Son of ousted Myanmar chief speaks to NPR about her imprisonment

The violent earthquake in Myanmar that has killed at the least 2,700 folks and left hundreds of thousands with out shelter can also be turning worldwide consideration on the nation’s governance.

A civil conflict has been in full swing since 2021, when a army junta seized energy. De facto chief Aung San Suu Kyi, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was arrested and imprisoned. Her son, Kim Aris, believes she’s at the moment in a jail within the capital of Naypyidaw, which was impacted by the earthquake.

Aung San Suu Kyi at an occasion in London in June 2012.

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“So, we’re very concerned about her well-being obviously,” he informed NPR. “It’s very hard to confirm anything. I do know she has ongoing health concerns.”

Care packages and letters he despatched his mom have gone unanswered, so Aris says he has no method of figuring out if she is even receiving them. The final time he spoke along with her was a few days earlier than the coup.

“Since then,” he mentioned, “I’ve only had one letter from her,” which he obtained about two years in the past.

“From what I understand, she hasn’t been allowed to see her lawyers for at least a couple of years and she’s been held in solitary confinement.”

Aris spoke with All Issues Thought-about host Mary Louise Kelly about his mom and the scenario in her nation.

This interview has been frivolously edited for size and readability.

Interview highlights

Mary Louise Kelly: The sentence that she is at the moment serving is 33 years on corruption and different costs. I’ll word that human rights teams have known as these costs a sham. You might be calling for them to be dropped?

Kim Aris: Completely. I am calling for her to be freed, together with all the opposite political prisoners and for the nation to be returned to its democratically elected authorities. The army has proven that they are incapable of ruling or main their nation in any method, and folks won’t settle for it.

Individuals drive on a bike previous a collapsed constructing in Mandalay on March 28, after an earthquake in central Myanmar.

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Kelly: We talked about the earthquake — a horrible occasion, clearly, with so many individuals killed and survivors determined, much more determined than they have been for meals, for medication, for important provides. The quake has made what appears like an already tough scenario in your nation far tougher.

Aris: Sure, the army [has] used pure disasters prior to now to weaponize help, and so they’re doing so once more on this event, and so they’re nonetheless bombing harmless civilians on the similar time. In the intervening time, they’ve minimize off help organizations, attending to probably the most needy areas and so they’re stopping journalists from getting in.

Kelly: We had [Mohamed Riyas, the Myanmar acting country director of the International Rescue Committee] on this system yesterday, who was describing that his groups are in a position to transfer, they’re getting entry, nevertheless it’s extremely tough and there is huge want for medical provides. Acknowledging the horror of the scenario, does it open any doorways, any alternatives for change in your mom’s circumstances?

Aris: We will solely hope. However for the time being, there is no indication of that. And I have not heard of what the outcomes are of that earthquake within the jail, actually. I’ve heard that she’s protected, however there isn’t any method of confirming that.

Protesters participate in a torch demonstration in opposition to the army coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on November 18, 2021.

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Kelly: I have to ask about part of your mom’s file. She received, as we mentioned, the Nobel Peace Prize. She has additionally come underneath criticism for her response to the Rohingya disaster for refusing to acknowledge the army’s position in massacres –

Aris: That is incorrect. She by no means refused to acknowledge the army’s position. She refused to sentence the army on the rely of genocide. That is one thing else. However she all the time mentioned the army have been liable for –

Kelly: She defended the army on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice in opposition to allegations of genocide.

Aris: She was not defending the army; she was truly defending her nation. That is one thing very completely different. She was working with the army, however not in any method in opposition to the Rohingya. She was making an attempt to do every little thing she may for the Rohingya even earlier than it got here to the worldwide group’s consideration. And the very fact is that she was doing extra for the Rohingya than anyone else on this planet, which the media on the time did not report on as a result of it did not match their narrative.

…I feel, truly, she might have some regrets, nevertheless it would not be those you assume. She’s going to be capable to maintain up her head and say she was doing every little thing she presumably may for the Rohingya. And when you learn the proof, which is on the market, I am certain you’d agree.

Kelly: On this second, do you see a method out for Myanmar?

Aris: I do. Even supposing the world is popping a blind eye to what’s occurring over there, and is doing nothing to assist, the army [is] dropping. And so they have the weaponry, the fighter planes, the backing of nations like China, Russia and India. And nonetheless, they’re dropping. They don’t seem to be accountable for even 70 p.c of the nation now. So I do see hope that the resistance will win, and shortly.