No indication Myanmar will release prisoners ahead of elections – UN rights expert
15 March 2010 – An independent United Nations human rights expert who recently visited Myanmar said today that there is no indication that the Government is willing to release political prisoners ahead of national elections scheduled for later this year.
Tomás Ojea Quintana, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, had stated prior to his 15-19 February visit that the elections should be fair and transparent, that freedom of speech, movement and association should be guaranteed in the country, and that all prisoners of conscience should be released before the polls so they can be as inclusive as possible.
“Without full participation, including by the some 2,100 prisoners of conscience, and an environment that allows people and parties to engage in the range of electoral activities, the elections cannot be credible,” he said today, as he presented his report to the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva.
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