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NEWS - Myanmar Opposition Questions



Subject: NEWS - Myanmar Opposition Questions Custody Death Report

Myanmar Opposition Questions Custody Death Report

               Reuters
               21-JUN-99

               BANGKOK, June 21 (Reuters) - Myanmar's main opposition
               party has questioned a report by the ruling military that
says
               alcoholism drove one of its members to commit suicide in
               custody, and has demanded a full public inquiry. 

               Earlier this month, the Yangon government said Hla Khin,
               43, a member of the National League for Democracy,
               hanged himself with his sarong in his cell at Yangon's
Insein
               Prison on May 31. 

               It said he had been undergoing treatment for alcoholism
               which brought on neurological disorders that led to the
               suicide. 

               An NLD letter to the government dated June 8 and
published
               on the Internet at the weekend questioned this version of
               events. 

               "The authorities, in announcing his death, alleged he
               indulged in alcohol which resulted in brain damage and
               suicide. This is questionable," the NLD said. 

               "He had been imprisoned for nine months. How was it
               possible for him to access liquor? If he had had that
               affliction, did the authorities take any remedial steps?
It is not
               impossible for this disease to be cured." 

               The party said shocked members of Hla Khin's family had
               been unable to provide explanations to NLD members who
               contacted them. 

               "It is very likely that they had been threatened and
               intimidated by some person or organisation," the NLD
letter
               said. "No response was obtained to questions about
whether
               the family was given permission to view the corpse or to
bury
               it." 

               The NLD letter said Hla Khin was detained in August when
               he went to observe a protest against travel restrictions
by
               NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and was charged with
               anti-state activity. It called his conviction an
unwarranted
               abuse of power. 


               "The entire responsibility for U Hla Khin's death lies
with the
               Insein prison authorities," the letter said. "The League
               demands that a full public inquiry be held into the death
and
               the circumstances surrounding the death." 

               The government spokesman did not respond to a request for
               a comment on the NLD letter. 

               The death followed an inaugural visit to the notorious
Insein
               jail by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The
               government has said Hla Khin was "sleeping" during that
               visit. 

               The NLD has said the government moved large numbers of
               political prisoners out of the jail before the ICRC
visit. The
               government said the party should prove this. 

               The United States and European Union have imposed
               sanctions on Myanmar because of its treatment of the NLD,
               which won a 1990 general election by a landslide but was
               not allowed to govern. 

               The NLD has said more than 100 of its members elected as
               members of parliament in the poll are being detained by
the
               government along with about 500 ordinary members. Since
               the election there have been several deaths in custody. 

               The military late last year stepped up suppression of the
               NLD after it demanded that a People's Parliament of
elected
               MPs be convened.