BURMA/RIGHTS ABUSES[GENEVA]

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

World briefs 
Houston Chronicle; Houston, Tex.; Mar 16, 1999; 
Myanmar abuses reported

GENEVA - Forced labor, beatings, torture and confiscation of land are
widespread in Myanmar
and abuses are getting worse, a United Nations investigator said in a report
released Monday.

In his report to the annual session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission,
Rajsoomer Lallah said
the military government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, was continuing to
intimidate its citizens
and block free association and expression.

He said harassment and arrests of members of the opposition National League
for Democracy by
the military regime had been going on since 1995. In September, more than
650 of the opposition
party's members were arrested following attempts to convene a parliament in
accordance with the
results of the 1990 general election, which the party won overwhelmingly.