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- U.S. Report Slams Myanmar /Burma



Subject: - U.S. Report Slams Myanmar /Burma Human Rights Record

U.S. Report Slams Myanmar Human Rights Record

               Reuters
               27-FEB-99

               BANGKOK, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The United States has
               criticised Myanmar's military government for serious
human
               rights violations including torture, arbitrary detentions
and
               forced labour. 

               The U.S. State Department said in its annual report on
               Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, that the ruling
generals
               ran a "highly authoritarian military regime" which was
holding
               more than 1,000 political prisoners. 

               "The government's longstanding severe repression of human
               rights continued during the year (1998)," said the
report,
               which was released on the Internet on Saturday. 

               "Citizens continued to live subject at any time and
without
               appeal to the arbitrary and sometimes brutal dictates of
the
               military dictatorship. Citizens do not have the right to
change
               their government," it said. 

               The report said there were credible reports, particularly
in
               ethnic minority-dominated areas, that soldiers committed
               serious human rights abuses, "including extra-judicial
killings
               and rape." 

               "Disappearances continued, and members of the security
               forces beat and otherwise abused detainees," it said. 

               "Arbitrary arrests and detentions for expression of
dissenting
               political views continued with increasing frequency in an
               effort to intimidate the populace into submission in the
face
               of deepening economic and political instability," it
said. 

               The report said some 200 members of parliament elected in
               Myanmar's last democratic polls in 1990 had been detained
               since September 1998. 

               Those polls were won by a wide margin by the
               pro-democracy National League for Democracy (NLD), led
               by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, but the
               military ignored the result, saying the country was not
ready
               for democracy. 

               The reports said Myanmar was poor with an average per
               capita income of about $400, which it said was equivalent
to
               about $800 on a purchasing power parity basis. 

               Myanmar officials were unavailable for immediate comment
               on the U.S. report.