Envoy says Myanmar rights grim

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE51I4TH20090219

Thu Feb 19, 2009 4:55pm GMT

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - A U.N. envoy said on Thursday human rights in military-ruled Myanmar had not improved since his last visit seven months ago, but he hoped the regime would listen to his recommendations this time.

Human rights rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana met a handful of political prisoners in Yangon's Insein Prison, and senior government officials in the junta's remote capital Nay Pyi Taw during his five-day mission.

But the Argentine lawyer failed to meet junta leader Senior General Than Shwe or opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose latest detention began in May 2003.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi is among 2,162 people believed to be in detention in Myanmar for their political or religious beliefs.

"The human rights situation in Myanmar is still challenging. It's difficult to affirm that the human rights situation has improved," he told reporters before leaving Yangon.

However, he said some "positive signs" emerged from his meetings in Nay Pyi Taw, where he called for the progressive release of prisoners of conscience.

"I discussed this issue with the Minister of Home Affairs, and he said he's going to consider this recommendation," he said.

Quintana is the second top U.N. envoy to visit the former Burma this month, but observers said neither appear to have much to show for their efforts. Continued...
Earlier this month, U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari met Suu Kyi, but failed to make headway on bringing the military and Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) closer to talks on political reform.

"Frankly, I don't see any tangible results from Quintana's mission based on what is known of his activities," said a former Myanmar politician who declined to be named.

"So far as I know, he just went on a guided tour and met with people the regime had arranged," he said. Quintana was allowed to visit Karen State, home to one of the world's oldest insurgencies and where rights groups have accused Myanmar's military of widespread abuses.

But the envoy was denied access to Kachin and Rakhine states. Rakhine is home to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group which made headlines after reports of them were mistreated by the Thai military after fleeing over the border to escape poverty and hardship.

Ojea, whose own parents were political prisoners under a military regime in Argentina, met two NLD MPs during his visit to Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, diplomats said.

Tin Min Htut and Nyi Bu were sentenced to 15 years in prison in a closed trial the day before Quintana arrived in Myanmar.

The two men were arrested last August after writing an open letter to the United Nations criticising Myanmar's planned 2010 general election under a new constitution critics say will entrench the military's grip on power.

(Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Jon Boyle)