, from a speech at Michael Aris’s funeral]
Aung San Suu Kyi Arrested Again in the 2000s
It seemed whenever the military felt threatened by Aung San Suu Kyi’s grass-roots support, it responded by returning her to detention. In 2000 Aung San Suu Kyi was again placed under house arrest after repeated attempts to leave the capital, Rangoon, to hold political meetings in other parts of the country. In early September 2000, around 200 riot police surrounded Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade near Dala and forced them to return to Rangoon after a nine-day standoff. In late September, 2000 she was arrested after she tied to board a train for Mandalay. Dozens of her supporters were also arrested. There was talk that she might face the death penalty for allegedly meeting with leaders of outlawed ethnic insurgencies.
Again as she was confined to her lakeside home, with her phonelines cut. A family friend told AFP, “She exercises and mediates regularly and is in good health...She has trained herself to be able to exist comfortably under diverse conditions...she keeps to a simple diet of rice and vegetables just enough to sustain herself and remain in good health.” There were some reconciliation efforts. While under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi received some home-profile international visitors and held secret talks with the military. As a conciliatory gesture the military regime released hundreds of political prisoners, but hundreds more remained imprisoned and some new ones were detained. In October 2000, Aung San Suu Kyi began secret talks with the military junta. Substance of the talks remains secret, and U.N. Envoy on Burma, Razali Ismail, acted as a “facilitator.”
Aung San Suu Kyi was released in May 2002 after 19 months of house arrest. After her release, the military regime told her that she was free to travel around the country, meet with superiors and reopen, branch offices of the NLP. Some political prisoners were released. For her part, Aung San Suu Kyi said she would cooperate with the government. The decision to release is believed to have been promoted by Myanmar’s economic problems. After her release Aung San Suu Kyi generally spent her mornings at here lakeside home, meeting diplomats and other important people, and her afternoons at the NLP headquarters, meeting with party members. In 2003, Aung San Suu Kyi stepped up her activities. She sharply criticized the junta on several occasions and visited representatives from at least a half dozen minorities, including the Karen, Kachin, Arakan, Shan, Chin and Mon. She also visited revered Buddhist monks. Aung San Suu Kyi visited five of Myanmar’s 10 states. She said that despite promises from the regime to the contrary she and her followers were harassed and intimated. In one incident the NLP reported authorities tried to disperse a crowd with a fire hose. In another they dug up a road to prevent her from reaching her destination.
Attack on Aung San Suu Kyi in 2003
Richard Paddock wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “In 2003, during a period of freedom, Suu Kyi traveled in northern Myanmar, where large numbers of people gathered to see her. At one stop, she climbed atop a firetruck to face down police and firefighters who planned to turn water hoses on the crowd. Later, government-backed thugs armed with clubs and sharpened bamboo sticks attacked her motorcade outside the village of Dipeyin. Some believe the assault was an assassination attempt.Suu Kyi's bodyguards and supporters fended off the attackers and saved her by shielding her with their bodies. The government says four people died in the attack; the opposition says the toll may have reached 200.[Source: Richard Paddock, Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2005]
Burma Campaign UK reported: “The dictatorship began using members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association to harass and attack NLD meetings. This political militia was set up and organised by the military, with Than Shwe, dictator of Burma, as its President. It later transformed as the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the political party front for the military in the elections held on 7th November 2010. [Source: Burma Campaign UK |||]
“On May 30th 2003 members of the USDA attacked a convoy of vehicles Aung San Suu Kyi was travelling in. It was an attempt by the dictatorship to assassinate Aung San Suu Kyi, using a civilian front so as not to take the blame. Aung San Suu Kyi’s driver managed to drive her to safety, but more than 70 of Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters were beaten to death. The attack became known at the Depayin Massacre. The dictatorship claimed it was a riot between two political groups, incited by the NLD. The United Nations General Assembly called for the incident to be investigated, but it never was.” |||
In what is sometimes referred to as the "Black Friday," Aung San Suu Kyi’s convoy was attacked by thugs backed by the military regime near the town of Dipeyan in northern Myanmar, where she had been meeting with members of her party there and representatives of ethnic minorities. The government claims four people were killed and 50 were injured. The NLP said that at least 70 people were killed, perhaps scores, including five NLP members. Many were injured. People were beaten with bamboo sticks and rods and shot at with slingshots and perhaps firearms. More than a hundred were arrested.
According to government sources Aung San Suu Kyi was driving in a convoy of 15 cars and 100 motorbikes and the convoy was confronted by a mob of 5,000 people. They said a scuffle grew into a larger fight that lasted for about two hours and was finally put down by police. Aung San Suu Kyi told Razali Ismail, she heard a “commotion” from behind. “They tried to smash the windows of her car,” he said. “She was protected by her people.” The attackers threw stones at her four-wheel-drive vehicle which was able to speed off “ U.S. diplomats found bamboo staves and iron bars at the scene. A U.S. State Department report found that the attack was premeditated and the thugs that were involved had connections with the military regime.
For about three months Aung San Suu Kyi’s whereabouts was unknown. She was finally discovered at a Yangon hospital in September. There were rumors that Aung San Suu Kyi been seriously injured or even killed. As it turned out she was unhurt. U.N. envoy Razili Ismail met with her a couple of weeks after the attack and said: “I can assure you she is well and in good spirits...no injury on the face, no broken arm. No injury. No scratch. No nothings.” He said Suu Kyi’s car managed to speed off when the violence began. [Source: Richard Paddock, Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2005]
In April 2012, The Bangkok Post newspaper published a recording of a conversation with Myanmar intelligence chief Khin Nyunt. In it, according to The Irrawaddy, he claims to have personally intervened to save the life of Aung San Suu Kyi when a pro-junta mob attacked her motorcade in Sagaing Division in 2003, killing at least 70 of her supporters. “I sent my men to snatch her from the mob that night and they brought her to safety to a nearby army cantonment,” he was quoted as saying. Later, however, Khin Nyunt denied that he had made the claim and the Special Branch, a Burmese security unit, put out a statement that rejected The Bangkok Post article. [Source: The Irrawaddy, March 20, 2013]
Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested in May 2003 after her convoy was attacked. She was charged with disturbing the peace, charges she thought were outrageous since she was attacked. The regime said she and her followers “conspired to create an anarchic situation...with a view to attaining power.” they also said she attempted “to lure armed groups...to join in the planned uprising.” The arrest followed weeks of rising tensions. In the days after Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest NLP offices were closed across Myanmar. There were clashes between supporters of the NLP and supporters of the regime. The military regime shut down the NLD headquarters didn’t allow it to reopen until 2004.
Support for Aung San Suu Kyi from World Leaders and Celebrities
May 2007, AFP reported: “US ex-president Bill Clinton and 56 other former world leaders have appealed to Myanmar's military regime to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Norwegian peace institute said. In a letter dated May 14 and addressed to the head of the Myanmar junta General Than Shwe, the 57 signatories called "for the immediate release of the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi", the Oslo Center for Peace and Human rights said. "Aung San Suu Kyi is not calling for revolution in Burma, but rather peaceful, non-violent dialogue, between the military, National League for Democracy (Suu Kyi's party), and Burma's ethnic groups," the letter said. [Source: AFP, May 14, 2007]
Initiated by Norway's former prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, it was also signed by Clinton and former leaders Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Brian Mulroney of Canada, Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, former US president Jimmy Carter and ex-European Commission president Jacques Delors. Others included ex-presidents George Bush, Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, Fidel Ramos of the Philippines, Ricardo Lagos of Chile and Kim Dae-Jung of South Korea.
U.S. President Barack Obama called Suu Kyi "a hero of mine," adding, "whether Aung San Suu Kyi is living in the prison of her house or the prison of her country does not change the fact that she, and the political opposition she represents, has been systematically silenced, incarcerated and deprived of any opportunity to engage in political processes that could change Burma." [Source: Hannah Beech, Time, November 29, 2010]
Among Aung San Suu Kyi’s biggest supporters over the years have been former political prisoner and Czech President Vaclav Havel and South African Archbishop Desmnd Tutu. In October 2007, protests were staged in Bangkok, London, Paris, New York, Rome and Toronto demanding Aung San Suu Kyi’s release after 12 years in captivity. On her 61st birthday in 2006 rallies were held in 25 countries in Asia, Europe and North America.
Richard Paddock wrote in the Los Angeles Times: “Rock musicians, including Paul McCartney, U2 and Pearl Jam, have dedicated songs to her. In a concert in Ireland, REM plans to perform a song for her that will be beamed into Myanmar by satellite even though it will be illegal to watch it.... Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) tried to deliver 6,000 birthday cards for Suu Kyi at the Myanmar Embassy in Washington. No one accepted them. [Source: Richard Paddock, Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2005]
U2 singer Bono often wore an Aung San Suu Kyi T-shirt. In Time magazine, he wrote: “Suu Kyi is a real hero in an age of phony phone-in celebrity...Her quiet voice of reason makes the world look noisy, mad; it is a low matra of grace in an age of terror...Thinking of her you can’t help but put in the anachronistic language of duty and personal sacrifice.” U2 wrote the Grammy-winning song “Walk On” in her honor.
Ellen Page (the actress from “Juno”) and other celebrities appeared in a 2008 ad campaign saying “I am Aung San Suu Kyi.” During her trial Paul McCartney wrote; “Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration to her country and the rest of the world . I truly admire her infallible resolve and her determination to stand up for what she believes in.”
In July 2009, Associated Press reported: “Aung San Suu Kyi is receiving Amnesty International’s highest honour, U2’s Bono publicly announced last night before 80,000 cheering fans. The human rights watchdog earlier said it hoped the Ambassador of Conscience Award would help protect her as she faces a potential prison sentence. “Her crime is that, if she was free to participate in elections, she would win. This week the brutal force that has her incarcerated will decide if she spends the next five years in prison,” Bono said. He added his wish that Suu Kyi’s latest international honour “will help keep her safe”. U2 have been honouring Suu Kyi at each performance of the band’s ongoing European tour. More than 100 people walked on stage last night holding Suu Kyi masks over their faces, as U2 performed its 2000 song honouring Suu Kyi, ‘Walk On’.[Source: AP, July 28, 2009]
Aung San Suu Kyi 2007 Statement On Willingness to Cooperate with the Government
Aung San Suu Kyi met several times with U Aung Kyi, a senior junta official that served as a liaison between Suu Kyi and the junta leaders. In October 2007, for example, they met but no details of their discussion are made public.
In November 2007 a statement by Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi released by U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari. It was her first public comment since being placed under house arrest in 2003. Gambari spent six days in Yangon waiting a meeting with the generals that never happened and just as he was ready to leave empty handed Aung San Suu Kyi was escorted under police guard to a meeting with him, giving him the statement. [Source: AP, November 9, 2007]
Following is the text of the statement; “I wish to thank all those who have stood by my side all this time, both inside and outside my country. I am also grateful to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his unwavering support for the cause of national reconciliation, democracy and human rights in my country. I welcome the appointment on 8 October of Minister Aung Kyi as Minister for Relations. Our first meeting on 25 October was constructive and I look forward to further regular discussions. I expect that this phase of preliminary consultations will conclude soon so that a meaningful and timebound dialogue with the SPDC leadership can start as early as possible.
“In the interest of the nation, I stand ready to cooperate with the Government in order to make this process of dialogue a success and welcome the necessary good offices role of the United Nations to help facilitate our efforts in this regard. In full awareness of the essential role of political parties in democratic societies, in deep appreciation of the sacrifices of the members of my party and in my position as General Secretary, I will be guided by the policies and wishes of the National League for Democracy. However, in this time of vital need for democratic solidarity and national unity, it is my duty to give constant and serious considerations to the interests and opinions of as broad a range of political organizations and forces as possible, in particular those of our ethnic nationality races.
“To that end, I am committed to pursue the path of dialogue constructively and invite the Government and all relevant parties to join me in this spirit. I believe that stability, prosperity and democracy for my country, living at peace with itself and with full respect for human rights, offers the best prospect for my country to fully contribute to the development and stability of the region in close partnership with its neighbors and fellow ASEAN members, and to play a positive role as a respected member of the international community.”
The statement came weeks after the September protests that left at least 10 people dead. Afterwards she was allowed to meet wih here advsiors for the first time in years. The series of events indicated that Suu Kyi was willing to copperate with the Myanmar government and seem to indicate the generals were open to more openness and negotiations.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s Trial in 2009
In May 2009, just days before her period of house arrest was due to expire, Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest, which forbids visitors without official permission, after John Yettaw, a United States citizen, swam across Inya lake to her house and refused to leave—and stayed there for two days.
Yettaw appeared at her house uninvited after swimming across the lake in central Yangon using home-made flippers, to her house, which sits on the lake. She faced up to five years if convicted. Her defense lawyers did not contest the facts of the case but argued the relevant law was misapplied by the authorities. They also said the security guards were responsible for stopping intruders not Suu Kyi. Two of Suu Kyi’s assistants that lived with her were also charged.
During much of the trial Suu Kyi was held and tried at Rangoon's notorious Insein prison. At one point there were concerns about here health when she complained she couldn’t sleep because of severe leg cramps. She was also treated for dehydration and low blood pressure. She denied the charges. Her chief lawyer was Nyan Win, who was also spokesman for her party. Riot police were deployed outside the prison. Myanmar’s foreign minister said the trial was “not political” and was not a “human rights issue.” He accused the international community of meddling.
During the trial Suu Kyi was denied access to her lawyers. Her legal team was prevented from calling witnesses. The ruling on the case was delayed Nyan Win said, because the prosecution had “serious legal problems.” Before her sentencing Suu Kyi prepared for the worst by stockpiling medicine and books in English, French and Burmese.
Joshua Hammer wrote in The New Yorker, “On May 3, 2009, four weeks before Aung San Suu Kyi’s scheduled release from detention, John Yettaw, an American Vietnam veteran, swam across Inya Lake to her villa. He later claimed that he had been motivated by a vision of her impending assassination and needed to warn her. Yettaw had made the same swim a few months earlier, but had been turned away by her assistants. “I didn’t see him at all the first time,” Aung San Suu Kyi told me. When he appeared dripping wet at her door in May, “he said he was not in a condition to swim back, and obviously I didn’t want to send him back out into the lake to be drowned.” She was aware that she had just given the regime an excuse to keep her in detention, but “I felt I could not hand over anybody to be arrested by the authorities when so many of our people had been arrested and not been given a fair hearing,” she said. “It was a matter of principle. The regime charged her and her two assistants with receiving an unauthorized visitor and incarcerated them, and Yettaw, at Insein Prison, in Rangoon. [Source: Joshua Hammer, The New Yorker, January 24, 2011 /]
Yettaw reached Suu Kyi’s house on May 4. Suu Kyi testified in court: “I didn’t know about it [Yettaw’s visit] immediately . I was informed about it at 5:00am My assistant told me that a man had arrived. When asked if she informed military authorities, she said: “I did not inform them.” When asked if she breached the terms if her house arrest, she replied, “I didn’t.” On claims she gave Yettaw food and water, she said, “I allowed him to have temporary shelter. Suu Kyi said he left at 11:45pm, adding: “I only knew that he went to the lakeside. I did not know which way he went because it was dark.” When the judge asked if she was guilty, Suu Ki said,, “No because I did not commit any crime. ” She blamed lax security. “If the security had been proper, he wouldn’t have got here,” Suu Kyi later told her lawyers.
After the two-and-a-half-month show trial, the women were sentenced to three years of hard labor in an apparent attempt to placate international outrage about the trial (she could have been sentenced to five years). General Than Shwe commuted the sentences to eighteen months of house arrest. By coincidence, this meant her release date turned out to be just sex days after elections held in Burma, thereby ensuring that once again she was in detention during elections. Yettaw was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released days later to United States Senator Jim Webb. It was the first time Suu Kyi was found guilty of a crime.
John Yettaw’s Mission to Burma
Tony Dokoupil wrote in Newsweek: “For years, John Yettaw had experienced visions that warned him of events to come. Sometimes the Missouri resident ignored them and came to regret it. This time, though, he intended to act. In early 2009, the 53-year-old told friends and family that he had seen himself as a man sent by God to protect the life of a beloved foreign leader. He arranged for his kids to stay with a friend, borrowed money to buy a plane ticket and printed new business cards, as if launching a new life. [Source: Tony Dokoupil, Newsweek, June 22, 2009 ]
“Sometime after 3 a.m. on April 15, he woke his son Brian, 17, and his three younger children for a family prayer, and piled them into a minivan for the hourlong drive to the airport. Unlike the backpack tour Yettaw had taken through Asia late last year, this trip would propel him into the heart of Burma's repressive regime. On the 20th, he flew to Bangkok, where he spent a week waiting for his Burmese visa and sending whimsical e-mails home, including a final cheerful message: "Pray. Study peace. Live calmness. Kindness toward everyone. Love and pray."
“The next word the family got regarding Yettaw came in a 5 a.m. phone call from the consulate at the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon. He had been arrested just past dawn on May 6, seized as he kicked through the soupy brown waters of Inya Lake, a man-made reservoir some four miles from his hotel. He had made an unauthorized and uninvited two-day visit to the weathered colonial-style home of Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi says that she asked Yettaw to leave, but relented when he complained of hunger and exhaustion.
“Judging from the line of questioning in court, Burmese authorities suspect he intended to help Suu Kyi escape. At the start of the legal proceedings last month, they presented two black chadors, two long skirts, three pairs of sunglasses, six colored pencils, flares, flashlights and a pair of pliers as evidence of a getaway plot. Yettaw was also carrying empty jugs he used for buoyancy, and a camera wrapped in plastic with a picture of the improvised flippers he used for the mile-long swim. "He had no criminal intent," Yettaw's lawyer, Khin Maung Oo, told Newsweek, adding that the only charge he should face is "lurking house-trespass," a lesser crime on the books in Burma. "He has no relationship with anything political. His only mission was to save her."”
“Yettaw's friends and family describe him as well-intentioned and highly spiritual person whose struggles with alcoholism and mental illness may have pushed him into history's path. "I don't think he's well," says Yvonne Yettaw, the third of his four wives—echoing the sentiments of other loved ones who believe that he may suffer from untreated bipolar and posttraumatic stress disorders. The only problem is neither Yvonne nor anybody else seems to fully understand the often secretive father of seven. As a result, they offer contradictory, incomplete and occasionally fantastical ideas about what Yettaw was up to.
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Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, The Irrawaddy, Myanmar Travel Information Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Global Viewpoint (Christian Science Monitor), Foreign Policy, burmalibrary.org, burmanet.org, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, NBC News, Fox News and various books and other publications.
Last updated May 2014