SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR TO VISIT COUNTRY FROM 3 TO 8 NOVEMBER 2003

31 October 2003


Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation in Myanmar, will visit the country at the invitation of the Government from 3 to 8 November 2003.

During his visit, the Special Rapporteur will take stock of human rights developments since his previous mission in March 2003, and follow-up on key issues he had previously looked at, including the situation of political prisoners, the exercise of basic political freedoms and civil rights, developments in the area of administration of justice, and the possibility for an independent assessment of allegations of human rights violations in Shan State that fall under his mandate.

The Special Rapporteur will present preliminary observations from his visit, together with an interim report from last July, at the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly on 12 November 2003.