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3. UPDATE ON BURMA
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UPDATE ON <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />BURMA<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Khin Ohmar of the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Partnership on Burma (APPPB) appartnership@gmail.com
On the 15th, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma Mr. Pinheiro left the country after a five-day visit. During his stay he held consultations in Naypyidaw with several SPDC ministers, 20 members of the newly established Human Rights Committee within the Government, UN Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team, representatives from the national ethnic groups and the Women’s Development Association.
In Rangoon he visited the Insein Jail twice, the first time to have a briefing about the prison, and the second time to meet some political prisoners detained since the protests in August including Min Zeya, Than Tin, and Su Su Nway, who was arrested on Nov 13, as well as 77-year-old journalist Win Tin, held since 1989.
He also visited some places where the violent incidents took place during the demonstrations. These include: 1) The former Government Technical College and Police Battalion Control Command Headquarters in Kyauktan, Thanlyin, where more than one thousand protesters were detained, and 2) Htain Bin crematorium.
Finally, he also met with the senior abbots of the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, the Kya Khat Waing Monastery in Bago, the Board of Trustees of the Shwedagon Pagoda and two monasteries.
According to an update released by Altsean-Burma today, Mr. Pinheiro confirmed that he found no improvements in the human rights situation in Burma and reiterated concerns over the harsh detention conditions faced by political prisoners. He said in a meeting with regional human rights groups today in Bangkok that Burma’s human rights situation is still urgent and deserves priority attention from leaders attending the ASEAN Summit in Singapore.
So far, very little information on what Mr. Pinheiro really found out during his trip seems to have been released. So it may still be a bit early for us to assess whether his visit was a successful one. However, we have been concerned about the regime’s motives for inviting both the Special Envoy and Special Rapporteur on Human Rights before the Asean Summit, and now we are all anxious to know if he was actually able to have unconditional access to people and collect any valuable information on the human rights situation, or if he was closely followed and watched by the regime during his stay as has been the case for his visits in the past.
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Posted on 2007-11-20
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