UN rights envoy compiling report on Myanmar crackdown on dissidents News
UN rights envoy compiling report on Myanmar crackdown on dissidents

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Paulo Sergio Pinheiro [official profile] said Friday that he obtained enough information from a five-day visit [JURIST report] to Myanmar to determine the number of people killed during September's crackdown on pro-democracy protests [JURIST report]. Pinheiro said he will compile his findings and report them to the UN Human Rights Council in December. Pinheiro was in Myanmar to investigate allegations of abuse related to the military junta crackdown on dissent, where the government has to-date reported that 10 people died and 3,000 activists were detained [JURIST report]. Pinheiro said Friday that the government has now acknowledged 15 deaths [Reuters report] during the crackdown on protests. Dissident groups say that the death doll was much higher [CBC report].

Pinheiro met with several prominent political prisoners during his visit to Myanmar, but his request to see opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi [JURIST news archive] was denied by the ruling junta. Among the detainees Pinheiro was able to speak with was prominent labor activist Su Su Nwe [AHRC materials], who was arrested Tuesday [JURIST report] while posting a leaflet outside of Pinheiro's hotel. AP has more.