US embassy cable - 03RANGOON1432

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 001432 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR OASIA JEFF NEIL 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, BM, NLD 
SUBJECT: PINHEIRO'S DOWNBEAT DEPARTURE 
 
REF: RANGOON 1431 
 
Classified By: COM CARMEN M. MARTINEZ for Reasons 1.5 (B,D) 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Pinheiro gave a downbeat assessment to the 
diplomatic corps of his visit this week to Burma. He repeated 
most of his themes from his November 6 meeting at the COM's 
residence (reftel), and he was obviously restraining himself 
from showing his true level of frustration with the regime. 
Pinheiro privately told the COM that he will give a much 
harsher critique of his visit when he reaches Bangkok.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C) Regarding the SPDC's total failure to grant any of his 
goals on this visit, UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission 
on Human Rights, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, very carefully 
announced to the well represented Rangoon diplomatic corps 
that the SPDC "did not refuse" his six appeals.  He related 
how he told the SPDC that they cannot count on his seal of 
approval in the UN without including civil and political 
rights in their roadmap process, and that his credibility 
will disappear unless they make significant prisoner 
releases.  Pinheiro said he had warned the SPDC that he will 
have to pursue his Shan rapes investigation externally if 
they don't cooperate with him, and that it will be the SPDC's 
fault if it happens that way. 
 
3.  (C) Pinheiro confirmed that 136 NLD members had been 
arrested since May 30, and that of those 101 had been 
released and 35 were still being held.  He also confirmed 
that Aung San Suu Kyi was not being held under any provision 
of the security laws, though inexplicably the eight elderly 
CEC members are. 
 
4.  (C) Regarding the roadmap, Pinheiro said he'd told the 
SPDC he is not a facilitator for the political process, but 
the authorities can't have political success without the 
inclusion of basic political freedoms.  After all of his 
meetings with the SPDC and Government ministers, he concluded 
that for the SPDC, the 1990 elections "are completely off the 
radar."  Though Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt told 
Pinheiro that the NLD can join in one of the eight groups of 
"farmer's," "worker's," and "politician's" delegates that 
will participate in the National Convention, Pinheiro told 
the diplomats that there is apparently no inclusion of the 
NLD in the process. 
 
5.  (C)  Finally, Pinheiro announced that he proposed to the 
authorities that they should release immediately, by November 
12 at the latest, the 35 remaining May 30 NLD prisoners as 
well as the 8 CEC members under house arrest, since "they 
pose no danger to you."  He also had told the authorities he 
had a clear picture of the events surrounding Depeyin and 
that he will mention it in his speech at the UN.  (Note: A 
strong hint regarding the NLD video, digital pictures, and 
survivor testimonies provided by the Embassy.  See reftel). 
End note.)  He closed by saying he hoped the "roadmap" didn't 
become a "roadblock" like in other parts of the world.  If 
the SPDC "wants to play, then OK."  But, in Pinheiro's 
opinion, they have to implement basic human rights into the 
process or it won't work. 
Martinez