UN envoy 'knows Burma crackdown death toll'

A United Nations investigator said today his five-day mission to Burma had enabled him to determine the number of people killed and detained in the government’s brutal crackdown on protesters.

However, human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said he would report the figures only after drafting a formal report on his trip for the UN.

“I’m compiling the documents. In two weeks I will have this number,” Mr Pinheiro said in Bangkok, Thailand.

Burma’s military government said 10 people were killed when troops opened fire on crowds of peaceful protesters on September 26 and 27. But diplomats and dissidents say the death toll was much higher.

Mr Pinheiro was sent by the UN to investigate allegations of abuse in connection with the crackdown and to try to get into the country’s prisons to pin down the precise numbers of those killed and detained.

During his stay, he was allowed to meet several prominent political prisoners and said the authorities had provided him with a list of all detainees and their condition.

The government has acknowledged detaining nearly 3,000 people who took part in the protests, but says it has released most of them. Many prominent political activists, however, remain in custody.

“Of course, I am happy that large numbers of people have been released, but I have my concerns about the situation of those who have not been released,” Mr Pinheiro said in Rangoon yesterday.

Before leaving the country, Mr Pinheiro was taken to Rangoon’s infamous Insein Prison, where he met union activist Su Nway, who was arrested on Tuesday.

He also met 77-year-old journalist Win Tin, held since 1989, and members of the 88 Generation Students group, who have been especially active in non-violent anti-government protests in recent years. Mr Pinheiro did not reveal details of their conversations.

He said he had requested a meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, but it had been refused by the government.

However, he said he was satisfied with the co-operation he had received from the government, and noted that UN special envoy for Burma Ibrahim Gambari, who visited a week earlier, had been allowed to meet Ms Suu Kyi.

Buddhist monks inspired and led the movement until it was brutally crushed. The authorities began their crackdown by raiding several monasteries in Rangoon in the middle of the night and hauling monks away.