Embassies, Rights Groups Call for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Release on Her 81st Birthday

Foreign embassies and rights groups on Friday marked the 81st birthday of detained civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by calling for her immediate and unconditional release and that of all remaining political prisoners.

Marking the 81st birthday of Myanmar’s detained civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on Friday, foreign embassies and prominent rights groups called for the immediate and unconditional release of her and all remaining political prisoners.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been detained since the military coup on February 1, 2021, which ousted her National League for Democracy (NLD) government. Although the regime sentenced her to 27 years in prison and announced that she had been moved from Naypyitaw Prison to an undisclosed “designated location” on May 31, it has completely barred the public, her family and her legal team from seeing her.

Her detention following the 2021 coup marked the fourth time she has been imprisoned since returning to Myanmar in 1988. In total, she has now spent nearly 20 years in detention under three different military regimes. Friday also marked her sixth birthday spent in detention since the coup.

The Australian, Canadian and Swiss embassies in Yangon called for her and all others unjustly detained to be released. The Australian and Canadian embassies also urged the regime to allow her access to independent medical care, family members and legal counsel, as well as demanding an end to violence and the establishment of dialogue in line with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s Five-Point Consensus.

The European Union and the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland celebrated Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday by posting a graphic-design portrait of her wearing a rose in her hair, alongside the number 81 in Burmese digits, with a background pattern honoring 1945, the year of her birth. The Norwegian and UK embassies marked the day by posting photos of roses, a flower with which she is associated.

The group ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), which includes 134 former and current parliamentarians from 10 countries—Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste—signed an open letter calling on ASEAN and its member states to demand the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.

Advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPP) called on key stakeholders, including ASEAN members, other foreign governments, UN mandates and domestic actors, to secure the release of the State Counselor alongside all other political prisoners. The AAPP urged support for the “Proof of Life” campaign, also demanding that immediate access to her family and independent observers be permitted to verify her condition without delay. Furthermore, the AAPP stated that any political process excluding Myanmar’s democratically elected representatives lacks legitimacy and must not be recognized.

A member of AAPP said, “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners are people who should not be in prison.”

The regime must take responsibility for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s situation, he said.

He urged the international community to put more pressure on the regime regarding Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s case and to release all political prisoners.

He added that all resistance forces must unite to secure the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political detainees.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, along with many other democratic groups, also urged the regime to provide proof of life, noting that she has not been seen in public and her exact location remains unknown.

Despite the regime’s restrictions, public birthday celebrations for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi were reported nationwide, including in major hubs like Yangon and Mandalay.

Resistance forces joined in the celebration of the State Counselor’s birthday.

A Magwe-based resistance fighter said the regime’s ongoing detention of the 81-year-old leader simply proves how much it fears her.

The civilian National Unity Government (NUG) urged the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all others unjustly detained, while calling for an end to civilian-targeted attacks and forced military conscription.

A week before her birthday, the regime removed all signs and flags from the NLD’s headquarters in Yangon’s Bahan Township, in what many viewed as another symbolic move against Myanmar’s ousted democratic leadership.