BBC Burmese News Tuesday Evening

	UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro

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UN’s human rights rapporteur said Burma underestimating dead and detained

A United Nations investigator will present evidence later today that Burma’s military rulers have not told the truth about the number of people who died and were detained during the suppression of anti-government protests in September.

The UN’s human rights rapporteur, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, is presenting his long-awaited findings to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday.

He told the BBC that at least thirty-one people died — not fifteen as Burma’s military leaders suggest — and that up to one thousand people are still being detained.

Mr Pinheiro says he wants an unconditional amnesty for all those held, and an independent investigation into what he said were killings, beatings, hostage-taking and torture.

His report follows his recent visit to Burma — the first time for four years that he was allowed in.

Also in the news

-According to Ko Tate Naing, the secretary of AAPP (Burma), 22 people died, all are men including 2 monks.

-U Min Htet interviewed the mother of The Monks Alliance spokesperson Sayadaw U Gambira.

– U Min Htet also interviewed one of the Ba-Ka-Tha student leaders in hiding, Ko Kyaw Ko Ko on the set-up of Students’ Rights Committee.

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US navy monitoring hijacked ship

	Piracy is a major problem for shipping off Somalia

United States navy officials based in Bahrain say they’re closely monitoring a hijacked tanker off the Somali port of Bossaso.

US navy ships have surrounded the vessel — the Golden Nori — to prevent the pirates from receiving supplies.

Officials told the BBC that the ship is carrying potentially dangerous chemicals.

The US navy says it’ll allow the pirates to leave the ship, and take no further action, so long as the pirates take nothing from it.

The Golden Nori, carrying crew from Burma, the Philippines and South Korea, was seized in late October off the east coast of Somalia.

The Golden Nori was sailing from Singapore to Israel when pirates seized it in October.

There have been reports that pirates asked for a ransom of one million dollars.