U Tin Oo, a former leader of Myanmar’s armed forces and defense minister who turned against his country’s repressive government to become a leader of the pro-democracy movement, died Saturday in Yangon, Myanmar. He was 97 years old.
His personal assistant, U Myint Oo, confirmed his death at a hospital. He said Mr Tin Oo had a weak heart and died of kidney failure and pulmonary edema.
Once one of the most powerful figures in what is now Myanmar, Mr. Tin Oo founded the National League for Democracy, the country’s main opposition party, with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during a violent pro-democracy uprising that failed in 1988.
Three years later, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest. She is back in detention and it is unclear whether she was informed of Mr Tin Oo’s death.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would be deeply saddened to learn of her passing, as she has lost a trusted confidant,” Mr Myint Oo said.
In 2013, she told The New York Times that Mr. Tin Oo was “like a father to me.”
Mr Tin Oo became vice president and then chairman of the party, known as the NLD, which won the 1990 election by a wide margin but was prevented from taking power by the ruling military junta.
Soon after, he was one of dozens of pro-democracy activists and party members arrested for lengthy prison terms by the junta.
He then became part of a circle of former military officers, known as “uncles”, who advised Ms Aung San Suu Kyi during her 15 years under house arrest.
After his release and the establishment of a democratic government, which ended decades of military rule, Mr. Tin Oo continued to speak out on human rights and development issues in Myanmar .
“Personally, I know the transition is difficult and challenging,” he said in a speech at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference in 2014.
“I have been a general, a political prisoner, a monk, a law student, a lawyer and a founding member of a political party, the NLD,” he said. “I had to face the harm I did to people while serving in the military. For this, I apologized and committed myself to human rights and democracy.
“I love the military but I love the people more,” he told the New York Times in 2020. “That’s why I stood with the people.” »
Mr. Tin Oo was born on March 3, 1927 in the port city of Pathein, along the Pathein River in southern Burma. He was the eldest of six brothers and sisters.
“He has served his country since the age of 16, fighting against fascist Japan and Chinese communists,” said U Tun Myint, spokesperson for his political party. “He was awarded the highest title in the army, the title of Thura.”
Mr. Tin Oo joined the army in 1946 as a second lieutenant and became a battalion commander in 1951.
He was decorated for leading campaigns against the Karen National Union and other ethnic armed groups, as well as the Communist Party of Burma.
He was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces during the bloody suppression of student protests surrounding the funeral of U Thant, the former United Nations secretary-general, in 1974.
In 1976, amid what some analysts saw as a power struggle, Mr. Tin Oo was accused of corruption and complicity in an abortive coup. It was in print until 1980, when it was released as part of a general amnesty.
He was arrested again ten years later for his opposition activities and spent many more years in prison and under house arrest.
His last arrest was in May 2003, when he and Ms Aung San Suu Kyi were arrested after their motorcade was attacked by a pro-government crowd in what some supporters said was an assassination attempt. They were both released in 2010.
“When a group of terrorists approached Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s car, U Tin Oo got out and shouted orders to the terrorists: ‘You guys, this is Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s car , step back.’ » said Mr. Tun Myint. who was in the procession.
Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and Mr Tin Oo escaped, although dozens of others are believed to have been killed. They were then both arrested.
In 2015, the NLD won the country’s first truly democratic elections and began the difficult transition from an opposition group to a ruling party.
The party won a landslide victory in a second election in 2020. But it was defeated in a coup the following year. A national uprising and continued violent repression followed.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and convicted in a series of cases that appeared designed to keep her detained indefinitely. Mr. Tin Oo was allowed to stay at home and continued to speak out in favor of democracy.
Mr Tin Oo’s survivors include his wife, Dr Tin Moe Wai, now 99, whom he met when she was a doctor at a hospital where he was treated for combat wounds, as well as as his son Thant Zin Oo.
