In recent years, Myanmar’s military has tortured political prisoners, strangled democracy and killed civilians, even bombing hospitals. Now, as it seeks international legitimacy for its reincarnation as a seeming civilian government, it is promoting a softer image.
On Friday, the regime cited its “humanitarian concerns” and praised itself for its “benevolence and good will” as it said it would allow the ousted civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to serve the 18 years remaining in her prison sentence in a “designated residence.” And in a rare move, military-controlled media aired a photo of her on television.
The announcement that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her resistance to a previous junta, would be moved from prison to an unspecified residence, rather than being released, was met by harsh criticism from her younger son, Kim Aris, and human rights groups.
“Moving her is not freeing her,” Mr. Aris said in a Facebook post, shortly after the announcement. His mother, he said, “remains a hostage, cut off from the world.”
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, was Myanmar’s civilian leader when the military seized power in a coup in 2021. She was imprisoned along with hundreds of other newly elected members of Parliament.
The coup plunged the country into civil war and devastated the economy while further isolating Myanmar, already an international pariah because of its slaughter of Rohingya Muslim people that is widely recognized as genocide.
In recent months, the junta has tried to establish its legitimacy by holding elections and selecting a new president. But the balloting has been criticized as a sham, with Parliament being dominated by the military. The new, ostensibly civilian, president chosen by lawmakers is the junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, 80, has been held incommunicado for years, prompting Mr. Aris to call on the junta repeatedly for “proof of life.”
The junta has provided no details about where she would be moved or when the transfer would take place.
But two army officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution, said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi had actually been moved from prison about 18 months ago to a house in the capital, Naypyidaw. (Around the same time, the military had announced that she was being moved from prison to an undisclosed location because of a heat wave.)
They said the military had withheld the details about her transfer so it could use the information at a later date when it faced international pressure over her fate, particularly from China, Myanmar’s powerful neighbor and benefactor.
Last weekend, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, visited Myanmar and met with the country’s rulers. On Thursday, Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry was asked about the imprisoned leader at a regular briefing for reporters.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an old friend of China,” he said. “Her circumstance has always been on our minds. China and Myanmar are friendly neighbors. China supports Myanmar in following a development path suited to its national conditions.”
His comments were followed that evening by a brief announcement in Myanmar on military-controlled television that she would be moved to a “designated residence.”
On Friday, The Global New Light of Myanmar, a military-controlled media outlet, posted the same photo of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi that was shown on television and said that “in consideration of humanitarian concerns as well as the state’s benevolence and good will,” Mr. Min Aung Hlaing had agreed to let her “serve the remainder of her sentence at a designated residence.”
A spokesman for the junta did not respond to a call and message seeking comment.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi led her party, the National League for Democracy, to repeated landslide victories in national elections and was so popular for decades that millions of people hung portraits of her in their homes.
But until the Thursday evening broadcast, her image had not been shown on television for years. The photo aired briefly shows her sitting with a police officer and an army officer. She appears healthy and in good spirits. It is not clear when or where the photo was taken or whether it had been digitally altered.
Earlier that day, the junta announced that as part of a prison amnesty, her term had been reduced, for the second time this year, and that she now faced 18 years and nine months of detention. Should she live long enough, she would be released when she is 99.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was originally sentenced in 2022 to 33 years in prison on corruption and other charges that her supporters said were trumped up.
The daughter of Myanmar’s independence leader, Gen. Aung San, she spent nearly 15 years under house arrest during a previous military regime.
Burma Campaign UK, a human rights group, said the announcement of her transfer to a residence was a public relations maneuver aimed at winning favor from foreign governments.
The regime knows from past experience that releasing her and returning her to house arrest can be an effective way to receive international praise, said the London-based organization, which uses the country’s previous name.
“There is concern by human rights activists in and from Burma that superficial gestures by the Burmese military will be used by governments as an excuse to normalize relations and lift sanctions,” the group said. “The Burmese military are hoping that with so many crises around the world they can get away with even fewer concessions than last time.”
A spokesman for the National League for Democracy, who asked not to be identified out of fear of retribution from the military, said the party had not been informed of any prison transfer and was unaware of where she would be held.
Two weeks ago, the junta released the president it ousted, U Win Myint, 74, who served more than five years in prison after his arrest on the day of the coup.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks detainees in Myanmar, estimates that the junta still holds more than 22,000 political prisoners.
