By DPA
Sydney : At least 30 pro-democracy protesters have been killed in Myanmar’s crackdown on dissent – three times the official figure, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday.
The Australian newspaper, quoting diplomatic sources, also put the death toll at 30 and said 300 Buddhist monks and 1,500 civilians had been arrested.
“We estimate many thousands have been injured, many very seriously, especially among the monks who took very heavy beatings last Wednesday and Thursday,” the unnamed diplomat told the paper.
Downer announced that earlier this year Australia had rejected Myanmar’s nomination of an army general as the Southeast Asian country’s envoy to Canberra.
“We made it clear to the Burmese that under no circumstances were we going to have somebody from their military regime as an ambassador, as a representative, here in Australia,” Downer said.
Downer said the rejection was almost unprecedented. “It’s a very rare case, and we rejected the nomination,” Downer said.
Australia, which has very little trade with Myanmar, has financial sanctions and visa restrictions in place.
Last week after Myanmar’s military junta cracked down on anti-government protesters, Downer’s department called in the acting ambassador to formally protest the human rights violations there.