Introduction
“Myanmar’s suffering is our suffering too. But for Myanmar to achieve peace and to be able to heal, my mother must first be freed.”
Kim Aris (also known as Ko Htein Lin), the younger son of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, delivered the above message at the “Prayers for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and All Political Prisoners in Myanmar” held in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, 16 November 2025.
He said his mother had always taught him that true peace can only be built on freedom, justice, and compassion, and never on oppression and silence. Kim Aris firmly believes: “As long as his mother and other political prisoners remain in prison, there can be no peace.”
This week’s BNI-Myanmar Peace Monitor’s Bi-Weekly News Review examines a son’s ongoing campaigns for the release of his mother who is being unlawfully detained by the military junta, as well as statements by people’s leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that remain profoundly relevant today.
A Son’s Campaigns for His Mother’s Release
Kim Aris (Ko Htein Lin), aged 48, had long kept himself away from politics at his mother’s own wish. He did not want anything he said to be misinterpreted and used to cause her further harm. But now, with his 80-year-old mother, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, unlawfully detained by the military junta, Ko Htein Lin can no longer remain calm and silent about her health and well-being.
Their last face-to-face meeting was in 2016 when his mother visited the United Kingdom. After that, because of her heavy duties and responsibilities in Myanmar, opportunities to meet in person or even speak became extremely rare, Kim Aris said. After the military seized power on 1 February 2021 and his mother was detained, he tried every possible channel to make contact with her.
“I got no results at all. The Myanmar military never replied to any of my inquiries. I contacted them through the British Foreign Office and directly through the Myanmar Embassy in London. I also reached out via the International Committee of the Red Cross. The result was always the same. I received absolutely no response,” Kim Aris explained. [1]
On 1 February 2024, he went in person to the Myanmar Embassy in London and sought to hand-deliver a letter he had written to the coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, requesting permission to visit his mother. No one at the embassy accepted the letter, so he had to drop it into the embassy mailbox. In front of the embassy, Ko Htein Lin declared:
“The military is extremely fearful of the strong will of the people. It has already been four years that my mother has been detained after decades of lost freedom. I will continue to work for the Myanmar and the people that my mother loves.” [2]
The military junta continues its efforts to silence and suppress Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s voice and role following their failed coup, and to this day they have entirely disregarded Kim Aris’s requests. That is precisely why his efforts for the release of his 80-year-old mother and all other political prisoners have escalated, reaching out vigorously to domestic resistance forces and leaders, as well as to highly influential international figures including the Pope, governments, and organizations around the world.
Moreover, in order to reach the people of Myanmar and people everywhere across the globe, he has stepped up his efforts by writing articles and giving interviews to independent and credible media outlets, speaking out loudly about his mother Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the situation inside Myanmar.
According to a 3 October 2025 report in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, Kim Aris appealed to Chinese President Xi Jinping to put more pressure on the junta to release his mother and all those who deserve to be freed.
He said: “Even if just one person from outside the prison could meet my mother and confirm that she is at least still alive, that would already be enough. The conditions inside the prison are extremely dire, and I constantly fear that my mother might die in there.” [3]
Meetings with Acting President Duwa Lashi La of the National Unity Government (NUG) and with Arakan Army Commander-in-Chief Major-General Twan Mrat Naing have highlighted Ko Htein Lin’s campaigns for his mother’s release. He is also frequently seen participating in activities of the resistance forces opposing the military coup.
Inside the junta’s prisons, where the only information available is limited to junta propaganda newspapers, it is undoubtedly very difficult for his detained mother to hear about Ko Htein Lin’s campaigns and the voices calling for her freedom.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Statements That Remain Relevant Today
In 2015, when a BBC reporter asked Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) that had just won the election, why she believed the military would respect the 2015 election results given that they had refused to accept the 1990 results and seized power. she replied: “The times have changed, and people have changed too. People have become much more politically aware. Even if there are those who want to act improperly with the election results, it has now become far more difficult for them to do so.” [4]
The fact that Senior General Min Aung Hlaing-led junta having rejected the 2020 election results and seized power on 1 February 2021 has still failed, nearly five years later, to complete its coup process clearly demonstrates that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s 2015 statement remains strikingly relevant today.
From 1 April 2016 to 31 January 2021, she served the country as State Counsellor. From 1 February 2021 until this very day, she has been unlawfully detained by the military junta. Sentenced to long prison terms under various charges and completely cut off from contact with the people of Myanmar and the world, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appears to regard all the courtroom dramas staged by the junta as nothing more than “farcical trials.” Through her legal team, she has also made clear that she rejects every form of assistance or support offered by the junta. [5]
“Please tell everyone the truth about what is happening in Myanmar. We have been silenced, but you can still speak.”
These were the words Daw Aung San Suu Kyi asked Australian economist Sean Turnell to convey.
Mr Turnell has also shared another message she wanted the Myanmar people to hear after the coup: “She spoke especially about how immensely proud she was of Myanmar’s young people. She said she was truly proud of the people who, even after tasting democracy for only a very short time, are now fighting to defend it.”
Today, the junta is coercively preparing to hold an election that excludes the NLD party led by people’s leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in a desperate attempt to bring its failed coup to an end. Resistance forces opposing the coup, together with the United Nations, ASEAN, and governments around the world, have officially stated that they will not recognize the junta’s election and continue to demand the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.
More than a decade ago, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi already gave a clear warning to any political parties that might participate, and to the people who might be forced to vote, in a new election that nullifies the 2020 results:
“We don’t want even a single vote that is given out of fear. If you vote because you are afraid of individuals or organizations that threaten you, I warn you, you will have to live in fear for the rest of your life.”
Thirteen years ago, in her speech “The Long Road to Freedom” delivered in San Francisco, United States, she said that if we truly want freedom, we must build a society that has no need for dictators a society that does not allow dictators to issue orders and commands.
She continued: “Sometimes we ourselves destroy our own freedom. Why? Because it is easier. It is easier to obey than to resist; it is easier to compromise than to stand up for what we believe is right. This is exactly how we begin to destroy our own freedom.” [6]
The campaign slogans she introduced, “It’s time for change” and “Together with the people” still resonate deeply among the public. Her words on democracy, human rights, and peace have not become outdated; they continue to mirror the military and political realities of Myanmar right up to this very moment.
Finding
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s younger son, Kim Aris says that for Myanmar to achieve peace and healing, “Mother must first be freed.”
He has stated that even the Chinese government knows, in one way or another, that for the election the junta plans to hold to gain any legitimacy, his mother Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other key political prisoners must be released. Kim Aris firmly believes that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who has always spoken of national reconciliation and peace is one of the very few people who could help pull a genuine peace out of Myanmar’s current all-encompassing crisis.
Yet for Kim Aris, who has even received messages from the junta’s propaganda machine claiming that his mother has ‘died,’ the challenges have been immense. Reports that she has been moved to house arrest also remain unverified, with no evidence. When news emerged that the prison where his mother is held was damaged during the powerful Sagaing earthquake and that she may have been injured, the source came from military circles, making confirmation extremely difficult, Kim Aris said.
On 13 December, Kim Aris will lead a global action titled “Stand Up for Freedom,” combining online and on the-ground activities, with three main aims: to secure the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint, and all unjustly detained political prisoners; to make the world recognize that any election held while national leaders remain imprisoned is nothing but a sham; and to demonstrate the united strength of the entire Myanmar people.
In an interview with FRANCE 24 English published on 11 November 2025, Kim Aris said: “The only thing I can still hope for is that my mother is alive.”
[1] “The military will never win this war. The only question is how much longer it will drag on.” – Kim Aris (aka Ko Htein Lin), younger son of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, BBC interview, 19 Jun 2023
[2] Kim Aris – Htein Lin’s Facebook, 1 Feb 2024
[3] Aung San Suu Kyi’s son seeks China’s help to secure her release from Myanmar jail, South China Morning Post, 3 Oct 2025
[4] Exclusive BBC interview with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, 11 Nov 2015
[5] Myanmar Spring Revolution and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Message, Issue-83, Dec 2022
[6] Daw Aung San Suu Kyi – The Long Road to Freedom, Oslo Freedom Forum, 3 Oct 2012