"No improvement at all, and even I am not able to go there. I have not see any improvement in the country," he said at a press briefing in Bangkok. "We can say that in Myanmar [Burma] there is no basic freedom."

Pinheiro, who has not been allowed to enter Burma for two years, said opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been denied regular medical treatment.

Representatives of UN agencies and non-governmental organisations working in Burma have to be accompanied by a Burmese official, he said, adding that leaders of cease-fire groups have been given long jail terms. He cited the case of General Hso Ten, chairman of the Shan State Peace Council, who was jailed for 106 years.

The National League for Democracy, which won a landslide electoral victory in 1990, has only one office in Rangoon and needs permission from the government to have a printer.

"I think it is the only place in the world where to have a printer you have to open a procedure with the administration so that you are authorised to print paper," Pinheiro said.

It is estimated that there are 1,144 political prisoners in Burma, including students, monks, teachers, journalists and elected members of parliament, he said in his report to the UN General Assembly.

During his time in Asia Pinheiro has met foreign affairs officials, parliamentarians and activists in India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

He praised Asean for its role in attempting to facilitate political transition in Burma.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, representing the grouping, and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono could hopefully visit Burma soon, he said, adding that initiatives from many countries and agencies would be useful in working towards political reform in the country.

"We cannot have a single approach to Myanmar. What we need is coordination. It is not necessary that China, Asean members, Europe and the United States have the same approach. But they need to talk and agree the division of labour in terms of each group's role," he said. Pinheiro said he was neither for nor against sanctions. "Countries that think sanctions are a good approach to [Burma] have to articulate their views to other nations, which may not be so enthusiastic about that approach," he said.

Turning to the UN Security Council discussion on Burma, he said that, "any attention to Myanmar in the UN is a positive move".

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation