While rumors have spread about the International Committee of the Red Cross regaining access to prison inmates in Burma’s jails, the relief agency says the organization is still waiting for word from Burmese officials that they can conduct their visits independently.

“Except obviously the same rumor that you have heard, there has been nothing officially transmitted to us whatsoever,” Fiona Terry, spokesperson for the ICRC, told The Irrawaddy on Monday. She added that the agency is still unable to carry out much of its work in other areas, including Arakan and Shan states, as the authorities refuse to approve travel there.

The Geneva-based ICRC’s programs in Burma came to a halt last December when the junta-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Association insisted on accompanying ICRC aid workers on their visits to prisons. The relief agency suspended its routine visits because its protocols required that such visits be independent and unsupervised.

According to the latest report released by the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma in May, 128 political prisoners have died in Burma’s prisons since 1988. Bo Kyi, AAPP joint secretary, said the death toll among criminal offenders is also high because of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other deadly transmitted diseases among prison populations.

“I’ve never heard that medical supplies in the prisons have ever been sufficient,” said Min Ko Naing of the 88 Generation Students group, comprising former political prisoners. “It’s very alarming; especially if ICRC has no access to the prisons.”

According to Bo Kyi, physical assaults and rights abuses have also increased since the ICRC suspended their prison visits last year. “With the absence of ICRC, many political prisoners lack any moral support, which is what they need most,” Bo Kyi said.

ICRC has been compelled to lay off field workers and other staff members because of difficulties in maintaining their projects, Terry said. But while their efforts on behalf of prisoners have been curtailed, they continue to provide vital financial and medical assistance to the families of political prisoners.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma, reported in February that more than 1,100 political prisoners continue to languish in Burma’s prisons.