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Suu Kyi is awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize

On 14 October 1991 the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Aung San Suu Kyi the Peace Prize while she remained under house arrest. She did not collect it in person until 2012. In the causal graph this event strengthens Democratic Resilience, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — an improving welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 14 October 1991 the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Aung San Suu Kyi the Peace Prize while she remained under house arrest.

Context

Sons accepted in Oslo. She did not collect it in person until 2012. A prize is still a dated international-recognition instrument.

1989 arrest is the neighbouring custody row. 2012 Oslo visit is much later.

Myanmar’s State Counsellor (2016–2021) was de facto civilian head under the 2008 Constitution; she did not command the Tatmadaw’s autonomous ministries, write a Bangladeshi gazette, an ICJ merits judgment, or a 2026 Min Aung Hlaing amnesty. She has been detained since 1 February 2021; as of August 2026 she is under house arrest after sentence commutations, not in office. A Nobel lecture is not a clearance-operation order. An ICJ appearance is not a personal genocide conviction. A junta court sentence is not a finding that every charge was true. Allegation of a stolen 2020 count is not stored as a completed steal. A Panglong speech is not a nationwide ceasefire. A Reuters conviction is not a completed finding that the journalists planted evidence. A 2026 ICRC visit is not a release.

Why it matters

The path is democratic resilience and humanitarian attention: a completed Peace Prize raised the cost of keeping her detained.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Aung San Suu Kyi

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.45 · verified

    The Committee awarded. She remained detained. SLORC still held the guns.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactSuu Kyi is awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize
    2. strengthensDriverDemocratic Resilience
    3. strengthensIndicators (3)Having a say in government
    Improving path

    impact weight 0.4 · Effect from 14 October 1991 · verified

    International recognition raised the political cost of her detention.

    • Having a say in government

      via Democratic Resilience

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.28 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.7)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Clean elections index

      via Democratic Resilience

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.18 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      0.53 score from 0 to 1 · 0.34 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.17 score from 0 to 1 to 0.53 score from 0 to 1.

      Above normal = better

    • WJP Rule of Law Index (global)

      via Democratic Resilience

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.18 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      Above normal = better

    1. FactSuu Kyi is awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize
    2. strengthensDriverHumanitarian Access
    3. strengthensIndicatorPeople Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC)
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.25 · Effect from 14 October 1991 · verified

    Prize attention can raise later humanitarian scrutiny, with lag.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Reuters — Suu Kyi awarded 1991 Nobel Peace Prize under house arrestReuters · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Nobel Prize — Peace Prize 1991, Aung San Suu KyiNorwegian Nobel Committee · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Norwegian Nobel Committee carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.

Established: a 14 October 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, independently reported, while she was detained.

Not established: that the prize bound later Rakhine policy, or a unique later body-count coefficient.

She remained detained. SLORC still held the guns.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Suu Kyi is awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, not a later speech about Suu Kyi is awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to The Committee awarded. She remained detained. SLORC still held the guns. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorAung San Suu Kyi
  2. contributed toFactSuu Kyi is awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize
  3. strengthensDrivers (2)Democratic Resilience
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Suu Kyi is awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/mm-suu-nobel-1991

https://factrail.ai/facts/mm-suu-nobel-1991

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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