Two leading Myanmar dissidents taken into custody: opposition groups News
Two leading Myanmar dissidents taken into custody: opposition groups

[JURIST] Officials in Myanmar [JURIST news archive] arrested prominent labor rights activist Suu Suu Nway [AHRC materials] Tuesday, according to a representative for the National League for Democracy-Liberated Area Myanmar in Thailand. An official speaking on condition of anonymity told AP that Nway was detained Tuesday when she attempted to post a leaflet near the hotel of visiting UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Paulo Sergio Pinheiro [official profile]. Pinheiro began his investigation Monday into the Myanmar military government's crackdown on protesters [JURIST reports].

Also Tuesday, dissidents reported that Myanmar officials have arrested protester U Gambria, the pseudonym for one of the leaders of the All Burma Monks Alliance, who authored an article [text] published in the Washington Post November 4. It is unclear when exactly U Gambria was detained. The military crackdown on protests started in September when Myanmar security officers arrested hundreds of Buddhist monks demonstrating against rising fuel prices and human rights abuses by the military regime. Protests only subsided when junta troops effectively locked down Myanmar's major cities. According to government reports, at least 10 people were killed when government soldiers shot into protesting crowds [JURIST report]. The government has said that some 3,000 people were arrested for participating in the protests. AP has more.