UN to assess human rights in Myanmar
Probe subjects: Myanmar children wait for food from a local donor in Daydaye, Irrawaddy delta in this file photo. The United Nations, upon the invitation of the military junta, will be sending an investigator to check on the human rights condition in the country after the devastating cylone in June.Picture: EPA
Sunday, August 3, 2008
UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is also set to visit this month
MYANMAR'S military junta has invited a United Nations investigator to make his first visit next week so he can assess the human rights situation in the Southeast Asian country, the UN said on Friday.
Investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana, who will be in Myanmar from today through Thursday, hopes to meet a number of government officials and heads of state institutions, the Geneva-based Human Rights Council said in a statement.
"The special rapporteur wishes to engage in a constructive dialogue with the authorities with a view to improving the human rights situation of the people of Myanmar," it said.
UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said in New York that Ojea Quintana has asked to visit the area worst hit when Cyclone Nargis struck on May 2 to 3, leaving an estimated 138,000 people dead or missing, most of them in the Irrawaddy Delta.
He also hopes to meet with representatives of ethnic groups, political parties, religious groups, civil society and non-governmental organisations in the country formerly known as Burma, the Human Rights Council said.
It was unclear if he would try to see Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose house arrest was recently extended.
Ojea Quintana, whose own parents were political prisoners under a military regime in Argentina, has called on Myanmar to release Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners.
Last month, he said the junta's arrest of a popular comedian campaigning for victims of Cyclone Nargis was part of continuing serious human rights violations in the country.
Myanmar's most famous comedian has appeared in court alongside a popular sports writer and two political activists, but no formal charges were filed against them, a lawyer said on Friday.
The four appeared at a secret court inside the notorious Insein prison in the economic hub Yangon, for the first time since their arrests in June.
The comedian, Zaganar, and sports writer, Zaw Thet Htwe, had been distributing aid to cyclone victims before their arrest though it was not clear why they were detained.
"Altogether, four including Ko Thura (Zaganar) and Zaw Thet Htwe, appeared at a secret court inside Insein prison on Wednesday," said lawyer Aung Thein.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, will also visit this month.
Gambari, seeking to promote democracy in Myanmar, will be making his fourth visit since the ruling junta cracked down on monk-led protests last September.
Reuters
MYANMAR'S military junta has invited a United Nations investigator to make his first visit next week so he can assess the human rights situation in the Southeast Asian country, the UN said on Friday.
Investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana, who will be in Myanmar from today through Thursday, hopes to meet a number of government officials and heads of state institutions, the Geneva-based Human Rights Council said in a statement.
"The special rapporteur wishes to engage in a constructive dialogue with the authorities with a view to improving the human rights situation of the people of Myanmar," it said.
UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said in New York that Ojea Quintana has asked to visit the area worst hit when Cyclone Nargis struck on May 2 to 3, leaving an estimated 138,000 people dead or missing, most of them in the Irrawaddy Delta.
He also hopes to meet with representatives of ethnic groups, political parties, religious groups, civil society and non-governmental organisations in the country formerly known as Burma, the Human Rights Council said.
It was unclear if he would try to see Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose house arrest was recently extended.
Ojea Quintana, whose own parents were political prisoners under a military regime in Argentina, has called on Myanmar to release Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners.
Last month, he said the junta's arrest of a popular comedian campaigning for victims of Cyclone Nargis was part of continuing serious human rights violations in the country.
Myanmar's most famous comedian has appeared in court alongside a popular sports writer and two political activists, but no formal charges were filed against them, a lawyer said on Friday.
The four appeared at a secret court inside the notorious Insein prison in the economic hub Yangon, for the first time since their arrests in June.
The comedian, Zaganar, and sports writer, Zaw Thet Htwe, had been distributing aid to cyclone victims before their arrest though it was not clear why they were detained.
"Altogether, four including Ko Thura (Zaganar) and Zaw Thet Htwe, appeared at a secret court inside Insein prison on Wednesday," said lawyer Aung Thein.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, will also visit this month.
Gambari, seeking to promote democracy in Myanmar, will be making his fourth visit since the ruling junta cracked down on monk-led protests last September.
Reuters
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