Tomas Ojea Quintana, an Argentine lawyer who was himself a prisoner under his nation’s military dictatorship, was speaking in the capital, Yangon, at the end of a five-day visit to Myanmar and talks with government and opposition figures.
“Of key concern to me and the international community is the continuing detention of a large number of prisoners of conscience,” he said in a statement released by the UN’s human rights office in Geneva.
He said he had told government leaders that the release of the prisoners “is a central and necessary step toward national reconciliation and would bring more benefit to Myanmar’s efforts toward democracy.”
Ojea Quintana, who reports to the UN’s 47-nation Human Rights Council in Geneva, said that during his visit — which included interviews with political detainees in a major prison — he heard disturbing testimonies of torture.
These included “the burning of body parts, including genital organs,” as well as the confining of prisoners “in cells normally used for prison dogs” and their use as porters for the military.
