January 31, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's crackdown deadlier than junta admits: HRW
About 100 people were killed when Myanmar's military government quashed
anti-government protests in September, far higher than the 15 dead
re****ted by the junta, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
Several hundred people are still believed to be jailed over the protests,
in addition to the 1,100 political prisoners already locked away in
Myanmar, the New York-based group said in its annual re****t.
The protests led by Buddhist monks were the biggest challenge to military
rule in nearly two decades.
Outrage over the crackdown prompted Myanmar to allow UN special envoy
Ibrahim Gambari to make two visits to the country, where he was allowed to
meet with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and senior
military leaders.
But the re****t said the junta "made no concessions to international
condemnation... condemning foreign interference in Burma, and blaming
unrest on foreign media re****ts and exile radio broadcasts inciting
protests."
Meanwhile, the military government has continued to commit gross rights
abuses across the country, the re****t said.
The military actively recruits child soldiers, sometimes as young as 10,
who make up 30 percent of new recruits in some camps, it said.
Rape, forced labour, summary executions and land grabs remain widespread
in ethnic minority regions were rebel armies have fought the junta for
decades in one of the world's longest-running civil wars, the group said.
The army continues to force villagers to act as human mine sweepers in
border areas, where 500,000 people have been displaced by fighting, it
added.
Despite international condemnation, the re****t noted the junta's revenues
are booming from natural gas ex****ts, mainly to Asian countries. The
regime earned 2.16 billion dollars last year from two gas fields, it said.
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