Extent of Myanmar Protest Crackdown Revealed

JUDY WOODRUFF:

And now a report on what happened during the September crackdown and its aftermath in Myanmar, the country formerly called Burma. U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari ended a six day trip there today. Inigo Gilmore of Independent Television News has this report from neighboring Thailand.

INIGO GILMORE, ITV News Special Correspondent:

Tears from a man who witnessed the horrors of the Saffron Revolution firsthand. Until now, Mr. U Pancha, a Sikh businessman, was the unknown face of Burma's uprising. But here he is during those protests.

"Don't be afraid. Come follow us," he shouts to the crowd. U Pancha was on the front lines when the protests, which briefly inspired hope for change, were brutally crushed. He was at the sacred Shwedagon Pagoda when the first monks were forcibly de-robed and killed.

U PANCHA, Businessman and Activist (through translator): One of the monks in the front was beaten on his head and kicked in the chest. Blood poured from his mouth, and he died in front of my eyes.

INIGO GILMORE:

U Pancha, now in hiding, is deeply skeptical about the U.N. mission in Burma.

U PANCHA (through translator):

Gambari is a very important person. He should demand to meet the people and the monks arrested during the protests.

INIGO GILMORE:

But for most of the past six days, Mr. Gambari has been closeted away in Burma's bizarre jungle capital, Nay Pyi Taw. Only today, at the end of his visit, did he meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But he left the country without meeting the junta leader, Senior General Than Shwe, seen here waving off his prime minister on an overseas visit.

Instead of meeting the senior generals, Mr. Gambari has met with junior members of the regime who proceeded to lecture the special envoy. It appears to have been less of a dialogue than a monologue.

For U Pancha, there was a moment of hope for dialogue. He revealed to Channel 4 News that not all military commanders were prepared to follow orders to fire on monks and unarmed civilians. He held secret talks with a senior army officer who refused to carry out the orders of Burma's military strongman.

U PANCHA (through translator):

The commander of the 77th regiment said to me, "We will not shoot. We understand the situation, so please hold the demonstrations in a peaceful manner."

So they sent another commander, Thura Shwe Mann, to Rangoon, and he ordered his soldiers to shoot the protestors. Regiment 66 shot the people, and many were killed. We felt great pity about the death of these monks. We shall never forget this.