low graphics version | feedback | help
ICRC visits twelve Burmese jails
The International Committee of the Red Cross says its workers have visited twelve prisons in Burma since the military authorities allowed the resumption of visits in May.
Its top official in Burma, Leon de Rietmatten, says about twenty-thousand prisoners have been seen, including some in the main Insein jail in the capital, Rangoon.
Mr Rietmatten told the BBC that, besides those arrested for crimes, eleven of the prisons contained a total of eight-hundred people he termed security prisoners.
The Red Cross is hoping to extend its visits to labour and prison camps. Analysts say the Red Cross visits are the results of decades of work and reflect the diplomatic skills of the international charity.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
 |
 E-mail this story to a friend |
|
Links to more Asia-Pacific stories
|
Search BBC News Online |
|
|
||
|
 Advanced search options | |
| |
 | |
 | |
| |
 | BBC RADIO NEWS |
| |
| |
 | BBC ONE TV NEWS |
| |
| |
| WORLD NEWS SUMMARY |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 | PROGRAMMES GUIDE |
Links to other Asia-Pacific stories are at the foot of the page.
