A United Nations human rights envoy who is evaluating progress on reform in Myanmar visited prison inmates in the country's northwest, a government official said Wednesday.
Myanmar _ ruled by the military since 1962 _ holds some 2,100 political prisoners, and many are sent to remote areas of the country. As human rights envoy, Tomas Ojea Quintana would normally meet with political prisoners, but it was not clear whom he visited this week, and he could not be reached for comment.
A government official said only that Quintana met four prisoners in the city of Sittwe on Tuesday and traveled to Buthidaung prison near the border with Bangladesh on Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, since he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Quintana's third visit to military-ruled Myanmar follows the release from almost seven years' detention of Tin Oo, the deputy leader of the pro-democracy party led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The envoy is expected to meet several key officials in the country's administrative capital, Naypyitaw, and members of the opposition. He will also visit Yangon's notorious Insein prison during his five-day trip.
Win Tin, one of the country's longest-serving former prisoners, called on Quintana to "be decisive and perform his duties in the strictest manner without falling prey to the lies of the government."
Win Tin said earlier visits made things more bearable for political prisoners.
The envoy also has requested a meeting with Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest. He was barred from seeing her on his previous visits. Suu Kyi was sentenced last year to an additional 18 months of house arrest for briefly sheltering an uninvited American, in a trial that drew global condemnation.
The U.N. envoy said last week he would press for the release of political prisoners, review progress on reform within the armed forces, and check on the revision of laws to ensure compliance with international human rights standards.
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