U.N. Burma Fact-finder to Speak at Brown University

Source: Rhode Island News

Paulo SÉrgio Pinheiro, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights, said he is hopeful that crisis in Burma (called Myanmar by the country’s ruling generals) will open the door to change, but he stressed that no change can happen without the involvement of all political parties.

The international visibility that the crackdown created, including widely disseminated images of troops opening fire on monks and students, “will be very difficult to forget,” said Pinheiro, the Cogut visiting professor at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies.

“The revulsion by the world to what has happened in the country was enormous. We need to take advantage of this attention of the world towards Myanmar,” he said during an interview Friday at the Watson Institute.

Pinheiro will present his findings on Dec. 11 before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. He said the report will focus strictly on the current crisis, “the origins, the protests, the march, the repression, the consequences, and some recommendations.”

For the full report, please follow this link: http://www.projo.com/news/content/BURMA_ENVOY_26_11-26-07_DI7VVNF_v29.238e988.html