JURIST - Paper Chase: Myanmar still detaining 1,100 political prisoners, UN investigator reports

[JURIST] More than 1,100 political prisoners continue to be held by the military government in Myanmar [Wikipedia backgrounder], despite pledges by the government to release dissidents as part of democratic reforms, the UN Special Rapporteur to Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro [official website] reported Wednesday to the UN General Assembly [official website]. Pinheiro, who has been barred from the country since 2003 but said his report was based on independent sources, said the immediate release of the remaining prisoners would show the world that the government was serious about reforms. The government previously released several hundred prisoners [JURIST report], but many others, including Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi [advocacy website; Wikipedia profile], remain in detention. US and British diplomats have said they will attempt to bring abuses in Myanmar to the UN Security Council agenda after previously being blocked by Russia. Reuters has more.

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