Burmese Junta Downplays Protest Death Toll: Report

The quashing of pro-democracy demonstrations in September was significantly bloodier than the Burmese junta claims, says a Human Rights Watch report released today. Although the government acknowledges only 10 deaths during the suppression of the protests, 20 killings have been verified by eyewitnesses in Yangon alone, and the rights group projects a much higher total, CNN reports.

A UN investigator put the death toll at 110 after his November visit. In addition, it is believed that many of the 2,900 the government said it detained and released actually remain incarcerated. "The crackdown is far from over," said Human Rights Watch Asia’s director. "Harsh repression continues, and the government is still lying about the extent of the deaths and detentions." (More Burma stories.)