A/HRC/4/14 page 19 The major focus of the criticisms related to the outcome of the 1997 Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Governing Body of ILO, which concluded that the Convention had been violated in national law and in practice “in a widespread and systematic manner”. The report of the Committee of Experts refers to material that purported to be from nearly every state and division of the country on several hundred cases of forced labour, including forced portering, repair and maintenance of army camps and villages for displaced people, cultivation of paddy and other fields, road construction, clearing of jungle areas, “human minesweeping”, patrolling and sentry duty.2 The Special Rapporteur believes that the implementation by Myanmar of the important conclusions of the Committee published last June would help to prevent forced labour to a significant extent, as they identified practical steps that are required to put an end to these abuses. V. CONCLUDING REMARKS 79. The human rights concerns enumerated in the present report are largely the same as those highlighted by the Special Rapporteur in his reports since 2001. The Special Rapporteur deplores the fact that, despite early indications from the Government that it was willing to address these problems when the Special Rapporteur first took up his mandate six years ago, this willingness has disappeared. 80. The current administration has not yet demonstrated any willingness to concede any space for a political opening of the kind that occurred during similar transitions in several countries in Asia, nor for the promised move towards democratization. Any voice questioning existing policies and practices has been harshly suppressed. Moreover, most individuals and groups responsible for committing serious violations, in particular members of the State apparatus, are not being arrested or prosecuted. Impunity has also impaired progress in the social and economic development of Myanmar for the benefit of the majority of the people. 81. Recommendations formulated by the General Assembly, the Commission on Human Rights, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and his former Special Envoy, as well as those advocated by the Special Rapporteur and relevant human rights treaty bodies, have not been implemented. 82. From the outset of his work on Myanmar, the Special Rapporteur has made a point of visiting and reporting regularly on the plight of political prisoners. Nothing is more revealing about the situation of human rights in a country than the existence of political prisoners. Moreover, the manner in which such persons are treated is a reflection of how a Government regards its own people. At least 1,201 citizens of Myanmar are behind bars without access to the guarantees of due process for the exercise of their political rights. 83. The Special Rapporteur has constantly repeated, to no avail, to the Government of Myanmar and its partners that Daw Aung San Su Kyi’s house arrest and her lack of access to NLD colleagues run counter to the spirit of national reconciliation. The release of the other 2 Report of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations: Individual Observation concerning Convention No. 29, Forced Labour, 1930, Myanmar, June 2006, para. 6.