Group Notes Torture Risk in Myanmar

Torture has become institutionalized in Myanmar as a means of instilling fear in critics of the military government, Amnesty International said in a report released Tuesday.

The report from the London-based human rights group said an estimated 1,700 political prisoners in Myanmar, formerly Burma, are at high risk of torture and beatings.

“Torture and ill treatment of political prisoners and ethnic minorities in Myanmar are commonplace,” Amnesty said.

The report came as two days of meetings ended in Laos between top officials from the European Union and the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations. The meeting was dominated by discussion of the human rights situation in Myanmar.

The two groups had not met in three years--a delay caused by differences over Myanmar.

Foreign Minister Win Aung said Tuesday that an EU team would be allowed to visit Myanmar in January and meet with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Win Aung said the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate, who has been under virtual house arrest, would be released at “an appropriate time.”