The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is “confident” of resuming prison inspections in Burma as it continues talks with the military government. The Geneva-based organization suspended prison visits this month following interference by the junta-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Association, which insisted on taking part in the scheme.

Patrick Vial, ICRC’s chief representative in Burma, said the problem was likely to have been a misunderstanding at the local level that could be resolved through ongoing discussions with the relevant authorities in Rangoon.

“It’s true there were difficulties in January…but having said that we are still in dialogue with the concerned authorities,” Vial said yesterday. “We hope this dialogue will bear fruit and that we will shortly be able to resume our activities in this domain.”

ICRC has conducted monthly inspections of Burmese prisons since 1999 when it first received permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Its 358 employees in Burma—including 80 foreign staff—run other programs in the country including health training, improving water supply and sanitation and a prosthetics centre.

Its operations were, however, jeopardized this month when local USDA branches reportedly insisted on joining ICRC representatives conducting prison inspections on the basis that—as representatives of the Burmese people—they should also be present, prompting ICRC to suspend the program. Vial would not reveal which facilities—and therefore which branches of the USDA—were involved in the standoff, but The Irrawaddy understands the earlier standoff was at Thayawaddy prison, north of Rangoon.

Relations between both sides were further complicated this month when the authorities alleged in the state-run The New Light of Myanmar that the ICRC had been giving aid to areas controlled by the rebel Shan State Army-South, including financial support.

Vial again denied the claims, saying the issue had been taken up with the relevant authorities, but would not say whether his office had received any response: “We officially communicated our surprise about these comments and again I…believe it’s the result of some kind of confusion,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ICRC chose yesterday to distance itself from responsibility for the actions of the Myanmar Red Cross, whose representatives continue to be seen at USDA-organized rallies “in support” of the constitution-forming National Convention, a process engineered by the junta.

On Saturday, representatives of the organization—which is autonomous of the ICRC but subject to the same principles of political neutrality—were reported in The New Light of Myanmar to have been present at rallies in Pa-an in Karen State and Nyaung U in Mandalay Division.

In response, Vial said the ICRC’s role is to “disseminate” awareness of principles and not to “monitor” national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies.

“If there were concerns…I would discuss them directly with the relevant organization, ie the Myanmar Red Cross, and that is what we are doing,” he said.

“Each national society is independent, they have difficulty balancing [government ties and impartiality] and this is…the nature of the problem. The national society is very often close to the government in place,” added Carla Haddad, ICRC’s media relations officer for the Asia-Pacific region, in Geneva.

In Burma’s case the national Red Cross has close ties to the ministries of health and social welfare, and relief and resettlement. Its Rangoon headquarters was today unavailable for comment.

The ICRC’s deteriorating situation is disturbingly similar to that which has confronted most international humanitarian organizations operating in Burma in the past year, and which prompted the Global Fund and Medecins Sans Frontieres (France) to withdraw from the country.

The IRC insists though that it has no plans to reduce its operations in Burma, or worse, end its 20-year long involvement in the country.

“We cannot at this stage speculate about withdrawal… [it] is just out of the question,” Haddad said. “It happens extremely rarely and it means that all other avenues have been exhausted.”

She added: “We’re waiting to see the impact of this dialogue that is ongoing and to see how things will open up. But I think in general the delegation [in Burma] is optimistic.”

If the ICRC were to withdraw from Burma, Bo Kyi, of the Mae Sot-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said that torture and the detention of political prisoners would likely continue whether the organization remains or not. The junta ignores its recommendations aimed at improving conditions for prisoners anyway, he added.

However, as the only independent body able to monitor Burma’s detention centers, which currently house more than 1,000 political prisoners, the ICRC’s presence is a start, he said.

“The existence of ICRC in Burma is better than nothing.”