Pinheiro Determines Death Toll in Burma Crackdown

A UN investigator said Friday his five-day mission to Burma enabled him to determine the numbers of people killed and detained in the government's September crackdown on protesters, but that he would not immediately reveal details.

UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said he would report the figures only after drafting a formal report on his trip. He said he would present his findings to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on December 11.

"I'm compiling the documents. In two weeks I will have this number," Pinheiro told reporters in Bangkok, where he flew Thursday from Burma.

Burma's military government has said 10 people were killed when troops opened fire on crowds of peaceful protesters September 26-27. Diplomats and dissidents, however, say the death toll was much higher.

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 five-day stay, he was allowed to meet with several prominent political prisoners at Rangoon's infamous Insein Prison and said the authorities had given him a list of all detainees and their condition.

"They offered good cooperation. I had access to most of the authorities I requested. I was able to interview some prisoners," he said.

Pinheiro's trip was dominated by meetings with junta officials, and he conceded that it could not be described as a fully fledged fact-finding mission because he mostly received the government's perspective.

The regime 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," Pinheiro said in Yangon on Thursday.

He said he had requested a meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, but it had not been granted by the government. He noted, however, that UN special envoy for Burma Ibrahim Gambari, who visited a week earlier, had been allowed to meet Suu Kyi.

Before leaving Burma on Thursday, Pinheiro met with jailed labor activist Su Su Nway at Insein Prison. On the run for more than two months, the prominent activist was arrested Tuesday as she tried to place a leaflet near a Rangoon hotel where Pinheiro was staying, said exiled burmese dissidents in Thailand.

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

Pinheiro had also visited Insein Prison on Monday, but was only given access to officials.

Insein has held numerous political prisoners over the years. Many former inmates describe torture, abysmal conditions and long stretches in solitary confinement.

U Gambira, a Buddhist monk who helped spearhead the pro-democracy demonstrations in Yangon, was arrested several days ago, said Stanley Aung of the Thailand-based dissident group National League for Democracy-Liberated Area.

Pinheiro said he did not get to meet with U Gambira.