U Tin Oo, Myanmar’s former armed forces chief of staff and defense minister who fought against Myanmar’s authoritarian government and became a leader of the pro-democracy movement there, died on Saturday in Yangon, Myanmar. He is 97 years old.
His death was confirmed at the hospital by his personal assistant U Myint Oo. He said Mr. Tianwu had a weak heart and died of kidney failure and pulmonary edema.
Mr Tin Oo, once one of the most powerful figures in what is now Myanmar, founded the National League for Democracy, the country’s main opposition party, with Aung San Suu Kyi during a violent pro-democracy uprising in 1988.
Three years later, while under house arrest, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize. She was detained again and it was unclear whether she had been informed of Mr. Tianwu’s death.
“Aung San Suu Kyi will be deeply saddened to hear of his passing, as she has lost a trusted confidant,” Mr Myint Oo said.
In 2013, she told The New York Times that Mr. Tianwu was “like a father to me.”
Mr Tin Oo became vice-president and chairman of the National League for Democracy, a party that won elections by a huge margin in 1990 but was prevented from taking power by the ruling military junta.
Soon after, he became one of dozens of pro-democracy activists and party members arrested by the military junta and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
He later became part of a circle of former military officers known as “uncles” who advised Aung San Suu Kyi during her 15 years of house arrest.
After her release and the establishment of a democratic government, ending decades of military rule, Mr Tin Oo continued to speak on human rights and issues related to Myanmar’s development.
“I know personally that transformation is difficult and challenging,” he said in a speech at the 2014 Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference.
“I was a general, a political prisoner, a monk, a law student, a lawyer and a founding member of the National League for Democracy,” he said. “I must face up to the harm I caused people while serving in the military. For this, I have apologized and committed myself to the cause of human rights and democracy.
“I love the military, but I love the people even more,” he told The New York Times in 2020. “That’s why I stand with the people.”
Mr. Tin Oo was born on March 3, 1927 in Pathein, a port city along the Pathein River in southern Myanmar. He is the eldest of six siblings.
“He has been serving the country since he was 16 years old, fighting against fascist Japan and the Chinese Communist Party,” said party spokesman U Tun Myint. “He received the highest title in the army, the title of Sulla.”
Mr Tin Oo joined the army in 1946 as a second lieutenant and was promoted to battalion commander in 1951.
He was awarded the medal for his leadership against the Karen National Union and other armed ethnic groups and against the Communist Party of Myanmar.
In 1974, he served as commander-in-chief of the armed forces during the bloody crackdown on student protests over the funeral of former United Nations secretary-general U Thant.
In 1976, Tin Ou was accused of corruption and involvement in a failed coup amid what some analysts saw as a power struggle. He was imprisoned until 1980, when he was released in an amnesty.
Ten years later he was arrested again for opposition activities and spent many years in prison and house arrest.
He was last arrested in May 2003, when he and Aung San Suu Kyi were arrested after their convoy was attacked by pro-government thugs in what some supporters said was an assassination attempt. They were both released in 2010.
“When a group of terrorists approached Aung San Suu Kyi’s car, U Din Oo got out of the car and shouted an order to the terrorists: ‘You guys, this is Aung San Suu Kyi’s car, stay back,'” Mr. Tun Myint said. Who’s in the convoy.
Aung San Suu Kyi and Din Oo both escaped, but dozens of people are believed to have been killed. They were both subsequently arrested.
In 2015, the National League for Democracy won the country’s first truly democratic election and began its difficult transition from opposition to ruling party.
The party won a landslide victory in a second election in 2020 but was ousted in a coup the following year. A nationwide uprising and continued violent repression followed.
Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and convicted in a series of cases that appeared designed to keep her detained indefinitely. Mr Tianwu was allowed to stay at home and continued to make pro-democracy comments.
Mr Tin Oo’s survivors include his wife Dr Tin Moe Wai, 99, and his son Thant Zin Oo.
