Activists and journalists in new democratic Myanmar continue to be followed and questioned by state surveillance agents, a UN envoy said on Friday, at the conclusion of a visit she said was beset by official snooping and access restrictions.
Aung San Suu Kyi came to power in 2016 after a landslide in the landmark 2015 elections.
She does not oversee the police or the military, which ruled the country for decades and retains its powerful position under a constitution drafted by the former junta.
Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee told a news conference at the conclusion of her 12-day visit that she faced “increasing restrictions” on her access.
Lee said the government, citing security concerns, had prevented her from visiting parts of the northeast where the military is accused of abuses against civilians in its conflict with ethnic rebels.
“She was also not allowed to visit three journalists detained in June by the army and charged with contacting a rebel group, in spite of the site of their detention being a popular tourist spot,’’ the human rights envoy said.
However, Suu Kyi’s spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment.
Myanmar regularly blocks monitors and journalists from traveling to areas near the conflicts citing concerns over safety.
Security officials say monitoring prominent people is a normal part of their work.
Lee said it was “unacceptable” that people meeting her were watched and even followed by agents she suspected to be from the police Special Branch that once stalked political opponents during almost half a century of dictatorship.
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