UN Human Rights Expert to Visit Myanmar

Photo of UN human rights investigator, Paolo Sergio Pinheiro at, UNICEF.

By Juliana Chan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

UNITED NATIONS - Myanmar's military government has agreed to allow the U.N.'s human rights investigator to visit the country.  Paolo Sergio Pinheiro, who visits countries to check on their human rights performance, will visit Myanmar next month to look into the country's crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Myanmar's Foreign Minister, Nyan Win, suggested that Mr. Pinheiro visit Myanmar before the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit opening on November 17 in Singapore.

This will be Mr. Pinheiro's first visit to the country in four years.  In 2000, he visited Myanmar six times to check on its human rights performance.  Despite repeated requests, however, he has not returned to Myanmar since 2003.

Mr. Pinheiro called the junta's decision "an important sign that the government wants to engage again in constructive dialogue with the U.N. and the Human Rights Council." 

The news came as U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari said he planned to return to the country some time next month.  Mr. Gambari visited Myanmar last month to "convey international outrage over the regime's violent suppression of anti-government rallies led by Buddhist monks that left at least 13 people dead."

Since then, Myanmar has faced international pressure, including from its ally China, to yield to democracy activists led by Aung San Suu Kyi. 

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, hopes that "we will be able to persuade the government to cooperate."

The military has run the country since 1962, refusing to hand over power to Suu Kyi even after the National League of Democracy won the 1990 general election.  Protests in the country began this last August based on dissatisfaction with the repressive military rule.  Soldiers opened fire on demonstrators, saying ten people were killed.

Mr. Pinheiro has expressed concerns that these suppressions of demonstrations killed many more people than officially acknowledged.  Although Myanmar's generals say ten people were killed in September's crackdowns, Mr. Pinheiro is convinced that the number of deaths and prisoners are larger than the government estimates.

For more information, please see:

The New York Times - Myanmar: Junta Agrees to Visit by U.N. Rights Official -23 October 2007

Jurist - Myanmar agrees to visit from UN rights expert - 22 October 2007

Reuters - Human rights expert says will visit Myanmar soon - 22 October 2007

BBC News - Burma allows human rights visit - 22 October 2007

AFP - Myanmar agrees to visit by UN rights official: UN - 22 October 2007

AP - UN: Myanmar Allows Visit by Rights Chief - 22 October 2007