In recent years, he has emerged as a new-generation icon of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement.
Kim Aris, the younger of two sons of imprisoned former State Counsellor Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi and her late husband, British Tibetologist Michael Aris, has appeared at rallies and public meetings, and gained a large following on social media platforms.
Born in London in 1977, he was also given a Burmese name: Htein Lin, the birth name of his maternal grandfather, independence hero Aung San.
In his youth, Kim Aris spent some time in Japan, where his mother was conducting archival research on the Burmese independence movement, and in India, where she was affiliated with the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla. He also briefly worked as a teacher in Bhutan and now resides in England.
In a recent interview with Asia Times, Aris spoke about his politically imprisoned mother, her legacy and the ongoing struggle for democracy that she still embodies and represents.
Asia Times: What’s known about your mother’s whereabouts and current situation?
Kim Aris: I don’t think anybody outside of the prison or the military has seen her for over two years, at least. No one has been allowed to see her. To the best of my knowledge, she was being held in prison in Naypyitaw, the same prison as [Australian economist] Sean Turnell was being held.
He was one of the last people to have actually seen her as far as I’m aware, among outsiders that is. For even inside prison, to the best of my knowledge, she is being held in solitary confinement – so not even the other prisoners have seen her.
Asia Times: Do we know where she is being held and is she able to communicate with anyone?
Kim Aris: After the earthquake, there were reports that she was hurt because the prison was badly damaged at that time, so much that she has been moved somewhere else in the vicinity, so within maybe a military compound or to some place like that.
That is all we really know except for recent reports we have had about her heart condition getting worse and we have requested a cardiologist be allowed to see from time to time but we don’t know if that has been granted or not. And when the heat gets bad, there is no air conditioning and the cells are infested with cockroaches and mosquitos, you name it.
There are ongoing health concerns and the military is very fond of spreading rumors and have done so many times over the last five years. Their propaganda machine has been extremely busy and they pay a lot of money to get good advice on how to use propaganda.
They have said she is being held under house arrest, but there is no evidence of that all. At other times, they said she has had a stroke and even that she has died. We actually got a letter right around the earthquake this year that she has died. It’s obviously hard to deal with all this false information.
Asia Times: When was the last time you were able to contact your mother?
Kim Aris: It was two years ago. I did manage to send her a care package. Since then, there has been no direct communication.
Asia Times: You have been travelling quite a lot lately to raise awareness about your mother and her incarceration. What has the response been in the West? From Myanmar’s immediate neighbors, the ASEAN countries, China, India and Bangladesh? And among people of different nationalities living inside and outside the country?
Kim Aris: It has been positive, and people do want to help. We have had staunch support especially from an ex-senator in Italy who was instrumental in arranging the meeting with the late Pope I had last year and if anybody can arrange a meeting for me with the current Pope, it would be her.
Even China wants to see my mother free in order for these elections [scheduled for December] to be in any way, shape or form legitimate. China knows that she has to be free along with other key political prisoners.
But somehow through their [the Myanmar military’s] propaganda machine, some parts of the world have accepted that these upcoming elections are somehow legitimate. It is incomprehensible. You know that there are so many agendas behind the scenes, not to mention the underhand dealings which allow the flow of arms and aviation fuel.
Despite sanctions, Southeast Asian, ASEAN countries could do far more, but they say interfering with the illegal supply of weaponry is somehow contravening their five-point plan. Bangladesh actually wants to help far more than the others.
Asia Times: In December 2019, she gave a speech at the International Court of Justice in The Hague where she defended Myanmar against accusations of genocide against the Rohingyas and was severely criticized for that by many, especially in the West. Why do you think she did that and has the issue been raised when you have met foreign policymakers and activists?
Kim Aris: The military was actually very upset with what she did, and what she did was very brave. She was conceptualizing what was done and what has been done to all of us for so long now. What is being done to the Rohingyas is absolutely terrible and it is time to bring those responsible to justice. But it has been painted in a certain light by certain journalists, and some were misled by false information.
Asia Times: Your mother turned 80 on June 19 this year, which is quite an advanced age. Do you think she could play a role in Myanmar politics if she was released? Could or should she play any other role in Myanmar society?
Kim Aris: She does have a future in Burmese [Myanmar] politics, and she still has to take a political role, even if that may be on a backseat, more of an advisory. She is one of the few people who can extract any sort of peace out of the mess the country is in right now.
She is the one who has been calling for reconciliation all this time, and the whole world has to listen to what she has to say about peace and reconciliation. There are others as well, two or three potential figures, but they are not yet ready because they realize how hard the job is. It is not something anyone can take up lightly. Whatever they do, there will always be critics.
Asia Times: Do you think the upcoming election will have any impact on her future? Is there a possibility that she may be released?
Kim Aris: Even the Chinese have been asking [a UN official] if she would be released and if they could have access to her. But they were denied on that front.
Asia Times: If she was given the option of going into exile, do you think she should accept that?
Kim Aris: She would deserve to be safe somewhere and take care of herself for once. But I don’t think she would go into exile. If she has stuck it out this far, why would she back down now? She is there all the way.
Under all those years under house arrest, she actually achieved what she had set out to achieve by peaceful means. She started the process of democratization. It’s very fragile but has produced many beneficial results for the country already.
Many people have said how much my mother has had to sacrifice over the years for the sake of trying her best to bring peace and democracy to Burma [Myanmar]. And that she has done so because of her sense of duty to her father’s legacy and the ideals he represents.
I think maybe all that is true, but I believe firmly that the main reason for her doing what she does is that she believes it’s the right thing and not a sacrifice at all.
And although I never wanted to take up the cause and follow in her footsteps, I cannot stand aside and let what is happening unfold before me without at least trying to stand up and do my bit.
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Asia Times also spoke in detail with Aris about the most controversial aspect of Suu Kyi’s political life before her arrest after the February 1, 2021 coup: her appearance before the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 2019.
Many in the international community were taken back, and she was stripped of numerous awards she had received during her fight for democracy. In Myanmar, however, the reaction was markedly different, and the episode did not appear to affect her massive popularity among the general public.
She went to The Hague with civil servants, not military officers, and stated in her speech that, under the 2008 Constitution, Myanmar has its own criminal justice system. That system may be a deeply flawed system, but she did mention military war crimes and the courts-martial – and that was enough to provoke a reaction from the military.
In a remarkable show of force on the evening of December 12, 2019 — the same day as Suu Kyi made her presentation in The Hague — armored vehicles and armed soldiers rolled through the streets of downtown Yangon.
The military claimed it was merely a rehearsal for an upcoming navy anniversary, but that did explain why such vehicles and troops from the infantry, not the naval equipment or personnel, were mobilized. It is plausible to assume that Suu Kyi’s performance in The Hague, and what she said there, was among the reasons the military decided to seize direct and total power and imprison her and her National League for Democracy members in its February 2021 coup.
From the generals’ perspective, civilians are not supposed to interfere in military matters. Be that as it may, it will remain a difficult obstacle for Suu Kyi to regain international support if she, against most expectations, is released before or after the military’s upcoming sham elections.
