Paulo Sergio Pinheiro to visit Burma

DVB ( 31 October 2003 )

The UN Special Human Rights envoy to Burma, Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro is arriving in Rangoon either late 30 October or early 31 October.

A news circle in Rangoon told DVB that Mr. Pinheiro is expected to stay there until 8 November and meet opposition leaders including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, military and ethnic national leaders.

He is starting his official duties on 3 November and expected to inspect prisons around the capital Rangoon. He is still negotiating how and when to see opposition groups and the authorities have agreed to let him meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

During this trip, Mr. Pinheiro is going to start his original mission, the investigation into the rapes of 600 Shan women by Burmese soldiers widely known among Burmese circles as ‘license to rape’. But it is not known how he is going to handle Dipeyin incident which occurred not long ago.

In his last trip, Mr. Pinheiro stormed out of Burma in a fury after the authorities listened in on and recorded his ‘private’ interviews with political prisoners. They promised him that he would be allowed to talk to prisoners without interference from them and their intrusive eye, the military intelligence (MI).