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Published on October 3, 2007

 Top human rights officials have attacked Burma's crackdown on peaceful protests at a special UN rights council session on the unrest.

The European Union has tabled a resolution urging the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to "strongly condemn the continued violent repression of peaceful demonstrations in Myanmar [Burma]."

It also calls for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

However, China and non-aligned members of the council could oppose the resolution, stressing the need for dialogue with Burma's military rulers.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour said Burma's leaders must not be allowed to escape international scrutiny.

"The shocking response... [is] only the most recent manifestation of the repression of fundamental rights and freedoms that has taken place for nearly 20 years in Myanmar," she said.

"The Myanmar authorities should no longer expect that the self-imposed isolation will shield them from accountability.

"As the protesters become invisible, our concern only increases," Arbour warned.

Protests erupted in mid-August after a massive hike in the price of fuel, but escalated two weeks ago when Buddhist monks emerged to lead the movement and drew up to 100,000 people onto the streets.

The street protests have abated in recent days following last week's bloody clashes, but UN and regime officials said that over 1,000 people remain detained at a campus in Rangoon. But dissidents say as many as 6,000 may have been detained.

Amnesty International welcomed the council's session but insisted the members must hold their nerve and strongly condemn the crackdown.

"We're concerned by certain governments, the Russians and others, [seeking] to water down the resolution," said Judit Arenas, an Amnesty official.

"Now is not the time for consensus building," she added.

The UN's special rapporteur for Burma also condemned the crackdown on demonstrators and the fate of those detained by the security forces.

"We are deeply concerned by the fate of thousands of peaceful demonstrators who have been arrested," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told the session.

"The failure of the international community to prevent the massacre following the 1988 people's uprising causing the death of over 3,000 protestors must not be repeated," he warned.

Burma has been the focus of a flurry of diplomatic activity since a government crackdown on anti-regime protests turned bloody last week. Officially at least 13 people were killed, but dissident groups put the toll yesterday at about 200.

UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari met Burma's junta leader Than Shwe in the nation's new capital, as the military regime insisted it was not to blame for the crackdown.

China, a key trading power and importer of gas from Burma, has refused to take sides in the unrest so far, and premier Wen Jiabao called on "all parties" to exercise restraint and seek stability "through peaceful means".

Trade between China and Burma rose nearly 50 per cent in the first eight months this year to US$1.08 billion (Bt37 billion), according to official Chinese data.

Amnesty International has urged the UN Security Council to impose an immediate arms embargo on Burma, saying that China was its main source of weapons.

Agence France-Presse,

The Nation

GENEVA