Daw Suu Watch - Biography

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Alternative Asean Network on Burma
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DAW SUU WATCH > BIOGRAPHY

Daw Suu returns to Burma to take care of her sick mother, Daw Khin Kyi.

During nationwide mass demonstrations for democracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi takes a leading role in the movement and addresses half a million people in front of the Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon.

Daw Suu becomes NLD General Secretary.

Jul 1988 - Jul 1989

As leader of the NLD, Daw Suu tours the country extensively and delivers over a hundred public addresses during campaign rallies in Rangoon, Tenasserim, Pegu, Magwe, Sagaing, and Mandalay Divisions and in Kachin and Mon States.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest and disqualified from running in the May 1990 elections.

Nobel Committee awards Daw Suu the Peace Prize. She uses the US$1.3 million prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is forced to cancel trip to Mandalay to attend supporters' trial after the train coach she booked on develops a last-minute fault. She later tells reporters that the SLORC trying to prevent her from meeting the people.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi defies travel bans and continuously attempts to travel outside Rangoon, but roads are blocked and train coaches left behind in order to prevent her departure.

Two-hundred USDA members rock Daw Suu’s car, hit it with iron bars and smash the rear window while SPDC troops watch.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi spends several days in her car after being blocked by police when trying to leave Rangoon to meet with NLD officials. A five-day standoff is forcibly ended by the military.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi leaves her home to meet NLD members outside Rangoon. As in previous attempts, authorities block her en route. After a 13-day stand-off on a bridge outside Rangoon, Daw Suu succumbs to illness and dehydration and is forced to turn back.

Michael Aris dies of cancer in London. His last request to visit Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, whom he had last seen in 1995, is rejected. The junta urges Daw Suu to join her family in the UK, but she knows that doing so means she would not be allowed to return to Burma.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi confronts an SPDC Army unit ordered to aim their rifles at her while campaigning in the Irrawaddy delta.

Two-hundred riot police surround Daw Suu’s motorcade near Dala, Rangoon Division, and force them to return to Rangoon after a nine day stand-off.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders attempt to travel to Mandalay by train. SPDC authorities place Daw Suu under house arrest.

Through UN Special Envoy for Burma Razali Ismail, the SPDC and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi begin talks with the SPDC on national reconciliation. Both sides agree to maintain the substance of their discussions confidential. Razali and Daw Suu meet more than 20 times between August 2001 and March 2004. The dialogue eventually collapses following the Depayin massacre and Daw Suu’s ensuing detention.

SPDC releases Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Following her release from house arrest, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi leads a convoy of NLD members and supporters to visit around 135 Townships in 12 States and Divisions, where she is warmly welcomed by tens of thousands of people.

During Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’ s trip to Arakan State, SPDC authorities in some areas place roadblocks to stop her vehicle.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi begins an 11-day campaign tour in Chin State. Thousands of people turned up to greet the pro-democracy leader despite threats from local SPDC authorities.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi tours Kachin and Shan States, and Mandalay and Sagaing Divisions in the weeks leading up to the 30 May Depayin massacre.

NLD members and supporters accompanying Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are attacked by pro-junta thugs near Depayin, Sagaing Division. As a result, more than 100 NLD members and elected MP, supporters, monks and students are arrested, killed, wounded and missing. The regime detains Daw Aung San Suu Kyi following the Depayin massacre.

Following gynecological surgery, Daw Suu is placed under house arrest once more.

NLD Central Executive Committee meeting is permitted at Daw Suu’s residence and the party decides to participate at the National Convention if the SPDC agree with the party’s demands, including the release of Daw Suu and party chair U Tin Oo, and the reopening of NLD offices. The SPDC refuses to comply and the NLD boycotts the National Convention.

Daw Suu meets with UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari.

Daw Suu’s house arrest term is extended for another year, flouting a direct appeal from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to SPDC Chairman Sr GenThan Shwe.

Daw Suu meets with Ibrahim Gambari.

Daw Suu meets with UN Special Advisor on Burma Ibrahim Gambari at an SPDC guesthouse.

Daw Suu meets with Ibrahim Gambari.

Daw Suu meets with SPDC Liaison Minister Maj Gen Aung Kyi for the first time.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi meets with Ibrahim Gambari and releases a statement on national reconciliation.

Daw Suu again meets with SPDC Liaison Minister Maj Gen Aung Kyi.

Daw Suu meets with SPDC Liaison Minister Maj Gen Aung Kyi.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the SPDC Liaison Minister Maj Gen Aung Kyi meet for an hour at a military facility in Rangoon. She expresses her frustration that there is no timeline and reiterates her desire that representatives from the ethnic nationalities be invited as well.

Daw Suu meets with SPDC Liaison Minister Maj Gen Aung Kyi for the fifth time. She expresses her frustration to the NLD that the SPDC is toying with her.

Daw Suu meets with Ibrahim Gambari.

Daw Suu meets with Ibrahim Gambari again.

SPDC extends Daw Suu’s house arrest by another year.

Daw Suu meets with Ibrahim Gambari for the eighth time and tells Gambari that the UN Secretary-General should not visit Burma until all political prisoners are released.

SPDC arrests John William Yettaw, a 53-year-old American man, while he is swimming in Rangoon’s Inya Lake. The SPDC alleges that the man was returning from a visit to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s lakeside residence. The junta also says that the man spent two nights at Daw Suu’s home before leaving late on 5 May.

SPDC authorities transfer Daw Aung Suu Kyi to Insein prison to face trial for allegedly violating the conditions of her house arrest.

Following an 86-day sham trial, the SPDC sentences Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to three years in prison with hard labor for violating the conditions of her house arrest. Shortly after the court announces the sentence, SPDC Chairman Sr Gen Than Shwe commutes the sentence to 18 months to be served under house arrest.