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Myanmar military killed at least 31 in protests: UN

Myanmar's military killed at least 31 people during a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators -- more than double the amount acknowledged by authorities, a UN investigator said.

But Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN human rights expert assigned to the country, said the death toll was probably much higher than 31 because they were just the victims whose names were known.

"Several reports of killings indicate that the figure provided by the authorities may greatly underestimate the reality," he said on Friday.

He gave authorities a list of 16 people killed in the military junta's September crackdown on top of the 15 dead he said the authorities had already acknowledged.

The new list "contains only those incidents where the names of the people involved are cited," Pinheiro said in a 31-page report released by the UN on Friday.

"There are a number of incidents where no names were reported but where there were allegations of groups of people reportedly killed, which have also been shared," he said.

Pinheiro, who visited the country from Nov. 11 to Nov. 15, said the report has a "list of names of 653 persons detained, 74 persons disappeared and 16 killed -- in addition to the list of 15 dead provided by the authorities."

His report includes details of a visit to the Htain Bin crematorium, where authorities said 14 corpses were transferred from the Yangon General Hospital.

The bodies were registered and cremated, but three of the dead could not be identified. Eleven of those cremated died as a result of firearm wounds.

Pinheiro also said he received "credible reports" from a monk detained between Sept. 27 and Oct. 5 that at least 14 individuals died in custody.

Pinheiro said he heard that Win Shwe, a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy movement, died during questioning in Plate Myot Police Center, near Mandalay, on Oct. 9.

His body was not returned to his family, Pinheiro said.

U Thilavantha, the deputy abbot of the Yuzana Kyaungthai monastery in Myitkyina, was allegedly beaten to death in detention on Sept. 26, Pinheiro said.

He added that ``credible sources'' reported a large number of bodies wrapped in plastic and rice bags that were burned in the early hours of the last days of September. The burning took place at the Ye Way crematorium in Yangon, he said. Authorities blocked Pinheiro from visiting.
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