Burma rights body says inmate abuse claim 'untrue' | Bangkok Post: news

Burma's new human rights panel on Friday denied Amnesty International claims that hunger-striking political detainees at Rangoon's Insein prison were mistreated, in a first visit to the notorious jail.

File picture shows a woman selling a local journal with an image of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on front at the Bogyoke market in Yangon. Myanmar's new human rights panel on Friday denied Amnesty International claims that hunger-striking political detainees at Yangon's Insein prison were mistreated, in a first visit to the notorious jail.

But the government-appointed body admitted the number of inmates in the prison "far exceeds its maximum holding capacity" -- a rare admission in the army-dominated country, which has long been criticised for jailing dissenters.