Kim Aris confirms Aung San Suu Kyi in good health after five-year isolation

Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be in sound physical and mental condition, according to her son Kim Aris, who spoke with her for the first time in more than five years. The former leader is 81 and remains in near-total seclusion, Aris reported on Saturday. He described her condition as strong, noting that she still sounds mentally present despite her long confinement.

Aris said he does not believe anyone other than military or police personnel is near his mother. He concluded that she has essentially been held in solitary confinement. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was deposed in the 2021 military coup and subsequently moved to an unspecified location in the capital. Aris believes she is held in a fenced-off residence in Naypyidaw, surrounded by scrubby land. He said he is still unsure of the exact site.

The call took place on Thursday at the Myanmar embassy in London. Aris, who lives in the UK, welcomed the opportunity to speak but characterized the invitation as part of a public relations campaign by the country's military leaders. He said the regime frequently uses photo opportunities to suggest fair treatment. Last week, a government spokesperson released images of Suu Kyi smiling in a wood-panelled room as officials handed her two gardening books from King Charles. A paper calendar on the wall in the photo displayed the date. Aris called such displays familiar stunts used by the regime. He said she is not allowed newspapers, radio, or television.

"She remains completely shut off from the rest of the world," Aris said. He added that she is locked up on politically motivated charges and should be free. Aris noted that global support for his mother has dwindled since the 2016 and 2017 mass killings of Rohingya Muslims. He argued that international attention to Myanmar has faded due to that crisis. "The fact that people ignore what's happening in Burma shouldn't be down to what was being done to the Rohingya," he said.

Former junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has sought to rebuild diplomatic ties. In April, he switched from military fatigues to civilian clothes following elections that observers widely condemned. Activists have long demanded proof of life for Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. She was photographed during a Red Cross visit in August. The 2021 takeover triggered a civil war that conflict monitors say has killed more than 100,000 people. Aris said his mother was never silent on the Rohingya issue and that she could fill volumes with her views on the matter. He recalled that she appointed former UN chief Kofi Annan to lead a domestic inquiry under her leadership. He added that she always walked a tightrope, knowing the military could remove her power at any time.

Aris said the army worked to undermine his mother's position as state counsellor. Myanmar saw a brief democratic opening after her party won the 2015 election overwhelmingly. She held the role of state counsellor under a civilian-military power-sharing arrangement. Her international standing suffered after the Rohingya crisis. At the International Court of Justice in The Hague, she acknowledged that military units might have used disproportionate force but defended the government against accusations of genocide. Aris said she has spent much of her life in and out of house arrest since the late 1980s for leading pro-democracy movements.