Toll disputed in Myanmar protests

Myanmar’s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators killed more than twice as many people as the military government has acknowledged, a U.N. investigator said Friday, citing at least 31 dead.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the United Nations human rights expert assigned to Myanmar, said he had documented 16 people killed in the September crackdown, aside from the 15 dead reported by the government. Like others, however, he said the actual death toll probably was much higher.

“Several reports of killings indicate that the figure provided by the authorities may greatly underestimate the reality,” he said.

“There are a number of incidents where no names were reported but where there were allegations of groups of people reportedly killed,” Pinheiro said in a report released Friday by the U.N.

Pinheiro, who visited Myanmar Nov. 11-15, said “credible sources” reported a large number of bodies wrapped in plastic and rice bags that were burned in the final days of September. The burning took place at the Ye Way crematory in Yangon, the country’s principal city, also known as Rangoon. Authorities blocked Pinheiro from visiting there.

“Sources indicate that it was not usual practice for the crematory to operate during the hours in question, that normal employees were instructed to keep away, and that the facility was operated on those nights by state security personnel or state-supported groups,” Pinheiro said.

At least one report indicated that some of those cremated had shaved heads, indicating that they were Buddhist monks, and some had signs of serious injuries.

Also Friday, Human Rights Watch said the military killed far more people than it has acknowledged. The New York-based group said in a report that it had documented the deaths of 20 protesters, but believes that many more monks, students and other civilians were killed.

The government had said that 10 people died during the nationwide suppression of demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, who were protesting continued military rule of the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma.

Pinheiro said the report lists the names of “653 persons detained, 74 persons disappeared and 16 killed -- in addition to the list of 15 dead provided by the authorities.”