By DPA
Yangon : United Nations’ Special Rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro Monday investigated claims that the ruling junta last September beat up, killed and burned the bodies of Buddhist monks and their followers in temples, prisons and crematoriums in Yangon.
UN human rights expert Pinheiro, who arrived in Yangon Sunday four years since he last visited the country in 2003, has been on the move since his plane touched down, sources said.
Sunday, he visited pro-government Kya Khat Waing Buddhist Monastery in Bago, 80 km northeast of Yangon, before returning to the city to visit the Shwedagon Pagoda, where the peaceful monk-led marches were organised in September.
With the government unleashing its forces on monks and their laymen followers, beating and shooting them into submission, the protests ended Sep 26-27.
The crackdown on monks for conducting peaceful protests in a predominantly Buddhist country shocked the world and brought Myanmar’s military back into international condemnation.
Though the government claimed that only 10 people died in the crackdown, other sources claim that the death toll was closer to 200. Up to 3,000 people were arrested during and after the crackdown.
One of Pinheiro’s tasks is to verify the number of deaths and detentions, in a country that is notorious for hiding the truth.
Monday, Pinheiro visited monasteries that were more closely involved in the so-called “saffron revolution”. He also visited Kabaraye, the seat of Myanmar’s Sangha, or the Buddhist hierarchy.
Pinheiro held talks with the 47-man Sangha, the outcome of which was not disclosed.
On Monday afternoon he visited Yangon’s Insein Jail and the Government Technical Institute, where hundreds of people were detained in the aftermath of the September crackdown.
He is expected to leave Yangon Tuesday morning for capital Naypyidaw to meet with ministers and representatives of the junta.
“Pinheiro very much welcomed his return to Myanmar, in the context of the mandate entrusted to him by the United Nations Human Rights Council,” said a UN statement released Sunday night.
Pinheiro’s visit follows fast on the heels of UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who was in Myanmar Nov 3-8 and met 1991 Nobel peace laureate Aung Sang Suu Kyi.
There is still great skepticism that the military, which has ruled Myanmar for the past 45 years, has any real intention of sharing power with civilian politicians in the near future.
Although Suu Kyi’s party won the 1990 election by a landslide, the military has denied it any power for the past 17 years.