UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Myanmar has given the green light for a visit by the UN special rapporteur on human rights, UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said Monday.
She told a press briefing that Myanmar's foreign ministry suggested that the rapporteur, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, pay the visit before the summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) scheduled to begin in Singapore in the second half of November.
The Geneva-based Human Rights Council's independent human rights expert or Special Rapporteur on Myanmar had been refused permission to visit the country since 2003.
On October 9, the president of the UN Human Rights Council, wrote to Myanmar's UN envoy in Geneva to urge the military regime to let Pinheiro in, in line with a resolution adopted the previous week.
The 47-member Council then condemned Myanmar's crackdown on peaceful protests and said Pinheiro should travel there as soon as possible "to assess the current human rights situation."
Meanwhile UN chief Ban Ki-moon's special envoy on Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari said last week he planned to return to the troubled southeast Asian country some time next month.
Gambari, currently on a six-nation tour of Asia aimed at increasing the pressure on Yangon's ruling generals, visited Myanmar last month to convey international outrage over the regime's violent suppression of anti-government rallies led by Buddhist monks that left at least 13 people dead.
And US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters that Washington was working with Ban, China, India, ASEAN and European allies to "get Mr Gambari into Burma as soon as possible."
"It's urgent that Mr Gambari be allowed to come into Burma, to facilitate in the reconciliation that is necessary and in the transition to a new order that's necessary for Burma (Myanmar) to become a normal state," he noted.
"We are calling on all those with influence to redouble their efforts to get Mr Gambari there as quickly as possible. The Burmese have said he can come but at a later date in November. We would like to see that happen as soon as possible," Khalilzad added.
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