A United Nations special envoy Mr Tomas Ojea Quintana said The Rohingya, who aren’t in this category, are estimated to number about 700,000

Tomas Ojea Quintana pushed for greater human rights, but said he 'deeply regretted' not being allowed to see the world-famous detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, during his five-day visit, which ended Friday.

Bangkok, Thailand


A United Nations special envoy to military-ruled Burma (Myanmar) ended a five-day visit Friday to monitor human rights there without being allowed to meet its most famous political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Tomas Ojea Quintana said he “deeply regretted” not being allowed to see the detained opposition leader. He also said the junta had given him no indication on the timing or framework of parliamentary elections that it plans to hold this year, the first since a 1990 poll won by Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and annulled by the military.




Observers swiftly criticized the snub of a UN envoy, the first to visit since two senior US diplomats traveled there in November. The US mission was part of a shift by the Obama administration towards engagement with Burma after decades of sanctions and arms-length diplomacy.



But human rights activists and Western diplomats argue that Mr. Quintana wasn’t expected to wrest major political concessions from the prickly junta. Instead, he went to meet prisoners of conscience, whose ranks swelled after a violent 2007 suppression of Buddhist monk-led protests.



On the eve of his visit, Tin Oo, a senior NLD leader, was released after seven years of house arrest, an apparent sop to the UN visit. However, the NLD has argued that any elections won’t be credible unless the junta releases Suu Kyi and more than 2,100 other political detainees and restores freedom of speech and assembly.



In addition, Quintana also tried to shine a spotlight on human rights in Burma’s ethnic minority areas, which have been largely overshadowed by the international focus on Suu Kyi. He traveled to Rakhine in western Burma to investigate the treatment of detainees held there, including minorities. Rakhine is home to the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, whom Burma doesn’t recognize as citizens, leaving them effectively stateless.



Getting access to Rakhine “is a bit of a coup because [Quintana] has requested access before and been denied,” says Benjamin Zawacki, a researcher in Bangkok for Amnesty International. “It’s a high-value visit.”

The Argentine diplomat has previously raised the issue of the Rohingya at the UN Human Rights Council. He is due to address the council again in March. Activists say a firsthand report should strengthen the UN’s hand in advocating for increased protection for this and other ethnicities in Burma, where about one-third of the roughly 50 million population belong to 135 recognized minorities.



The Rohingya, who aren’t in this category, are estimated to number about 700,000, though no reliable census exists. Over the past two decades, many have sought sanctuary across the border in neighboring Bangladesh and in other parts of Southeast Asia.



On Thursday, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, said thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh faced sickness and even starvation after being driven out of their homes in recent months. Most have moved to slums on the outskirts of UN-run refugee camps but aren’t eligible for food aid and run the risk of being forced back to Burma, the medical charity said.



Paul Critchley, MSF chief in Bangladesh, said more than 6,000 refugees had arrived since October at an unofficial camp of nearly 30,000 where the charity runs a clinic. Many reported harassment and beatings by security forces and neighbors, part of an apparent political campaign against an estimated 200,000 Rohingya who live illegally in Bangladesh.



The abuses meted out to refugees included being pushed into a river separating the two countries and told to swim back to Burma, say MSF officials. Those who make it to the camps have no means of making a living, and women who go outside to collect firewood have been raped.



“The only thing that they can legally do in Bangladesh is starve. This is not acceptable,” Mr. Critchley told a press conference in Bangkok.



Last year Thailand’s military was accused of forcing hundreds of Rohingya boatpeople back out to sea after they arrived from Bangladesh and Burma. Some later drowned or were rescued in neighboring countries.

This crackdown led to a drop in sailings, says Chris Lewa, who runs The Arakan Project, a human rights group focused on Rohingya. But the renewed harassment in Bangladesh is spurring more refugees to consider fleeing by boat, despite the hazardous journey and risk of reprisals.

Ms. Lewa says the anti-Rohingya campaign seems aimed at deterring new arrivals from Burma. But the upcoming election could be the trigger for another exodus, if the tensions aren’t handled properly by authorities.

“There is mounting tension that could develop into communal violence,” she warns.

Quintana Says "Under These Current Conditions Elections in Myanmar Cannot Be Considered Credible."

The U.N. expert on human rights in Myanmar says a law banning political prisoners from taking part in elections undermines the country's upcoming national vote.


Tomas Ojea Quintana says the law prevents people he called "prisoners of conscience" _ such as detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi _ from even being members of parties that are registered for the May 6 ballot.

Quintana says "under these current conditions elections in Myanmar cannot be considered credible."

In a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, he also called on Myanmar to investigate and punish alleged crimes against humanity in the country.

Myanmar's ambassador in Geneva, U Wunna Maung Lwin, condemned the report and accused Quintana of being "confrontational."

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United Nations strongly condemns and rejects To Myanmar

CRIPDO-Geneva: Gross and systematic human rights violations by Myanmar may constitute crimes against humanity, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the country said.


"My assessment is that some of these human rights violations may entail crimes against humanity," Tomas Ojea Quintana told reporters yesterday following the presentation of his interim report to the UN Human Rights Council.

"This possibility imposes the duty to the government of Myanmar and the international community to address the question of accountability," he said.

In his report, Quintana highlighted specific issues that need to be addressed by Myanmar, where he wrote "there is a pattern of gross and systematic violation of human rights which has been in place for many years and still continues."

Voicing his concern over the new electoral law, which bars the country's 2,100 or so prisoners to vote conscience in the planned next year polls he said "... these conditions elections in Myanmar cannot be considered credible."

The elections are part of a seven-step plan, agreed by Myanmar, toward a transition to democracy.

Quintana said, "This is now the time for them (Myanmar government) to take action" on investigating possible crimes against humanity or it will be "too late".

Myanmar has been ruled by the military in various forms since 1962. The last elections were held in 1990, but the junta never honoured the result.

U.N. Investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana has just returned from his third mission to Burma since assuming his post in 2008. Quintana spent four days there in mid-February. He says the duration allowed for the mission was too short and the access limited.




The U.N. special investigator on human rights is accusing the Burmese government of systematic and gross violations. The investigator, who has just submitted his report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, says some of these violations might entail crimes against humanity.



U.N. Investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana has just returned from his third mission to Burma since assuming his post in 2008. Quintana spent four days there in mid-February. He says the duration allowed for the mission was too short and the access limited.



Nonetheless, he says he was able to visit three prisons and hold wide-ranging interviews with 15 prisoners. He says he met with authorities and representatives from political parties and ethnic minorities among others.



Despite claims to the contrary, he says he does not believe the Burmese government is enacting the reforms needed towards the building of democratic institutions.



He says a newly enacted law strips the right of prisoners of conscience to participate in upcoming elections this year.



"There is no indication that prisoners of conscience will be released and that freedom of expression, assembly and association will be granted. My assessment is that under these current conditions, elections in Myanmar cannot be considered credible," he said.







AP

Supporters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi hold portraits of the detained leader in Rangoon, Burma (File)

Quintana says there are some 2100 prisoners of conscience, including pro-democracy leader and Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for many years.



He says he regrets that his special request to meet Suu Kyi was rejected.



"Of course, I think that she is a prisoner of conscience," said Quintana. "She also as Secretary-General of an important party in the country, she plays an important role.…Since she is a prisoner of conscience, which means she has been convicted by a court, according to this law, she will not be allowed even to be a member of the party, a party which may or not participate in the elections," he said.



Quintana reiterates his call for Aung San Suu Kyi's immediate release.



The U.N. investigator denounces the Burmese government's treatment of the Muslim population in northern Rakhine state. He says an estimated one million people are excluded from citizenship on the basis of their ethnicity and are considered illegal immigrants.



He says they suffer from discrimination and are denied their basic rights.



He says the government must be held accountable for past violations. He is calling for an international commission of inquiry to look into serious cases of abuse, which he says may entail crimes against humanity.



The Burmese representative at the United Nations strongly condemns and rejects, what he calls unfounded allegations. He says the U.N. investigator's report is based on disinformation coming from unverifiable and unreliable sources.