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AFP-Amnesty catalogues Myanmar's hu



Subject: AFP-Amnesty catalogues Myanmar's human rights abuses

Amnesty catalogues Myanmar's human rights abuses
LONDON, June 16 (AFP) - Human Rights watchdog Amnesty International on
Wednesday accused Myanmar's military government of a catalogue of abuses
including torture and forced labour.
In its annual report released here, Amnesty said hundreds of political
prisoners remained in jail during the past year, while hundreds more were
arrested for political reasons.

"Political prisoners were tortured and ill treated, and held in conditioins
that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatement," the report said.

"Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations,
including extra judicial executions, torture, ill treatment during forced
portering, and other forms of forced labour and forced relocations."

The report said six political prisoners were sentenced to death, but none of
the sentences was known to have been carried out so far.

Amnesty said first hand knowledge of rights violations was difficult to
collate due to strict censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression.

In its catalogue of abuses the group listed the severe limits on freedom of
movement placed on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who led her party
to a landslide election victory in 1990 which the military government has
refused to acccept.

Diplomats and observers in Myanmar say thousands of her National League for
Democracy members have been detained over the last year.

The detentions have been followed by mass resignations from the party, proof
according to the NLD of coercion by military intelligence.

The report also said there had been a lack of progress in ceasefire talks
between the government and remaining ethnic groups still fighting for
independence.

It said fighting continued between government forces and the Karen National
Union and the Karenni National Progressive Party and the Shan State Army in
the remote east of the country.

The government has been trying to arrange ceasefires with the country's
myriad ethnic groups but has been accused by some opponents of turning a
blind eye to narcotics productio in in exchange for peace.

Government officials were not immediately available to comment on the
Amnesty report.


Myanmar labours under a strict regime of sanctions imposed by mainly Western
nations protesting perceived human rights abuses.

Its human rights performance has soured relations between the European Union
and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc, which admitted Yangon
in 1997.