Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi has been seen by her lawyers for the first time since she was detained during a military coup a month ago. Calls for her release continued throughout the international community in the face of her sentence’s annual renewal, and in 2009 a United Nations body declared her detention illegal under Myanmar’s own law. By dismissing what “many human rights experts have called some of the worst pogroms of this century,” Suu Kyi turned from “champion of human rights and democracy to apparent apologist for brutality,” NYT reported. But there is more to the story. 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No sooner had Suu Kyi been made the de facto leader, although with direct alliance with the country’s former junta, than international conglomerates - mostly Western - rushed to Rangoon to capitalize on Burma’s largesse of natural resources, left unexploited because of economic sanctions imposed on the country. The military offered to free her if she agreed to leave Myanmar, but she refused to do so until the country was returned to civilian government and political prisoners were freed. She has been under … Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the country’s erstwhile ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has done very little to bring about meaningful change since she was designated State Counselor. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Since her return to Rangoon in 1989 and placement under house arrest for many years, Suu Kyi was transformed from an activist making the case for democracy in her country, into a ‘democracy icon’ and, eventually, into an untouchable cult personality. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and also at the Afro-Middle East Center (AMEC). Suu Kyi won the elections again in November 2020, but the army struck on February 1st, 2021, the day the parliament was to meet and arrested her and other leaders of her party on charges of election fraud. When the genocide intensified in 2016-17, and continued unabated, many legitimate questions arose about the culpability of Burma’s ruling NLD party and of Suu Kyi, personally. As a result, thanks to efforts championed by a group of 57 Muslim countries, a landmark lawsuit, accusing Burma of genocide, was filed at the UN International Court of Justice in the Hague in 2019. The justification for this special status is that the military, which continued to have substantial sway over the government, would not allow Suu Kyi to serve as the Prime Minister, because her husband and children are British. On her relationship with her party, Richard C. Paddock recently wrote in the New York Times that Suu Kyi has controlled her party in a style that is similar to the previous military control of the country. Aung San Suu Kyi was born on June 19, 1945. Aung San Suu Kyi’s father was Aung San, a Burmese nationalist leader who was instrumental in securing the independence of Burma (now Myanmar) from Great Britain. Aung San Suu Kyi, also called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, (born June 19, 1945, Rangoon, Burma [now Yangon, Myanmar]), politician and opposition leader of Myanmar, daughter of Aung San (a martyred national hero of independent Burma) and Khin Kyi (a prominent Burmese diplomat), and winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1991. For Suu Kyi and her party, ethnic allegiances and realpolitik superseded any platitudes about democracy and human rights, as she defiantly objected to international criticism and openly defended her government and military. As part of his master's program,... Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Omissions? Aung San Suu Kyi, also called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, (born June 19, 1945, Rangoon, Burma [now Yangon, Myanmar]), politician and opposition leader of Myanmar, daughter of Aung San (a martyred national hero of independent Burma) and Khin Kyi (a prominent Burmese diplomat), and winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1991. Myanmar's former de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in a post-military coup hearing, facing two new charges. In 1998 she announced the formation of a representative committee that she declared was the country’s legitimate ruling parliament. However, despite the endless talk about democratization, Burma was, in the years leading up to the coup, far from being a true democracy. The same military that Aung San Suu Kyi had defended against genocide charges in recent years just put her under house arrest and crushed Myanmar’s nascent democracy. In 2008 the conditions of her house arrest were somewhat loosened, allowing her to receive some magazines as well as letters from her children, who were both living abroad. She held multiple governmental posts from 2016, including that of state counselor, which essentially made her the de facto leader of the country. She brought some democracy to her country with nonviolence. “Critics began calling the party a cult of personality,” Paddock wrote, adding, “Often criticized for her stubbornness and imperious style, she has kept the party firmly under her command and is known to demand loyalty and obedience from her followers.”. What is taking place in Burma right now is a military coup. The Lady of Burma had her opportunity but, sadly, failed. She is the leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma and a famous prisoner. On February 1, the Myanmar military called the “Tatmadaw” had taken over the country from State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint. Created with Sketch. He was assassinated in 1947. The National League for Democracy (NLD), which Suu Kyi had cofounded in 1988, won more than 80 percent of the parliamentary seats that were contested in 1990, but the results of that election were ignored by the military government (in 2010 the military government formally annulled the results of the 1990 election). Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. After further study in India, she attended the University of Oxford, where she met her future husband, the British scholar Michael Aris. Monday 1 March 2021 09:22, UK. A video feed seen by a lawyer appeared to show her looking healthy. The first day of the trial of Myanmar ’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the deposed president Win Myint capped a dizzying two weeks in which the military locked up hundreds, stripped away civil liberties for the entire population and ignored millions of protesters who have risen up against their seizure of power. Though we must insist that the return to rule by the military in Burma is unacceptable, we must equally demand that Burma embraces true democracy for all of its citizens, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion. Suu Kyi, front center, is seen with her parents and her two elder brothers in 1947. Michael Aris died in London in early 1999. Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest in July 1995, although restrictions were placed on her ability to travel outside Yangon. This timeline charts Aung San Suu Kyi's journey from political prisoner to leader of her troubled nation: June 19, 1945: Suu Kyi, daughter of Myanmar's independence hero General Aung San, is born. Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the country’s erstwhile ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has done very little to bring about meaningful change since she was designated State Counselor. Ousted Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was hit with two new criminal charges in a court appearance via video link on Monday, a month after a military coup triggered relentless mass protests. Corrections? He holds an M.A. in Japanese studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party have been detained in an early morning raid, the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy (NLD) said on Monday. Các luật sư của bà Aung San Suu Kyi đã nhìn thấy bà lần đầu tiên kể từ khi bà bị bắt giữ trong cuộc đảo chính quân sự cách đây một tháng. "We call on all parties in Myanmar to engage in discussions and negotiations in good faith, to pursue a long-term peaceful … The genocide of the Rohingya, a pogrom of murder, rape and ethnic cleansing, goes back many decades in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945 in Yangon, Burma) is a human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and State Counsellor of Myanmar. Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi faces two new charges from the military junta. On 26 August 1988, she addressed half a million people at a mass rally in front of the Shwedagon Pagodain the capital, calling for a democratic g… His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press). Instead, she became the State Counsellor of Myanmar. Anti-coup protesters display pictures of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The magnitude of their misery became daily and horrific headlines. That discourse proved unsustainable. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Updates? She faces an unknown future, particularly since she had become a puppet of the army and lost her aura as a defender of human rights. The Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 and declared a year-long state of emergency hours before the newly-elected parliament was about to convene. Internationally, the Rohingya became a recurring theme in the media as hundreds of thousands of refugees were forced to flee, mostly into Bangladesh. SINGAPORE – The release of Myanmar's State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi is key to achieving a "long-term peaceful political solution" to the country's current unrest, said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in Parliament on Monday (1 March). Stories of rape and murder were documented by the United Nations and other international rights groups. In support of Suu Kyi, the NLD refused to reregister under those new laws (as was required) and was disbanded. The government parties faced little opposition in the November 7, 2010, election and easily won an overwhelming majority of legislative seats amid widespread allegations of voter fraud. In the early months of the most recent episodes of the Rohingya genocide at the hands of government forces and local militias, Suu Kyi and her party behaved as if the country was gripped by mere communal violence and that, ultimately, blame was to be shared by all of those involved. The title, ‘State Counselor’, invented by NDL following the 2016 elections, was meant to place her authority above all others in government. Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1991 “for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.” Since 2016 she held multiple governmental posts in Myanmar, including that of state counselor, which essentially made her the de facto leader of the country. Why Macron rules out official apology for colonial atrocities in Algeria? Coincidentally, when Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988, the long-time military leader of Burma and head of the ruling party, General Ne Win, stepped down. In August she was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, though the sentence immediately was reduced to 18 months, and she was allowed to serve it while remaining under house arrest. Her legal team has claimed that Suu Kyi appeared in good health during the video conference and requested to see her legal team during the hearing. This is the first time the leader of the National League for Democracy has been seen in public since … Moreover, she harangued the ‘impatience’ of international investigators and human rights groups, blaming them for rushing to judgment. Faint and bashful criticism was overpowered by the global celebration of Burma’s fledgling democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi is perhaps the only political leader in history to have won a Nobel Prize for Peace for her defiance of military despotism, then joined her tormentors to gain political power, made a deal with the devil and gave it a human face and defended it in the International Court of Justice, won the elections again and was ousted in another coup. However, behind this carefully choreographed and romanticized veneer was a genocidal reality. Prior to his death, the military junta denied him a visa to visit Suu Kyi in Myanmar, and Suu Kyi, anticipating that she would not be allowed to reenter the country if she left, remained in Myanmar. Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in the court through video conferencing on Monday, for the second time since she was detained following a military coup. She and Aris had two children and lived a rather quiet life until 1988, when she returned to Burma to nurse her dying mother, leaving her husband and sons behind. She was sidelined in February 2021 when the military seized power. Her mother was Khin Kyi, a prominent Burmese diplomat. Following clashes between the NLD and pro-government demonstrators in 2003, the government returned her to house arrest. The news that Suu Kyi was being given the Nobel Prize set off intense vilification of her by the government, and, since she was still being detained, her son, Alexander Aris, accepted the award in her place. Ken Pletcher was Senior Editor, Geography and History for Encyclopædia Britannica. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aung-San-Suu-Kyi, The Nobel Prize - Biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, Aung San Suu Kyi - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Aung San Suu Kyi - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). In July 1989 the military government of the newly named Union of Myanmar (since 2011, Republic of the Union of Myanmar) placed Suu Kyi under house arrest in Yangon (Rangoon) and held her incommunicado. Suu Kyi was released from house arrest six days after the election and vowed to continue her opposition to military rule. Early in the day, the military arrested Suu Kyi, Win Myint and some of the ruling National League for Democracy’s Central Executive Committee members, MPs and regional cabinet members. Aung San Suu Kyi's party National League for Democracy (NLD) managed to win 396 of the 476 … The following year she attended the NLD party congress, but the military government continued to harass both her and her party. Aung San Suu Kyi began a decades-long nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma (now Myanmar) in the late 1980s that garnered international attention. Many legitimate questions were brushed aside, so as not to blemish what was dubbed as a victory for democracy in Burma, miraculously won from a cruel military by a single woman who symbolized the determination and the decades-long struggle of her people. When the Burmese junta carried out their ‘cleansing’ operations of  Rohingya Muslims in the past, their violent campaigns were either entirely overlooked or conveniently classified under the encompassing discourse of human rights violations in that country. Aung San Suu Kyi was two years old when her father, then the de facto prime minister of what would shortly become independent Burma, was assassinated. In May 2009, shortly before her most recent sentence was to be completed, Suu Kyi was arrested and charged with having breached the terms of her house arrest after an intruder (a U.S. citizen) entered her house compound and spent two nights there. Myanmar's neighbours on Tuesday urged its military regime to release the detained civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and stop violence against opponents of the Feb 1 coup. She attended schools in Burma until 1960, when her mother was appointed ambassador to India. The junta once again placed Suu Kyi under house arrest from September 2000 to May 2002, ostensibly for having violated restrictions by attempting to travel outside Yangon. Aung San Suu Kyi appeared via video link for a court hearing - a day after the worst violence since the military coup. He is the author of five books. There the mass slaughter of protesters against the brutal and unresponsive rule of military strongman U Ne Win led her to speak out against him and to begin a nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights in that country. Since her return to Rangoon in 1989 and placement under house arrest for many years, Suu Kyi was transformed from an activist making the case for democracy in her country, into a ‘democracy … By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. That suspicion became reality through a series of new election laws enacted in March 2010: one prohibited individuals from any participation in elections if they had been convicted of a crime (as she had been in 2009), and another disqualified anyone who was (or had been) married to a foreign national from running for office. His website is www.ramzybaroud.net, ‘Engaging the World’: The ‘Fascinating Story’ of Hamas’s Political Evolution, ‘Freedom is Never Voluntarily Given’: Palestinian Boycott of Israel is Not Racist, It is Anti-Racist. In her testimony at the UN Court in December, Suu Kyi described the genocidal violence of the Rohingya as “cycles of inter-communal violence going back to the 1940s”. There can be no other description for such an unwarranted action as the dismissal of the government by military decree and the imposition of Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, as an unelected ruler. A good start would be to disassociate Aung San Suu Kyi from any inclusive democratic movement in this country. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Suu Kyi appeared at a court hearing via video link on Monday, a day after 18 protesters lost their lives as security forces used gunfire, teargas, rubber bullets and stun grenade to disperse protesters in five cities. At the time of her conviction, the belief was widespread both within and outside Myanmar that this latest ruling was designed to prevent Suu Kyi from participating in multiparty parliamentary elections (the first since 1990) scheduled for 2010. - Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Mass demonstrations for democracy followed that event on 8 August 1988 (8–8–88, a day seen as auspicious), which were violently suppressed in what came to be known as the 8888 Uprising. Those who have celebrated the ‘Lady’s’ legacy of yesteryear, were disappointed when the supposed human rights champion agreed to participate in the 2016 elections, despite the fact that millions of Burmese who belong to marginalized ethnic groups - like the country’s persecuted Rohingya - were excluded from the ballot box. The move came after days of escalating tension between the civilian government and the powerful military that stirred fears of a coup in the aftermath of an election the army says was … Suu Kyi was not able to be president.