AP

Posted: 2007-11-15 11:27:57

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A U.N. human rights investigator said he is pleased that Myanmar’s ruling junta has released many people detained in pro-democracy protests, but is concerned about those still being held, including some he met Thursday in the country’s most notorious prison.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro went to Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, where he spent about 1 1/2 hours talking with several detainees, he told reporters at Yangon’s airport before departing for Thailand.

He said they included labor activist Su Su Nway, who was arrested Tuesday, and 78-year-old writer Win Tin, a top executive of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party who has been imprisoned since 1989.

He also met Min Zeya and other members of the 88 Generation Students group, which has been especially bold in carrying out nonviolent anti-government protests over the past year.

Almost all of the group’s leaders are in jail. Their modest August demonstration to protest fuel price hikes was the spark that led to September’s mass pro-democracy protests, which were violently suppressed by the military.

Pinheiro did not reveal the details of his conversations, which he described to reporters in Bangkok, Thailand, as “very useful.”

He was sent by the U.N. to investigate allegations of widespread abuse in connection with the bloody crackdown.

He said the purpose of his visit was to give the U.N. Human Rights Council an “honest, independent and objective but complex picture” of the protests and the government’s response to them. It was the first trip the junta has allowed him to make to the country in four years.

He told reporters that he had requested a meeting with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, but it had not been granted by the country’s ruling junta.

Pinheiro said he was satisfied with the cooperation he had received from the government, and was glad that the authorities provided him with a list of all detainees and their condition.

One of Pinheiro’s goals was to determine the number of people detained and killed by the regime during the recent unrest.

The military government said 10 people were killed when troops opened fire on crowds of peaceful protesters Sept. 26 and 27. Diplomats and dissidents, however, say the death toll was much higher.

The government has acknowledged detaining nearly 3,000 people 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.

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

Pinheiro expressed particular sympathy for Win Tin, who is believed to be the country’s longest-serving political prisoner. He said it was his fourth prison meeting with him.

“Win Tin is always in high spirits. His health is OK. Of course, prison for a person of 78 years is hell,” Pinheiro said. “To stay 18 years in prison is almost a life sentence.”

He said Win Tin was unable to write poetry because he has no paper or pen, and that he would ask the authorities to provide him with such materials.

“I am very sad that poets cannot write poems,” Pinheiro said.

Insein has held numerous political prisoners over the years. Many former inmates describe torture, abysmal conditions and long stretches in solitary confinement. Pinheiro said he believes prisoners in Insein need access to medical care, although he did not elaborate.

Despite worldwide criticism, the junta continued its crackdown on dissidents during Pinheiro’s visit.

The latest to be nabbed were three people handing out anti-government pamphlets Wednesday at a fruit and vegetable market in Yangon, witnesses said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they feared government reprisals.

Su Su Nway, a prominent activist who had been on the run for more than two months, was arrested Tuesday in Yangon as she tried to place a leaflet near a hotel where Pinheiro was staying.

Pinheiro said he had requested information about U Gambira, a Buddhist monk who helped spearhead the demonstrations in Yangon and was arrested several days ago, but had not yet received a response.

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

Associated Press writer Rungrawee C. Pinyorat in Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report.