The United Nations human rights investigator for Myanmar called on Thursday for an international inquiry into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the ruling junta.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said a pattern of gross and systematic violations of fundamental freedoms continued in the country formerly known as Burma which has promised elections this year.

"According to consistent reports, the possibility exists that some of these human rights violations may entail categories of crimes against humanity or war crimes under the terms of the statute of the International Criminal Court," Ojea Quintana said in a 30-page report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Activist groups welcomed his recommendation, calling it unprecedented since the United Nations established a mandate to look into human rights violations in Myanmar in 1992.

Violations included mass arrests of dissidents, deaths and torture of detainees, lack of freedom of assembly, religion and expression, and forced labour, according to the Argentine lawyer who made his third trip to Myanmar last month.

As Myanmar had failed to investigate the abuses, "U.N. institutions may consider the possibility to establish a commission of inquiry with a specific fact-finding mandate to address the question of international crimes," he said.

There were indications that the violations were "the result of a state policy that involves authorities in the executive, military and judiciary at all levels," he said.

Political prisoners double 

Ojea Quintana called for the release of 2,100 political prisoners -- including monks, students, lawyers, journalists and dissidents -- that he said were being detained in Myanmar. They had nearly doubled in number in the past two years.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years and was sentenced to a further 18 months of house arrest last August, is among them.

He called for the end of her house arrest, saying it violated both international and domestic law, and voiced regret that he was not allowed to visit her on his latest mission.

Myanmar's military government has allowed her National League for Democracy party to reopen regional branch offices that have been closed since May 2003, a party spokesman said in Yangon on Thursday. [ID:nSGE62A0H1]

"The elections cannot be free, fair, transparent and inclusive, in accordance with international standards, without the freedom of expression, opinion, association and assembly," Ojea Quintana declared.

Noting there was still no election date, he said that the delay raised serious doubts about the possibility of providing adequate time for all parties to fairly contest the elections.

Dissenting voices are not tolerated in Myanmar and there are at least 12 journalists and many more bloggers in prison, according to the independent investigator.

Ojea Quintana voiced concern at reports about an "alarmingly high number of deaths in prison". Deprivation of food and water, as well as denial of medical care, are used as punishment. Up to 130 political prisoners are said to be in poor health, he said.

Reuters