Rights violations persist in Myanma

[tinkyi@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Rights violations persist in Myanmar - U.N. report

Rights violations persist in Myanmar - U.N. report
07:50 p.m Oct 28, 1998 Eastern

By Anthony Goodman

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Human rights violations, ranging from
torture of prisoners and forced labour to the monitoring of opposition
political parties, persist in Myanmar, according to a report by a U.N.
investigator released on Wednesday.

The situation in Myanmar, formerly Burma, ``has not evolved in any
favourable way'' since an earlier report on the matter in April, said
Rajsoomer Lallah of Mauritius, a member of the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

``Many reports indicate that in Myanmar political parties in opposition
continue to be subject to intense and constant monitoring by the regime,
aimed at restricting their  activities and prohibiting members of political
parties from leaving their localities,'' he said.

The report was released as U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Alvaro de Soto
was on a four-day visit to Myanmar, seeking a more democratic government in
the southeast Asian nation of than 41 million people.

De Soto had a meeting on Wednesday with Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, the
head of military intelligence and a top member of the ruling military
council.

De Soto was also reported to have met the leader of the National League for
Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel peace prize,
whose party won Myanmar's last election in 1990, but was never allowed to
take office.

Referring to Suu Kyi, Lallah wrote in his report that he was particularly
concerned about ``the inability of her party to organise normal political
meetings and functions.''

He also said he remained ``deeply concerned about the continued harassment
of political leaders and the detention of many political prisoners.''

Lallah said he has received ``reports indicating that torture and
ill-treatment, including beatings in prisons and interrogation centres,
continue to be a common practice.''

In view of the sanitary conditions, lack of medical attention and refusal to
allow access by the International Committee of the Red Cross, he said he was
``not surprised to continue  to receive information, to the effect, that
several prisoners have died in prison, including several members or
sympathisers of the NLD.''

Lallah said he also still received reports that there is forced labour
across the nation He cited the findings of a commission of inquiry,
established by the International Labour Organisation, that forced labour was
imposed on the civilian population for portering, building and maintenance
of military camps, roads, railways and bridges, as well as for work in
agriculture, logging and other projects.

Another area of concern was the ``serious human rights violations that
continue to be committed by the armed forces in ethnic minority areas,'' he
said. ``The violations include extrajudicial and arbitrary executions (not
sparing women and children), rape, torture,  inhuman treatment, forced
labour and denial of freedom of movement,'' he said.

Lallah said these violations had been so numerous as to suggest they were
not isolated incidents ``but are rather the result of policy at the highest
level, entailing political and legal responsibility.''