'127 activists die in Burmese custody'

At least 127 pro-democracy activists have died in the custody of Burma’s ruling junta, most of them after torture and ill-treatment in the country’s network of prisons and interrogation centres, a report by an opposition group released today said.

The Thailand-based group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma, said it was submitting the report as a test case to the newly established UN Human Rights Council, which is to hold its first meeting June 19 in Geneva.