THAILAND/ PHILIPPINES : U.N. Human Rights envoy sees good signs of Myanmar returning to a positive process

The United Nations Human Rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro meets Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram after completing a five-day visit to Myanmar. Meanwhile activists take to the streets of Bangkok and Manila to call on leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to put Myanmar at the top of their agenda in upcoming talks. The United Nations Human Rights envoy Sergio Paulo Pinheiro met Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram in Bangkok on Friday (November 16) after spending five days in Myanmar to probe September's bloody crackdown by the leading military junta on pro-democracy protests. Pinheiro visited Myanmar to investigate the accurate number of people who were detained and the number of casualties. He said his visit to Yangon's notorious Insein Prison had included meetings with social activists such as Su Su Nway, who was arrested on Tuesday (November 13), and the Burma's former longest-serving political prisoner, journalist Win Tin. Pinheiro also said his request to see detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi had not been granted. He did however say that he received good cooperation from the military-junta in his recent visit. Pinheiro left Myanmar in 2003 after finding out he had been bugged during a meeting with a political prisoner in Insein. "There are a lot of challenges in Myanmar concerning the implementation of basic human rights principles. But I was happy to see some good signals by the government in terms of re-establishing a process for the constitution of a human rights commission. I think all countries in this region play a positive role in improving the democratic process and political transition," said the Brazilian envoy Pinheiro. However, the junta says all but 91 of the nearly 3,000 people rounded up in the crackdown have been released, although one Yangon-based diplomat said the number still in detention was around 1,000. That estimate does not include the 1,100 prisoners of conscience the United Nations and human rights groups say were already being held before the protests started. Official media say 10 people were killed in the crackdown, although Western governments say the real toll is likely to be far higher. "My visit was not a full-fledged fact-finding mission because five days and I have interviewed prisoners, met monks, it was very much contact with the government authorities which is very useful for me to have a full consideration of all aspects of the crisis," Pinheiro said. During his trip to Myanmar, he also met several students from the 88 Generation who protested in a 1988 uprising against Myanmar's military junta. Pinheiro, a Geneva-based Brazilian law professor who reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council, has visited Myanmar six times since 2000. Prior to this visit he had not been allowed back since November 2003. He said he will present his report to the United Nations on the human rights situation in Myanmar by December 11. Meanwhile activists in both Thailand and the Philippines staged protests in front of the Singaporean embassies on Friday to urge leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to play a tougher role against Myanmar's leading junta. In Bangkok, activists wearing masks depicting nine ASEAN leaders stood in line facing one activist wearing a mask of General Than Shwe, the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The activists then handed over money to "Than Shwe", printed on paper depicting U.S. dollar bills. "This is to show how close economic and trade relations are between ASEAN countries and Burma," the Peace for the Burma coalition said in the statement. In Manila, more than two dozen members of the Free Burma Coalition-Philippines called for ASEAN leaders to focus on the plight of the people of Myanmar. Chanting outside the building, the group displayed a picture of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and various placards calling a stop to military support to Myanmar's military junta. Egoy Dans, the spokesperson for the protest group said "The SPDC's roadmap to democracy is a sham. Burma is continuing to be a shame for ASEAN. The ASEAN should reject the SPDC's roadmap to democracy." He also said that their letter to ASEAN included an appeal to the leaders to postpone the signing of the ASEAN charter by the military junta until the political crisis in Myanmar is resolved in accordance with international human rights standards. A Singapore embassy official in Manila received the letter addressed to ASEAN during the rally. The group dispersed peacefully after an hour without any incident. The activist coalitions says ASEAN trade accounts for more than half of Burma's foreign exchange revenue, allowing the junta to sustain their repressive rule. db/jrc

ITN Source | November 16, 2007

Tags:. .principles. .implementation. .chanting. .revenue. .bloody