Amnesty in key Myanmar visit
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Supporters in exile have kept up pressure for Aung San Suu Kyi's release.
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(CNN) -- A delegation from Amnesty International is set to arrive in Myanmar on Tuesday for the human rights group's second ever trip to the Southeast Asian nation.
The organization has said little about the trip other than it aims to examine human rights conditions as well as meet with senior officials and pro-democracy leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest.
"Our concerns in Myanmar are wide-ranging. We are planning to discuss with the State Peace and Development Council the human rights situation in the country, including the release of all prisoners of conscience; the administration of justice; and political imprisonment," Amnesty said in a statement.
Myanmar is under pressure from the international community to end the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy groups by the military-backed government and begin much touted reforms towards democracy.
Formerly known as Burma, Myanmar has been under military rule since a coup in 1962.
Amnesty first visited Myanmar in February this year and high on the list of the group's concerns will be the detention of National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The outspoken Aung San Suu Kyi and three of her top lieutenants passed six months in detention last week with no sign of when they might be freed despite international calls for their release. (Full story)
She was detained at an undisclosed location after a bloody clash between her supporters and a government-backed mob on May 30 when she was touring northern Myanmar. Eight leaders of her NLD party were also apprehended.
Aung San Suu Kyi -- who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 -- has been under detention three times since 1989, when she was first placed under house arrest for six years. She was arrested again in late 2000 and released in May 2002 amid hopes that a political settlement was imminent.
'Road map'
The May 30 incident all but halted a slow-moving reconciliation process initiated in late 2000.
Three months after the clash, however, the military junta unveiled a seven-point "road map" to democracy, which outlined a path to national elections and a new government, but provided no details or timeline.
Aung San Suu Kyi reportedly told a U.N. special envoy in October that she could work with the government's road map, but she would not accept freedom from house arrest until her party members were also released.
World leaders have expressed hope that all parties, including the NLD, will be included in the implementation of the road map.
It is unclear, however, whether Aung San Suu Kyi's party will be allowed to participate in the drafting of a new constitution.
Myanmar does not currently have a constitution. A constitution introduced in 1974 was dropped in 1988 when the current military regime took power after crushing a pro-democracy uprising. It held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Aung San Suu Kyi's party won.
The government created a committee to draft a new constitution in 1993, but suspended it in 1996 when the NLD walked out, saying it was being forced to rubber stamp decisions made by the military government.
Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
