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And it continues. Or is the people telling the world alie?
Myanmar guards accused of detainee abuse 1 hour, 40 minutes ago
YANGON, Myanmar - Guards at Myanmar's detention centers beat, kicked and slashed protesters rounded up during the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations, sometimes leaving their victims to die of their injuries, a dissident group said Thursday.
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At the United Nations, meanwhile, the Security Council said it "strongly deplores" the violent crackdown by Myanmar's military rulers and called for a "genuine dialogue" between the government and the pro-democracy opposition.
At least a dozen freed prisoners described brutal treatment at detention centers, including one who said "dozens" of detainees were killed, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based short-wave radio station and Web site run by dissident journalists.
Myanmar's repressive military junta has said 10 people were killed and nearly 2,100 arrested in last month's demonstrations, with 700 later released. Diplomats and dissidents say the death toll is likely much higher and up to 6,000 people were seized.
The government has long rejected allegations of torture of political prisoners. The accounts released Thursday included fresh accusations that the military rulers brutalize prisoners as a way of crushing dissent.
"They beat everyone, including women and girls," the dissident group quoted an unidentified female detainee as saying. "I was beaten myself. Monks were targeted and they were not only beaten but also verbally abused by security officers."
"I heard people shouting and crying from the interrogation room and then I saw an army medical surgeon carrying people away," said the woman. The group said she was held at the Government Technical Institute detention center in Yangon for five days.
There was no way to independently confirm the reports attributed to freed prisoners.
The Democratic Voice of Burma also reported Thursday that a 48-year-old detainee, U Than Aung, died at a detention center in Yangon. Detained Sept. 27, he suffered severe internal injuries from beatings and died three days later after being denied medical attention, the group said.
The group also released video of an unidentified man who said "dozens" of detainees died. Another man was quoted as saying he saw two people die from severe beatings at Yangon City Hall. Authorities failed to give a boy medical treatment for a gunshot wound and even refused to let him drink water from a toilet before he died, the man was quoted as saying.
Human rights groups have long accused the military government of abuse and torture of prisoners. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, comprised of around 100 former inmates, has put out a report describing homosexual rape, electric shocks to the genitals, near drowning, burning with hot wax and other abuse.
The embattled junta on Thursday accused Western powers and foreign media of inciting the protests.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece of the ruling junta, dismissed pro-democracy protesters as "stooges of foreign countries putting on a play written by their foreign masters" in an attempt to discredit the anti-government movement.
The paper singled out "big powers" and radio stations — the British Broadcasting Corp., Voice of America and Radio Free Asia — as behind the demonstrations.
A compromise statement approved Thursday by all 15 U.N. Security Council members — including close Myanmar ally China — emphasized "the importance of the early release of all political prisoners and remaining detainees."
The United States, Britain and France proposed a stronger text that would have condemned the violence and called for the immediate release of the political prisoners and detainees, singling out the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But the text was watered down to get approval from China.
The council statement was read at a formal meeting shortly after the U.N. announced that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was sending his special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, back to the region next week for consultations with key governments on international efforts to promote talks between the government and the opposition.
The United States and other countries have pushed for international sanctions, but China said that only a more conciliatory approach would work.
"We believe that the situation there is relaxing and turning in a positive direction," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. "The international community should help in a constructive way to help Myanmar to realize stability, reconciliation, democracy and development."
Authorities, meanwhile, continued their hunt for dissidents and their supporters.
A popular Myanmar actor and social activist, Kyaw Thu, and his wife, Myint Myint Pe Khin, were arrested Wednesday, relatives said Thursday. Kyaw Thu had openly supported the protest and set up a support committee offering food, water and medical treatment to the monks who participated.
Kyaw Thu went into hiding when his colleague, Zarganar, a comedian known for his anti-government jibes, was arrested Sept. 26. It was not known what happened to them.
The ruling council's top leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, has offered to meet opposition leader Suu Kyi on condition she reject calls for sanctions. Her party — the National League for Democracy — also has called for dialogue.
A series of groups have come out in recent days calling for moves against the regime.
Human Rights Watch urged the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the country. India, China, Russia and other nations are supplying Myanmar with weapons the military uses to commit human rights abuses and to bolster its power, the group said.
The Jewelers of America, meanwhile, sent letters to the U.S. Congress to expand a ban on imports from Myanmar to include gemstones mined in the country. Myanmar exports at least $60 million a year worth of gems, including rubies, sapphires, pearls and jade.
Myanmar guards accused of detainee abuse - Yahoo! News
