Burma gaurds accused of killing protesters

Guards at detention centres in Burma beat, kicked and slashed protesters rounded up during the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations, sometimes leaving their victims to die of their injuries, a dissident group said today.

At least a dozen freed prisoners described brutal treatment at detention centres, including one who said "dozens" of detainees were killed, the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based short-wave radio station and website run by dissident journalists, said in a report today.

Another released prisoner, Zaw Myint, 45, said he was arrested on September 26 on a Rangoon street after a soldier bashed his face with the butt of his gun, leaving a bloody gash across his cheek.

He said he was denied treatment for three days and then stitched up by a doctor at Rangoon's notorious Insein prison.

"He used the same needle to treat all patients. And I saw him give injections to wounded people using the same syringe," said Zaw Myint, who was released after a week in custody.

He said was "extremely worried" about having contracted HIV as a result of the treatment. Rights groups say that Burma's prisons have soaring rates of HIV-Aids.