After three years of complete silence and no information as to her whereabouts, the family of Aung San Suu Kyi have received their first communication from the former leader of Myanmar since she was removed from power three years ago today.
In a handwritten letter to her son Kim Aris, who lives in the UK, she says she’s generally well but is suffering from dental problems and spondylitis, a painful condition that inflames the joints of the backbone.
The letter, her son says, is the first confirmation they have received that the 78-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner is alive.
Mr Aris says he recognised his mother’s handwriting straight away.
“I was overjoyed to actually see something in her handwriting, to know that she’s able to actually write, for starters, because I haven’t had any confirmation that she’s actually alive for all these years,” he says in an interview with Sky News.
Ms Suu Kyi is serving a 33-year prison sentence on corruption charges her supporters say were made up to keep her from power.
The military junta, which severely restricts her contact with the outside world, allowed her to receive a care package from her family and gave her permission to write what is basically a thank you letter, Mr Aris says.
He received the letter in early January this year.
“She sounded well in terms of her spirits, but she always does,” he says when asked if she gave any insight into how she was being treated.
He adds there was little detail in the letter other than a thank you for the care package because she’s aware their communications will be read and will be stopped altogether if she attempted to say more.
Suu Kyi likely in solitary confinement
Mr Aris says his family has no idea where she is being held, or if she has any knowledge of what’s happening on the outside, only that they have reason to believe she is in solitary confinement.
“I don’t know if she’s able to get much news outside of the prison, as far as I am aware she is being held apart from all the other prisoners – essentially in solitary confinement but I don’t know whether she’s in a cell or whether she’s in a room in a barracks or if they’ve built her a separate cell like they have done in the past,” he says.
“I do know that she’s never accepted any preferential treatment to the other prisoners, so if she is being held separate to the other prisoners and in similar sorts of conditions to them than I can only imagine it’s pretty dire.”
Mr Aris says his mother hasn’t seen her lawyers in over a year, and her only contact with an outside official was a visit from Thailand’s foreign minister, who met her in July last year.
Junta brutally suppressed all opposition
Exactly three years ago the military junta seized control of the country on the day a new parliament was due to be sworn in.
The coup was greeted with massive protests on the streets of the country’s cities, within days the junta deployed police and army units who brutally suppressed all opposition. The protests went on for a year, and at least 1,500 protesters were said to have been killed in that time.
Myanmar – also known as Burma – is now embroiled in a nationwide civil war, with ethnic armies and militia groups made up of civilian volunteers attacking the junta’s forces.
