Amnesty International‘‘4 LtrAv September 1976 Volume VI Number 9 newsletter

AI Prisoners Released in Spanish AmnestyA number of Al-adopted prisoners were released in the amnesty decree whichbecame law in Spain on 4 August.

They include Simon SANCHEZ MONTERO, an executive member of theCommunist Party of Spain who had been released under the pardon inNovember 1975 and was re-arrested in February 1976; José UNANUE, a leadingmember of the Basque CommunistParty; Captains Luis OTERO andFermin IBARRA, army officersaccused of membership of the clandes-tine officers' association—the UnionMilitar Democratica — and convicted inMarch 1976 of sedition; and sevenconscientious objectors arrested inFebruary this year.

Several prisoners charged in connec-tion with the Basque separatist move-ment ETA and the Marxist splintergroup FRAP have also been released.

The amnesty decree covers all those con-victea or awaiting trial for politicallymotivated offences, provided that they havenot caused or risked physical injury to othersor endangered lives. Included are conscien-tious objectors, military officers chargedwith sedition or rebellion and those dis-missed from state posts for their politicalbeliefs, such as university professors andmembers of the civil service.

Those sought by the police for politicaloffences who have left the country maynow apply to the Spanish embassies in thecountries where they are living for pass-ports to return to Spain.

Government sources have said that 160prisoners had been released under theamnesty by 14 August. However, lawyershave pointed out that the great majority ofreleases so far have been of conscientiousobjectors (most of them Jehovah's Witnesses)and others released from military jails whoare not, strictly speaking, political prisoners.

There have been few releases so far fromSpain's top security jails where the majorityof political prisoners are held, and prisonersin some of these jails, including Carabanchel,Ocana and Jaen, have been on hunger strikesince 4 August in protest against what theyregard as a partial amnesty.

The 30 July decree is the first politicalamnesty to be pronounced in Spain sincethe civil war ended in 1939. Then an amnestyreleased all who had fought for the NationalMovement both during the Republic andduring the civil war, regardless of theoffence comitted.• Changes in the Law: Apart from thereleases under the 30 July amnesty, leadingmembers of the Communist Party of Spain

and others serving long sentences have beenreleased, following the recent modificationof the penal code. This now provides for amaximum sentence of 6 years for illicitassociation and 6 years for illegal propaganda.

Among those released are LucioLOBATO, who has spent a total of 24 yearsin prison for membership of the CommunistParty, Francisco ROMERO MARIN, also amember of the Communist Party, and JoséLuis DIAZ FERNANDEZ, Jesils DIZGOMEZ and Jorge DIZ GOMEZ who weresentenced to between 15 and 18 years forillicit association in connection with FRAPin September 1975 and to whose trial Alsent an observer.

8-YEAR SENTENCES PASSEDIN SOUTH KOREAN TRIAL

Eight-year sentences were imposed on fourdefendants when the trial of 18 prominentopposition and church leaders in SouthKorea ended on 29 August (July Newsletter).

The former President of South Korea,YUN Po Sun, who is aged 78, and formeropposition presidential candidate KIM DaeJung were each sentenced to 8 years'imprisonment.

HAHM Suk Hon, a prominent Quakerleader and civil rights campaigner, andMOON lk Hwan, a Christian clergyman,also received sentences of 8 years.

Nine other defendants, including formerForeign Minister CHUNG II Hyung,received sentences of 5 years. Sentences

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MORE SOVIET DISSIDENTSFive previously unknown cases of Sovietdissenters confined to psychiatric hospitalsin the Soviet Union were reported in August.

Four of the cases were included in issuenumber 40 of the Moscow samizdat humanrights journal A Chronicle of Current Events,The fifth and most recent case was thesubject of two appeals from Soviet citizensto the World Council of Churches.

The cases reported in the Chronicleincluded Mikhail ZVEREV and a personidentified only as POPOV (the Chroniclehad not learned his first name) who wereboth diagnosed as mentally ill in separatecases after being detained for writing "anti-Soviet" articles or poems. The Chronicle

MORE ARRESTS FOLLOWSOUTH AFRICAN UNREST

Winnie MANDELA, a former ilLadiiptee andwife of imprisoned African nationalist leaderNelson MANDELA, was among more than60 people arrested over the weekend 13-15August in South Africa.

More than 1,000 people have been detainednationally since the June outbreak of riotingin the black township of Soweto, nearJohannesburg, in protest against governmentpolicies (August Newsletter).

Mrs Mandela is a prominent member of the executive of the Black Parents' Associa-

tion (BPA), an organization formed after theoriginal Soweto riots to voice black grievances.She was arrested with BPA chairman ManasBUTHELEZI and other members of theexecutive. Mr Buthelezi was released shortlyafter arrest and is now the only member ofthe BPA executive not in detention.

Following the nation-wide unrest in Juneand July, 17 students at the ColouredUniversity of the Western Cape were arrestedwhen protesting the earlier detention of anumber of student leaders. Detentions havealso taken place in Durban and in KingWilliam's Town, East London where thearrest was reported on 18 August of SteveBIKO, a prominent young black communityworker. A young black newspaper reporterwas detained at the same time as Mr Biko.

In addition to detentions under theTerrorism Act, which allows for incommunic-ado detention for interrogation purposes,the South African authorities are also mak-ing extensive use of the recently-introducedInternal Security Amendment Act. Thisallows for indefinite detention on the groundsof public security, subject to annual reviewin camerae

N PSYCHIATRIC DETENTIONalso reported the cases of Anatoly UVAROV,who was sent to Moscow's Serbsky Instituteof Forensic Psychiatry after he was detainednear the Swedish embassy in Moscow carry-ing placards demanding that he be allowedto emigrate, and Victor MARESIN, diagnosedas mentally ill in Kiev after he expressed"anti-Soviet views" while under investigationfor alleged counterfeiting.

The most recent case is that of AlexanderARGENTOV, a participant in a seminaroperated by a number of young OrthodoxChristians in Moscow. A number of partici-pants of the seminar have been harassed bythe police for "anti-Soviet activities". Mr

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More Soviet Dissidents in Psychiatric DetentionContinued from page 1, column 3

Argentov was sent for psychiatric examina-tion on 14 July, confmed to an ordinarypsychiatric hospital in Moscow on the sameday and subjected to a course of treatmentwith neuroleptic drugs starting on 16 July.According to the authors of two appeals onhis behalf, he is not mentally ill.• Al Member Disciplined: Imprisoned AImember SERGEI KOVALYOV has beensubjected to disciplinary measures in colonyVS 389/36 in Perm region, according toreports received in July from the SovietUnion.

In February Dr Kovalyov was deprived othis next visit from his wife, (strict regimeprisoners are allowed three visits each year).Some time later he was placed in a punish-ment isolation cell. By late May no letterhad been received from Dr Kovalyov sinceFebruary. Mrs Kovlayov wrote to the colonyadministration in late April asking whetherher husband was alive, and was told that hewas.

Dr Kovalyov, a :lember of Ars Moscowgroup, is presently serving a sentence of 7years' strict reg.me imprisonment and 3years in exile for "anti-Soviet agitation andpropaganda" (January Newsletter).

In a letter to USSR Procurator GeneralRoman RUDENKO on 30 July, Al drewhis attention to Dr Kovalyov's treatment.Al expressed concern that Dr Kovalyov hadentered the familiar pattern of spirallingprotest and punishment which is known tohave undermined the well-being of a numberof Soviet prisoners of conscience.

The letter asked Mr Rudenko to keep aclose watch on the treatment of Dr Koval-yov. It also reminded the procurator generalof Ars view that the imprisonment of DrKovalyov violates international humanrights agreements to which the USSR is aparty and Soviet domestic criminal lawprocedures. AI urged the procurator generalto take steps to initiate a judicial review ofthe verdict and sentence in Dr Kovalyov'scase. The aim of such steps would be tosecure Dr Kovalyov's release•

BANGLADESH EXECUTESGOVERNMENT OPPONENTA Bangladesh government opponent wasexecuted in Dacca Jail on 21 July, despiteappeals for clemency from AI.

Lieutenant Colonel (retired) MohammadAbu TAHER was among a number of leadersof the Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal (JSD—Socialist Nationalist Party) convicted on 19July by a military tribunal on charges ofattempting to overthrow the government.Colonel Taher was sentenced to death andother defendants received long terms ofimprisonment (August Newsletter).

Al immediately appealed for clemencyto Bangladesh President A.M. SAYEM andto Major General Ziaur RAEIMAN, who isdeputy chief martial law administrator, andasked that all the defendants be retried

before a civilian court.On 10 August, Major General Rahman

reported from Sri Lanka, where he wasattending the Non-Aligned Con'erence, thatColonel Taher had been hanged an 21 Julyin Dacca Jail.

Al has expressed its deep distress thatthe death sentence has been carried out andstressed that the execution "constituted adeparture from Bangladesh's humanitariantradition not to execute political prisoners".

SOVIET PRISONERS' HEALTHCAUSES Al CONCERNAl undertook action programs on 5 Augustfor two adopted prisoners in the SovietUnion whose medical condition has causedserious concern. The two are YakovSUSLENSKY and Vladimir BUKOVSKY(Prisoners of the Month Campaign, January1974).

Mr Bukovsky is detained in Vladimirprison where he has been subjected to a seriesof punishments, including various degreesof deprivation of food. His health hadpreviously suffered from several years ofpoor food and inadequate medical condi-tions in Soviet corrective institutions andthe effect of several hunger strikes. He is'known to suffer from heart, kidney andstomach disorders.

Mr Suslensky, a 48-year-old Jew fromMoldavia, has been imprisoned since 1970for writing letters criticizing the WarsawPact forces' occupation of Czechoslovakiain 1968 and the Soviet government's failureto intervene on behalf of Iraqi Jews executedin Baghdad in 1970. He was also chargedwith making tape recordings of BritishBroadcasting Corporation (BBC) Russian-language broadcasts.

For the past 21/2 years Mr Suslensky hasbeen serving his 7 year sentence in Vladimirprison where he has been in permanent con-flict with the administration over prisonconditions. The consequent punishments,including reduction of food rations, havereportedly exacerbated Mr Suslensky'salready serious health problems. He is knownto have suffered for some time from heart,stomach and sinus ailments.

In March this year, either during or aftera period in a punishment cell, Mr Suslenskysuffered a major stroke which left him parti-ally paralyzed temporarily and with impededspeech. He was sent to the prison hospital.On 5 August, AI undertook urgent actionappeals to the Soviet Union authorities torelease Mr Suslensky under Soviet legislationwhich permits the early release of prisonerswho are chronically

Al PUBLISHES BRIEFING ON MALAWIAl said on 8 August that more than 1,000persons were currently detained without trialin Malawi. Some of them have been helduntried for periods ranging up to severalyears.

In a nine-page briefing paper on Malawi,AI said that prolonged detention withouttrial in the African state was used as a means

of political control and intimidation ofpotential opposition to the government ofPresident Hastings BANDA.

Most of the untried detainees are heldunder the Public Security Regulationsintroduce( in February 1965 in the wake ofa split ir Dr Banda's post-ii lependencecabinet. The number of de _ainees ha; rarelydropped below 500 since that time.

Since 1973, a new detention center atMikuyu, in flat scrubland 13 kilometers eastof the town of Zomba, has been used tohouse long term detainees. Conditions atMikuyu are bad, with overcrowding, lackof adequate facilities for exercise, and poordiet. AI has received reports of deaths indetention, and of detainees suffering physicalor mental collapse.

The paper also reports the extensive useof the death penalty and the persistent andbrutal persecution of members of theJehovah's Witnesses sect over their refusalon religious grounds to join Malawi's onlypolitical party, the Malawi Congress Party.

Amnesty International Briefing on Malawi:9 pages, published by Amnesty InternationalPublications, 53 Theobald's Road, LondonWC1X 8SP, England. Price 40 pence (US $1.00)plus 20 pence (50 US cents) postage and handling.Annual inclusive subscription price for 10 individualcountry briefing papers: £6 (US $15) post paid.

TRIAL POSTPONED OF14 CZECH MUSICIANSAn Austrian lawyer, Henry GOLDMAN,sent by Al to observe the trial inCzechoslavakia of 14 young rock and rollmusicians found the trial postponed when hearrived in Prague on 29 August. The trial wasdue to begin the next day.

The musicians belong to two groups, The Plastic People of the Universe and DG307. They were arrested in March on chargesof "arousing disturbance and nuisance inan organised manner".

The charges relate to activities, includingtexts, songs and music, which the musiciansregard as an expression of their protestagainst established art and institutionalized .life. All the musicians have been taken upcollectively by AI as investigation cases.Three members of the groups have alreadybeen tried. They were sentenced in July.

The first trial took place in Pilzen/Bory.The court there sentenced Karel HAVELKA,a master builder aged 26, to 30 months,Miroslav SKALICKY, a carpenter aged 24,to 18 months and Frantisek STAREK, aforestry worker aged 24, to 8 months'imprisonment. All three have been adoptedby AI

The trial of the other 14 musicians isexpected to take place at the end ofSeptember. Al again hopes to send observersto the trial.

Prisoner Releases and CasesThe International Secretariat learned inluly of the release of 66 A/-adoptedprisoners and took up 180 new cases.

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Abdul SAMAD bin Ismail, MalaysiaAbdul SAMAD bin Ismail, aged 52, is aleading Malay newspaper editor and writerwho was arrested on 22 June 1976. He isinternationally known as one of Malaysia'soutstanding intellectual figures. He is theauthor of many short stories and essays anda prominent political commentator in bothEnglish and Malay language newspapers.

He was speechwriter and close adviser tothe late Prime Minister Tun ABDUL RAZAK,and he served on many government agenciesformulating policy on Malay language andculture and the mass media. Only one monthbefore his arrest he was awarded the LiteraryPioneer AWard, Malaysia's highest literaryprize, for his contributions to nationalliterature. His arrest has caused shock andconcern in Malaysia and abroad.

Born in Singapore, Mr Samad receivedonly a secondary education in English andMalay. He was appointed a newspaper editorat the age of 16 during the Japaneseoccupation of Malaya. He was brieflydetained during the period of British militaryadministration for his anti-British articles.After his release, he joined the leading Malaylanguage newspaper Utusan Melayu andbecame assistant editor. Through thisposition, he achieved prominence as a writerof articles and short stories.

In the late 1940s and throughout the1950s, he was involved in the anti-colonialmovement for independence led by theMalay Nationalist Party. In 1951 he wasdetained again by the British in Singapore foralleged communist activities, but he wasnever brought to trial. During his detention,Mr Samad's legal counsel was Lee Kuan Yew,who became Prime Minister of Singapore in1959.

In 1953, after his release, Mr Samadreturned to the Utusan Melayu. At the sametime he joined with Lee Kuan Yew in formingthe People's Action Party (PAP), whichtoday is Singapore's ruling party. Mr Samadbroke away from the PAPin 1957 followingdifferences of opinion with Lee Kuan Yewandlie became editor of Berita Harian, aMalay language newspaper launched by TheStraits Times group in Singapore.

In 1959 Mr Samad moved to KualaLumpur when the editorial board of TheStraits Times transferred there fromSingapore. He now has Malaysian citizenship.He subsequently became managing editor ofThe New Straits Times newspaper group inMalaysia, the position he held at the time ofhis arrest.

Mr Samad was arrested in Kuala Lumpuron 22 June together with SAMANI binMohamed AMIN, news editor of the

Malaysian edition of Berita Harian (AugustNewsletter). The two men are detained underMalaysia's Internal Security Act (whichallows indefinite imprisonment without trial)on allegations of communist subversion.They were allegedly implicated in"confessions" made in neighbouringSingapore by two Malay journalists who hadbeen arrested there a few days before.

The governments of Malaysia andSingapore allege that the journalists had beeninvolved in a plot to influence the Malaypopulation of the area towards communismthrough manipulation of the Malay languagepress.

Informed observers believe that politicalreasons lie behind the arrests, but the truefacts may never emerge because Mr Samadand Mr Samani can be imprisoned withouttrial indefinitely under Malaysia's InternalSecurity Act.

Please send politely worded cards, urginga prompt and fair trial or immediate andunconditional release for Abdul Sarnad binIsmail, to: Datuk Hussein bin Onn, PrimeMinister, The Prime Minister's Office, JalanDatuk Onn, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and to:Tan Sri Ghazali bin Shafie, Minister of HomeAffairs, The Ministry of Home Affairs, JaIanDatuk Onn, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Enrique ERRO, ArgentinaEnrique ERRO, a well known Uruguayanpolitician, was born in Montevideo in 1902.He studied law at university and has workedas a teacher of philosophy and a professionaljournalist. He was also an active member ofthe journalists' trade union in Uruguay andonce represented the union at a world con-ference of journalists abroad.

In 1950 he was elected deputy for thePartido Nacional (National Party) andretained this position during three furtherelections (1954, 1958, 1962). In 1959 hewas made minister of industry and works.However, his resistance to policies ofinternational investment in Uruguay causedhim to be replaced. After 1962, in oppositionto the conservative policies of the PartidoNacional, he joined with the socialist party inthe creation of the popular front UnionPopular.

In 1971, in conjunction with theCommunist Party, the Socialist Party, theChristian Democrats and others, he helpedform the coalition party Frente Amplio(Broad Front). As candidate for this party hewas elected senator in 1971.

From 1972 onwards, he became one ofthe most active and courageous defenders ofhuman rights in Uruguay, denouncing thepractice of torture and the generalized

repression of the Uruguayan people. In May1973, he became the center of a conflictbetween parliament and the executive power,which ended with parliament being dissolvedand Enrique Erro becoming a political exilein Argentina.

On 7 March 1975, Enrique Erro wasarrested in his hotel in the center of BuenosAires by a group of Argentinian securityagents. He was held in the Central FederalPolice Station until 25 March without anyreason being given for his arrest. He was thentransferred to Villa Devoto prison. Theprison governor told his wife it was for"reasons of security" that he had beendetained.

On 16 May 1975 he was transferred toRawson prison, 1,500 kilometeres to thesouth of Buenos Aires. On 19 June he wasmoved again, this time to Resistencia prisonin the extreme north of Argentina. At thebeginning of May 1976 he was taken back toVilla Devoto and a month later to Rawson,where he is still being held.

The situation of Enrique Erro's health issaid to be very serious indeed and repoitsstate that if he is not shortly released he isliable to die in detention. He is now 74 years

old, and he suffers from hepatitis. Rawson isnotorious for having the harshest prisonconditions throughout the whole ofArgentina. Prisoners are not accorded propermedical attention and receive a completelyinadequate diet lacking in any kind of salt orsugar content. In these circumstancesEnrique Erros's condition can onlydeteriorate..

Please send courteously worded appealsfor his release to: Excelentisimo Gral. JorgeRafael Videla, Presidente de la Republica deArgentina, Casa Rosada, Buenos Aires,Argentina.

Ernst WILHELM,German Democratic RepublicErnst WILHELM, born in 1944, has beenimprisoned in the GermanDemocraticRepublic (GDR) since 1970 for acts ofconscience.

Herr Wilhelm studied physics at theMartin Luther University in Halle-Wittenbergand subsequently worked as editor on theTechnisches Zentralblatt in Berlin. In 1969he was appointed assistant at the Institut filrInformatik of the Humboldt University inBerlin. He openly dissented from certainaspects of official policy: for example in1968 when he distributed leaflets protestingagainst the Warsaw Pact forces' occupationof Czechoslovakia.

In 1970 Herr Wilhelm tried to leave theGDR illegally through neighbouring Hungary.He was captured in Hungary, returned to theGDR and brought before a Berlin court inMay 1971. He was found guilty of attemptingto leave the country illegally—the offence ofwhich most prisoners of conscience in theGDR are convicted. He was also found guiltyof "incitement hostile to the state". This wasthe second time that Herr Wilhelm had been

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Prisoners of the Month CampaignParticipants in the campaign are reminded that appeals must only be sent to the officialsnamed at the end of each case. In no circumstances should communications be sent tothe prisoner. It is important for the prisoner that messages to the authorities are wordedcarefully and courteously and that they are never sectarian.

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Ernst Wilhelm, German Democratic RepublicContinued from page 3, column 3

charged with this offence, which consisted ofmaking statements critical of the authorities.He was also convicted of having helpedfriends to leave the GDR illegally, which hehad done for humanitarian reasons ratherthan for any profit. He was sentenced to 8years' imprisonment.

Ernst Wilhelm is serving his sentence inBrandenburg Prison. He has been subjectedto various punishments for trying to educatefellow prisoners and for refusing to docompulsory prison labour. He has alsoengaged in at least one hunger strike inprotest against conditions in that prison.Ernst Wilhelm's mother or another relativeare only allowed to visit him for 30 minutesonce every three months, and he is allowedto receive only one letter each month.

Please send courteously worded appealsfor the release of Ernst Wilhelm to: HerrnWilli Stoph, Vorsitzender des Staatsrates derDDR (Chairman of the Council of the Stateof the GDR), Berlin NiederschEinhausen,Carl von Ossietzky Strasse, GermanDemocratic Republic.

ZAMBIA RELEASES 16ADOPTED PRISONERSFifteen University of Zambia students and aTimes of Zambia journalist held withoutcharge since February and March werereleased on 4 August. All 16 detainees hadbeen adopted by Al.

Two more students and a universitylecturer, Younus LULAT, also adopted,remain in detention. All three were also AIadoptees (Prisoners of the Month Campaign,August Newsletter).

The students, Mr Lulat and three expat-riate lecturers were all detained followingcampus demonstrations in support ofBritish political science lecturer LionelCLIFFE, detained on 31 January followingPresident Kenneth KAUNDA's declarationof a full state of emergency in Zambia. DrCliffe and the three other lecturers werereleased and deported at the end of March.The students, together with the journalistand Mr Lulat, remained in detention.

It is not yet known whether the releasedstudents will be able to resume their studiesat the university, although latest reportsindicate that they will.

Al APPEALS AGAINST DEATHSENTENCES IN EUROPEAl undertook urgent action appeals on 2August to the governments of the Republicof Ireland, France, Bulgaria and the SovietUnion for commutation of sentences ofdeath against citizens of these countries.

This came five days after a Frenchcitizen, Christian RANUCCI, was executedby guillotine for the murder of a childand two days after an Irish appeal court hadconfirmed the sentence of death against amarried couple, Noel and Marie MURRAY.Mr and Mrs Murray were convicted of themurder of a policeman during a bank robbery.

The other subjects of the Al appeals wereMoussa BENZHARA of France, P.B.KIRILLOV and B.P. ROGOZHIN of theSoviet Union, and Nicolas CHAMURLISKYof Bulgaria. All except Mr Chamurlisky weresentenced to death after being convicted ofmurder. Mr Chamurlisky was convicted inNovember 1975 of espionage, and Al isconcerned that the real reason for his con-viction and death sentence may have beenhis political criticism of the Bulgarianauthorities.

A week after the execution of ChristianRanucci on 28 July, French PresidentValery GISCARD D'ESTAING commutedthe death sentence on Moussa Benzhara.

Al URGES END TOEXECUTIONS IN SUDANAI cabled President Jaafir AL-NEMERY ofSudan on 5 August expressing "profounddisquiet" at the execution in the previous24 hours of 98 persons found guilty ofparticipating in an abortive coup on 2 July.

The cable urged clemency for anyonesentenced to death in a senies of trials takingplace in the country's capital Khartoum andelsewhere in Sudan.

Some 200 persons still face trial by specialtribunals for their alleged involvement in thecoup attempt which Sudanese authoritiesclaim was organized by the Sudanese NationalFront. The latter is a coalition of the majorcenter and rightwing parties which have beenbanned since President Nemery took powerin a 1969 coup.

IRAQI WRITER RELEASEDAl recently learned of the release of 26-year-old Iraqi writer Abdul Sattar NASIR(December 1975 Newsletter).

He was arrested in January 1975 afteran article he wrote was published in Lebanon.The article was indirectly critical of theIraqi government.

Mr Nasir was reportedly released abouteight months ago.

GHANA BARS Al OBSERVERFROM TRIAL OF POETGhana barred an AI observer from attendingthe trial in August of poet and author KofiAWOONOR.

Dr Awoonor, aged 31, one of Africa'sbest known literary figures, went on trialbefore a specially constituted court in Accraon 20 August. He was charged with harbour-ing Brigadier Alphonse Kojo KATTA, whothe government alleges was the leader of acoup plot last year and who is now in hidingoutside Ghana.

Ghana had granted British magistrate SirOsmond Williams an entry visa on 30 July,for the purpose of observing a number ofpolitical trials on behalf of AI, including DrAwoonor's. But several hours before SirOsmond was due to knit on 23 August,Ghanaian officials informed Al that the .permit had been cancelled. No explanationwas given.

The trials are the outcome of the arrestof approximately 200 persons in Ghana

following a government.reshuffle in October1975. Most of those detained were militarypersonnel accused of subversion in connectionwith an alleged plot to overthrow the govern-ment of Head of State General IgnatiusACHEAMPONG. But also held were anumber of civilians, including Dr Awoonor.

In July, a military tribunal sentenced fiveof the detainees to.death, imposed prisonsentences of 20 and 15 years on two othersand acquitted another. In addition to DrAwoonor's current trial, four more soldierscharged with plotting the military regime'soverthrow were expected to go on trial on25 August.

AI is particularly concerned at the last-minute cancellation of Sir Osmond Williams'visa because of the serious allegations oftorture made by the detainees since January.During the trial completed in July, a numberof the defendants, including the most seniorof the accused, Captain Kojo TSIKATA, saidthey were brutally tortured into makingconfessions.

UGANDA ARMY RAIDS'KILLED STUDENTS'Al urged President Idi AMIN of Uganda on18 August to set up an inquiry into reportedshootings of more than 100 students drringarmy raids on Makerere University, Kampaladuring early August.

The university has several times this yearexpressed opposition to the government ofPresident Amin and demanded inquiries intodeaths and disappearances among its members.

When the new academic year started inJuly student leaders addressed meetings andissued pamphlets describing President Aminas a murderer who had destroyed Uganda'seconomy. Attempts were made to arrangedemonstrations but this is illegal in Ugandaand troops appeared on the campus. Finallyon 3 August 2,000 students gathered atMakerere to read a list of grievances. Thearmy reportedly undertook a series of brutalraids which lasted for three days and inwhich many students died or were injured.8-Year sentences Passed in South Korean TrialContinued from page 1, column 2ranging from 2 to 4 years were imposed on fiveother defendants.

A1118 defendants were on trial in connectionwith a declaration read out in a Seoul cathedralwhich called for freedom of political oppositionand the press, the release of political prisonersand restoration of independence of the judic-iary.

At a court hearing earlier in August defencelawyers walked out, protesting that a fair trialwas impossible. The panel of three judges had -refused to hear the evidence of all 16 defencewitnesses.

On 31 August,Al protested to President PARKChung-hee of the Republic of Korea over theheavy sentences. It said the organization wasdeeply concerned at irregularities in the trial.In a statement issued that day AI said thesentences imposed for what was a peaceful act ofconscience were a gross miscarriage of justiceand a gross violation of the defendinfs' humanrights.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTERis published monthly by: AMNESTY INTER-NATIONAL PUBLICATIONS, 53 Theobald's Road, London WC1X 8SP, England. Printed inGreat Britain by Hill and Garwood Ltd, Fourth Way, Wembley, Middlesex. Available on sub-

scription at £6 (US $15) per calendar year.

Eimnesty international

campaign for the abolition of tortureSeptember 1976 Volume III Number 9 MONTHLY BULLETIN

Uruguayan Refugees Kidnapped and Tortured in ArgentinaSITUATION WORSENS IN INDIA

Prior to the emergency declaration in Indiain June 1975, allegations of torture receivedby AI were confined to the provinces ofWest Bengal and Bihar, where the revolu-tionary marxist Naxalite movement hadstrong support. Recently, however, therehave been incidental reports of tortureemanating from different parts of India.

Three students from Delhi and New Delhiuniversities have alleged that they were detained on23 June 1976 and badly beaten over a five-dayperiod in an effort to force confessions ofsubversive activity from them. In a signed deposi-tion, one of these students, Jasbir SINGH, says:

My hands and feet were tied to a polewhich was rested on two chairs and I washanged between the two chairs. In thisposition, I was made to "swing" from sideto side, owing to which first I startedvomiting and, later on, vomiting blood.

Similar reports of torture come from the southernprovince of Kerala.

Another documented case concerns LawrenceFERNANDEZ, brother of the Socialist Partyleader George FERNANDEZ. Lawrence Fernandezwas arrested in May and allegedly tortured in aneffort to extract information concerning George'swhereabouts. George was subsequently arrested.The following statement comes from the mother ofthe Fernandez brothers:

On May 21, after waiting for over threehours from 10.45 am, at about 2 pm I wastaken to the cell to see him [Lawrence], butnot the lawyer. I found him looking dead. Hewas unable to move except with two personshelping him about, and then, too, with greatpain and limping. His left side is without useas if crippled, and both his left leg and handare still swollen. He is in a mentally andphysically wrecked condition and is unableto talk freely without faltering. He isterribly nervous and mortally afraid of police,of anyone in khaki uniform, of theapproaching sound of anyone walking withshoes on, or of any other person, all ofwhom he fears to be interrogators andtormentors.The torture allegations from throughout the

country should be seen in the context of theg6vernment's suspension of all fundamental rightsformerly guaranteed to Indian citizens. Theseinclude systematic amendments to the constitutionand the Maintenance of Internal Security Act,which have removed all legal safeguards againstarbitrary arrest and detention, including the rightof habeas corpus.

At least 40,000 and perhaps as many as 100,000political prisoners remairidetained senior officialshave been granted immunity from legal action andthe courts have been deprived of jurisdiction toreview legal action which claims that the emergencypowers have been misused.

By ruling last April that habeas corpus petitionswere not admissible in any court so long as theemergency remains in force, the Supreme Court ofIndia has removed the most important protectionagainst the ill-treatment of detainees. In the singledissenting judgement from that ruling Justice H.R.KHANNA was of the opinion that

...the position would be that, so far as the

Convincing evtaence that the campaign of terror against refugees In Argentina

has increased dramatically since the March 1976 coup there comes from 12Uruguayan refugees, including three children, who arrived in Paris in mid-July.

Three of the refugees—one woman and two men—had been kidnapped andseverely tortured during captivity by unknown assailants, whom the victimsbelieve to have included both Uruguayans and Argentinians. The three torturevictims were abducted in Buenos Aires on6 July by about 30 armed men, who hoodedthem and bundled them into a car and tookthem to what they believe to be a privatehouse in the countryside.

The three were released on 13 July, thesame day that 23 other Uruguayan refugees,including 11 women and two children, wereabducted in Buenos 2kires.Al believes that itis unlikely that many of these 23 are stillalive.

The three torture victims now in Pariswere photographed and fingerprinted whilein captivity in Argentina. They were alsoshown lists of names of other Uruguayanrefugees who were being sought. Some ofthe names were marked with a cross. Theywere told this meant that the persons were

marked for death.Prior to a news conference in Paris

sponsored by Ars French section, thetorture victims were examined by twomembers of the Al Danish doctors' team.The doctors confirmed that the marks andsymptoms on the victims are consistent with

their allegations. They were also consistentwith marks and symptoms shown by othervictims of torture examined in the past bythis team in Greece and among LatinAmerican refugees in Scandinavia.

The woman victim, aged about 22, hasmarks of electrical shocks over her breastsand thighs and a very bad bruise on herspine. She has cigarette burns on her wrists,breasts, arms and legs.

She stated that she also had buckets offreezing cold water thrown over her (it isnow winter in Argentina). She is currentlyundergoing tests for tuberculosis andbronchitis. She further alleges that she wasraped in front of her two companions.

One of the male victims, aged about 25,has electric shock marks on his chest, navel

and the top of his legs, as well as braises onhis legs, severe cigarette burns on his armsand legs and 40 cigarette burns on one hand.Besides similar marks, the second man, aged

government officers were concerned, theywould not be governed by any law, theywould not be answerable to any court, andthey would be wielding more or lessdespotic powers in matters relating to thelife and personal liberty of citizens.

about 24, shows symptoms of psychologicalstress trom a former two-year period ofsolitary confinement in prison in Uruguaybefore his kidnapping in Argentina.

The refugees confirmed the substance ofthe following excerpt from a letter receivedin August by AI from other Uruguayan exile

sources in Buenos Aires:The Uruguayan security forces, with thetacit support of the Argentinianauthorities, are those directly responsiblefor all that has happened to Uruguayanresidents in Buenos Aires...At thismoment it would be impossible for theirfamilies to negotiate for the life or libertyof these victims because theirdisappearance forms part of the so-calledPlan Mercáriodestined to eliminate allUruguayans of leftwing tendencies in bothcountries. This plan relies on the officialsupport of the police authorities in bothcountries.To this information the refugees who

arrived in Paris add that there is a speciallyselected force of 600 Uruguayan armypersonnel operating in Argentina under thedirection of a certain Colonel RAMIREZ,who, according to the refugees, recentlyarrived from the United States to direct thecampaign. With his second-in-command,Campos HERMIDAS, he operates fromprivate houses without any set headquartersin Argentina.

The particular targets for these semi-clandestine activities are Uruguayan tradeunionists in Argentina, who have accountedfor a relatively high percentage of the kidnap

and murder victims in the last several months*

GHANAIAN DEATH SENTENCE BASEDON ALLEGED TORTURE EVIDENCE

Since January 1976 Al has received periodicreports of torture being used against some ofthe 150 mostly military personnel who were

arrested in Ghana during November andDecember 1975.

No charges were brought against any ofthe 150 prisoners until May 1976, wheneight of them were put on trial in Accra, theGhanaian capital. The defendants wereaccused of subversion and conspiracy tocommit subversion.

At the trial, which ended in August with fivecontinued on next page, column I

CAT Bulletin 2

appealsSouth African Student LeaderDies in CustodyMapetla MOHAPI, a 25-year-old SouthAfrican student leader, died on 5 Augustwhile being held in police custody. Theofficial reason given for his death is that hecommitted suicide by hanging himself.

There is reason to believe that if MrMohapi's'death was indeed from suicide, theprecipitating cause was torture. The deathoccurred at the Kei Road Police station nearEast London, 21 days after Mr Mohapi wasdetained. He is the 24th known politicaldetainee to have died in detention since1963, and the second detainee to have diedin the last six months.

His arrest in July was his second in twoyears. During his previous detention for 173days without charge in 1974-75, he wasallegedly seriously assaulted by securitypolice. At that time he was arrested withother members of the South AfricanStulents Organization (SASO) and theBlack Peoples' Convention (BCP). He wasreleased and subsequently "banned" underthe Suppression of Communism Act. Untilhis arrest this July, he had been working asan administrator with the Zimeli Trust Fund,a black organization which helps torehabilitate newly released political prisoners.

Mr Mohapi's more recent arrest is believedto have been connected with the unrestfollowing the disturbances in June and Julyin the African township of Soweto nearJohannesburg. He was detained under section6 of the Terrorism Act. This act and the'newly introduced Internal SecurityAmeadment Act empower the Miniiter ofJustice to detain a person incommunicadoand for an indefinite period without charge.

Both acts have been extensively usedfollowing the disturbances in Soweto andother black townships. It is not known howmany persons have been detained by securitypolice since the beginning of thesedisturbances in mid-June, but it is estimatedthat the figure exceeds 1,000.

Over the years there have been consistentallegations of torture of detainees in SouthAfrica by the security police duringinterrogation. In March of this year JosephMDLULL former member of the bannedAfrican National Congress, died less than 24hours after being detained by DurbanSecurity Police under the Terrodsm Act.

Ghanaian Death Sentence Based on AllegedTorture EvidenceContinued from previous pagedeath sentences, some of the defendants madestrong allegations of torture, which may indicatethat the statements made by some of the accusedwere given under physical threat.

During the closing stages of the trial, CaptainKojo TSIKATA, the most senior of the accused,who is now under death sentence, made a state-ment regarding the brutal manner in which he hadbeen treated while under interrogation by securitypolice and military intelligence officers.

Four security policemen have since beencharged with culpable homicide over thedeath of Mr Mdluli (July 1976 Newsletter).

In view of the deaths of Mr Mdluli and MrMohapi, there are fears for the safety ofthose detained in the aftermath of thetownship disturbances.

Please write courteously worded letters,requesting (a) an immediate inquest into thedeath in detention of Mapetla Mohapi, 04 afull and independent inquiry into theactivities of the security police, noting twodeaths in detention since March 1976, and(c) a full and independent inquiry into andreview of the South African detentionregulations to: Hon. B.J. Vorster, The PrimeMinister, Union Buildings, Pretoria, SouthAfrica; and to.. Hon. J.T. Kaiger, Minister ofJustice, Union Buildings, Pretoria, SouthAfrica.

Alberto ALTESOR, UruguayAl adoptee Alberto ALTESOR was arrestedin Uruguay on 21 October 1975. He is 62years old and married. His four childrenare living in exile. Setior Altesor is a formerdeputy in the Uruguayan congress. Thecongress was dissolved following a coupwhich took place in July 1973. The armedforces then assumed effective control ofthe country behind a civilian president.Señor Altesor is a leader of Uruguay'srailway workers' union and of the bannedCommunist Party.

Following his arrest last year, SeñorAltesor was held at the 13th InfantryBattalion, where he was subjected tobeatings, electric prods, hangings and,reportedly, 400 hours of enforced standing.On 14 December he was transferred to the5th Artillery Battalion, where it is believedhe remains today handcuffed andblindfolded.

In December 1974, 10 months before hisarrest, he underwent surgery in Argentina.An artificial valve was placed in his heart,thus leaving his health still vulnerable.Despite a medical prescription stating that hemust walk a moderate distance each day, heis not permitted to do so. He reportedlysuffers from severe hypertension, and is notgiven his prescribed medicines.

Please write courteously worded letters, inyour personal or professional capacity,requesting Seilor Altesor's release in view ofhis health, to: Sr Presidente de la Reptiblicadel Uruguay, Dr Aparicio Mindez, Casa deGobierno, Pza Independencia, Montevideo,Uruguay.

Captain Tsikata said that, in addition to torture,he was degraded and humiliated by being keptnaked and having to appear before his interrogatorsin a blanket. He said for six months he was neverallowed to see any member of his family or hislawyers, even when he made specific requestsfor individuals to witness the statement which heultimately made.

He stated that he was shown the unconsciousand battered body of one of the witnesses. He wasthreatened that the same thing would happen tohim unless he cooperated with the interrogators.He was, according to his statement, beaten by his

FRENCHMEN 'TORTURED IN ALGERIA'Two French citizens currently serving prisonsentences in Algeria were reportedly torturedbefore their trial in May 1976.

The two men, Michel PELLOIE and Jean-Claude CHAUCHARD, were sentenced on chargesof economic espionage to 10 years and 3 years inprison respectively on 7 May 1976 by a statesecurity court in Medea, Algeria. Both men werearrested last November and have been held invarious prisons, including those of Annaba,Constantine and Medea. Following their arrest,thefe was no news ot the two men until January1976 and no indication of what charges theywould face.

Reports indicate that they were severelytortured between mid-January and mid-February1976. At one stage Mr Pelloie was said to beincapable of speech because of his physicalcondition.

During their trial, both men indicated thatthey. had been put under pressure during interroga-tion. They are now being held in the prison of ElAsnam, where they are reported to be isolated insinkle cells measuring approximately three by fourmetres. They are allegedly allowed only briefexercise twice a days

PROGRESS OF TORTURE TRIALSAn undisclosed number of agents of theDireccion de Seguridad e InteligendaPolitical (DISIP) in Venezuela have beenarrested on the orders of the AttorneyGeneral José RAMON MEDINA on torturecharges. These arrests follow the murder ofsocialist leader Jorge RODRIGUEZ, whodied on the morning of 24 July of a heartattack after being interrogated through thenight at DISIP headquarters, and the arrestof four policemen held responsible for SefiorRodriguez's death.

Seftor Rodriguez and eight others had beenarrested in connection with the kidnapping ofUnited States businessman William NIEHOUS sixmonths ago. The arrests of the DISIP agentsfollowed a stormy congressional debate in whichformer presidential candidate Jos6 VICENTERANGEL accused DISIP of torturing three ofthose arrested at the same time as Rodriguez inconnection with the kidnapping.

Congress itself reacted with a call byopposition parties for the dismissal of the head ofDISIP, Aristides LANGER—who has sinceresigned—and a full investigation into the workingsof the secret police organization.

At least two of the four policemen heldresponsible for Sefior Rodriguez's death had a listof well-documented torture allegations againstthem. AI therefore wrote on28 July 1976 toVenezuelan President Don Carlos ANDRES PEREZ,welcoming the investigation into Seilor Rodriguez'sdeath. Al offered to put at the president's disposalany information on alleged Venezuelan torturerswhich AI has in its possession.EGYPT: Twenty former policemen and officerswere sent to prison with hard labour on 10 Augustafter being found guilty of assault and battery,unlawful detention, rape and torturing. The casearose from an incident 10 years ago when the latePresident Gamal Abdel NASSER, for politicalreasons,.ordered 20 officials to extract confessionsfram inhabitants of the village of Kamshish blamingthe death of a local peasant on their landlords.

interrogators and, after one session of suchtreatment, was so weak that he had to crawl backto his cell.

Of the eight accused at the May-to-August trial,one defendant was acquitted, two received longprison sentences and five were sentenced to death.These five are Captain Tsikata, Staff SergeantGodfried AMEREKA, Warrant Officer RaphaelNYATEPEH, Francis AGBOADA and MichaelHAMENOU. The five are now waiting for theirsentences to be confirmed or commuted by GeneralIgnatius ACHEAMPONG, the Ghanaian Head ofState •

•r-lsoNE .S F TUE 1 CI7Ti.: CA!" N

CO P ' C T IoN

Since this J:-.ws1 11.7.er wcnt to press, PrIrsty Ir_ornational has receivedinfortnation that Ernst :ILIJI.L1 of the Corman ::.er•ocratic (Gr.) hAs been released.

77e therefore 1),trticipants in the ;_'rsoners of the tconth Carnaipnto delzte his narc and not write cards or lcttcrs to the C. autlloritiesabout his ease.

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