Burma arrests human rights activist as U.N. envoy meets with junta

Labor rights activist Su Su Nway was arrested on Tuesday as United Nations rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro met with members of the military junta, Agence France-Presse reported.

“She was arrested this afternoon while she was trying to put some anti-government pamphlets in place,” a source with knowledge of the matter who did not wish to be identified, told AFP.

Nway has been in hiding since August, when she led a protest against over escalating fuel prices.

Pinheiro is making his first trip to Burma in four years to investigate the death toll from the suppression of protests, as well as other human rights abuses. His visit comes after U.M. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s visit, and U.N. statements that the junta is willing to engage in discussions with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar analyst based in Thailand said the international pressure and scrutiny, as well as protests and sanctions, “have played a major role in forcing the military to express that they will come to the table.”

Pinheiro also plans to investigate claims of human rights abuses against ethnic minorities.

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