NEWS - Envoy to Report to UN on Mya

[Rangoonp@xxxxxxx]

Subject: NEWS - Envoy to Report to UN on Myanmar Rights, Democracy

Envoy to Report to UN on Myanmar Rights, Democracy

            Reuters
            30-OCT-98

            BANGKOK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A top U.N. diplomat ended a
mission
            aimed at encouraging democracy and respect of human rights
in
            military ruled Myanmar on Friday and said a report would be
made to
            the General Assembly late next week. 

            U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Alvaro de Soto said he met
            opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and senior figures of the
ruling
            military council during his trip, which coincided with a
damning U.N.
            report on human rights abuses in Myanmar. 

            De Soto declined to detail the results of his mission on his
arrival in
            Bangkok from the Myanmar capital Yangon. 

            "The mandate the secretary general has is a good offices
mandate,
            and good offices almost by definition are conducted in a
confidential
            manner," he told Reuters. 

            His trip had been to help U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
in the
            exercise of a General Assembly mandate "to encourage
authorities in
            Myanmar to address concerns in the area of movement towards
            democracy and full respect of human rights." 

            De Soto said a report would be made to the assembly late
next week. 

            In Yangon, de Soto also met Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt,
the
            intelligence chief considered the most powerful figure in
the ruling
            council. 

            No details have been released on his talks since he arrived
in Yangon
            on Tuesday, although the government said his meeting with
Khin Nyunt
            had been "constructive and fruitful." 

            Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won Myanmar's last
            election in 1990, but was not allowed to take office. It
says the
            government has responded to its demands for a parliament by
            detaining nearly 1,000 NLD members since May. 

            Myanmar and U.N. officials have kept up a war of words in
recent
            months over human rights, in particular the treatment of Suu
Kyi's
            party. 

            On Wednesday, a U.N. investigator released a report saying
rights
            violations, ranging from torture, rape and forced labour to
the
            harassment of opposition parties, persist in Myanmar. 

            The situation had "not evolved in any favourable way" since
an earlier
            report on the matter in April, said Rajsoomer Lallah, a
member of the
            U.N. Human Rights Commission. 

            He said he remained "deeply concerned" about the harassment
of
            politicians and the large number of political prisoners. 

            Lallah said the violations, which included extrajudicial and
arbitrary
            executions, rape and forced labour, had been so numerous as
to
            suggest they were "the result of policy at the highest
level, entailing
            political and legal responsibility." 

            The government announced on Wednesday that NLD member Aung
            Min, 52, died of cancer last week while in custody. It said
it regretted
            his death at a military hospital. 

            Eight years ago, senior NLD member Maung Ko died in custody
            during a high profile visit by the U.N.'s Sadako Ogata, now
U.N. high
            commissioner for refugees, to check on rights abuses. 

            The military said Maung Ko committed suicide, but relatives
said
            bruises on his body showed he had been tortured to death. 

            Myanmar's Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw said last month the
world had
            no right to interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs when the
government
            had "chosen the path of democracy." 

            Pressure has been mounting on the generals in recent days. 

            Early this week, the European Union extended sanctions
adopted in
            1996. However, it did not ban new investment or bar firms
from
            providing services to the ruling council.