UN Investigator Says Number of Political Prisoners in Myanmar Larger than Government Says

Source: Associated Press via International Herald Tribune

A U.N. human rights investigator who recently returned from Myanmar said he believes there are more political prisoners detained in the country than the government says, although he would not estimate how many.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro visited Myanmar for five days this month to look into allegations of abuse by the ruling military junta and to determine how many people were killed or detained in the September crackdown on a series of pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks.

"I don't think this number corresponds to reality," Pinheiro told an audience at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies, where he is a visiting professor. "Ninety three is too low. I think it's a larger number of people continuing in detention."

For the full report, please follow this link: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/28/america/NA-GEN-US-UN-Myanmar.php