A United Nations human rights expert says he deeply regrets Burma's recent decision to extend the detention of prominent opposition party leader Tin Oo.
The U.N. special reporter on human rights in Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, urged Burma's government Friday to unconditionally release Tin Oo and all remaining prisoners of conscience.
He said their release will be critical in facilitating national reconciliation and moving Burma towards democracy.
Tin Oo is the deputy leader of the opposition National League for Democracy. He was detained along with party leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2003.
Human Rights Watch says the Burmese government holds more than one thousand known political prisoners in prisons and labor camps across the country.
