Amnesty International Report 1974

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Amnesty InternationalAnnual Report 1973-746


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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL is a worldwide human rights movement which isindependent of any government, political faction or religious creed. It acts on behalfof men and women who are imprisoned anywhere for their beliefs, colour, ethnic originor religion, provided they have neither used nor advocated violence.AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL opposes capital punishment and torture in all cases andwithout reservation. It is now conducting an international Campaign for the Abolitionof Torture.AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, in its work for prisoners of conscience, seeks observancethroughout the world of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights andof the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO,the Council of Europe and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of theOrganization of American States and is recognized by the Organization of African Unity.

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Amnesty InternationalAnnual Report 1973-74


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"Never a moment of peace"Cartoon by F. Behrendt In Affenposfen, Oslo. Reproduced by kind permission of the art ist

Contents

Preface 5Eric BakerIntroduction 8Martin Ennals

The Membership 10Campaign for the Abolition of Torture 13

Re lie f 17Relations with Other Organizations 18

Capital Punishment 21Information and Publications 22Prisoners and Human Righ ts 23Country by Coun try

Foreword 24Stephanie GrantAfrica 26

The Americas 36Asia 49

Europe 60The Middle East 70

Letters 75Amnesty International Missions 1973-74 77

Am nesties and Special Releases 79News Releases 1973-74 81

Some Amnesty International Statistics 84IEC and Intern ational Secretaria t 85

Na tio nal Sections, Com mittees, Countries with Al Memb ers 86


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Prefaceby Eric Baker, Vice-Chairm anInternational ExecutiveCommitteeAm ne sty Internat iona l's ye ar 1973- 74encompasse d the coup d'e tat in Ch ile an dthe coup d'eta t in Port uga ltwo dramaticillust ra tions of the urg ent need for the workit was set up to do.The cou p in Chile coinc ide d with theInte rnat iona l Coun cil mee ting in Vie nna .The cou ncil's rea ction wa s imm ed iatel y toautho rize a miss ion to Sant iago . Wh ile thepre parations for thi s were goin g on bothin Lond on an d at the UN in New York, Algrou ps were alrea dy at work on beha lf ofpo litical pr ison ers arid re fug ees, writ ing tothe ne w gov ernm en t an d ra ising funds forrelief.The mission took place in Nove mbe r an dits rep ort illustra ted yet ag ain the ruth less-ne ss with which too many governm en tsmain tain them se lves in pow er. Again st thisna ked exerc ise of force , how ever, Am nes ty

International ha s bee n able , ove r the last13 ye ars or so, to set the will ingn ess ofindividual men and wom en in manydifferen t countr ies to de vot e tim e anden ergy to work ing for the vic tims of officialbruta lity.The Conferen ce on the Ab olition of Tor-ture wh ich was he ld in Par is in December197 3 wa s an outs tand ing exam ple ofwi lling ness. Prepare d for by a ser ies ofspec ialist sem ina rs in 11 dif ferent co untr ies,it mig ht, neve rthe less , ha ve been wr eckedby UNE SCO's refu sal at the las t mom entto let it meet in UNE SCO he adq uart ers.Ho we ver, rapid action by the FrenchSec tion and by the Intern ational Secretariatsaved the sit uation and the conferenc eopen ed on time . Never in the his tory ofAmnest y In tern ational has the re been aco nfe renc e which so manifestly focuss edthe ris ing concern of the public on an issu efun dam en tal to the life of everyone.Some four month s lat er, the coup d'etatin Po rtug al provid ed an un foreseen com-menta ry on wha t had been said in Paris ,as rep orts cam e in of the seizure of thefiles of the DG S (sec ret police). Mean whil e,mem bers of the DGS them sel ves trie d toes cape crow ds anxio us to lay hands on the

men from wh om so often many had sufferedin prison.It is not oft en tha t two su ch interna tion aleven ts lig ht up so effectively the harsh fac tswit h which Am nesty Internati ona l is fac edevery day in the files of every prisone rof co nscienc ethat gov ernm en ts whic hsh oul d be the fir st to defe nd the righ ts an dliber ties of the ir citizens .are . in too man ycountr ies, the first to inva de them an d thatthe arm y, police ari d civi l serv ant s wh ocla im tha t it is the ir respons ib ility to protec t,too often use the ir paw er to pe rsec ute .Amn esty International, the refore, alongwi th oth ers , mus t set itself to crea te theinstrume nts of an interna tion al cons cien ce.Ha ving , in the year of the 25th ann ive rsaryof the Uni ted Nations' Univ ers al Decla ra-tion of Huma n Rig hts , bee n instrume ntal inthe UN Gene ral Asse mb ly's ad option . o fResolut ion 3059 which exp ressed its abhor-ren ce of torture, it mu st now ens ure thatthe rep ort for which tha t reso lu tion ca lled

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growth has meant a considerable effort onthe part of the International Executive Corn-mittee, which bears the responsibility forthe work of the movement in betweenInternational Council meetings, and on thepart of the secreta riat which carries it out.It is. therefore, occasionally necessary tostop and consider longer term as well asimmediate issues. This the IEC was able todo when, in January 1974, it held a specialmee ting in Hamburg which was devotedless to rout ine business and more to takingstock and looking ahead. One group ofmajor decisions concerned the planneddevelopment of the movement and it wasag reed to set up a co-ordination unit todevelop relations with nation al sections andgroups. At the same time the IEC decidedto engage a field secretary who se area ofwork would be Soutli America and whosepurpose would be to disseminate informa-tion about Al's objectives and the way inwhich it achieves them . A second group ofdecisions includ ed the confirmation ofStephanie Grant as the Head of Research(in succession to Zbynek Zeman) and therecognition of the need for a deputysecreta ry general. One has now beenappointed: he will take up his duties inOctober 1974.

Among a number of matters, mainlyadm inistrative, one other should be men-tioned. At the Vienna council meet ing, theIEC was asked to set up a committee todiscus s th e issue of violence. At Hamburgthe membership of this committee wasapproved and, in fact, the committee itselfhas now produced its report.

Throughout the year, in addition to givingits attention to the proper development ofAl's work for prisoners, the IEC has alsospent a considerable amount of time in acareful scrutiny of the accounting proce-dur es of the secretariat and in this, has beenmuch indebted to the help which both theFinancial Control Committee and the newaudito rs have given.

It would not be proper to close thispre face without referring to Sean Mac-Bride*, the Chairman of the IEC, whose

make difficult or even impossible the con-tinuation of any formal association withAm nesty International itself. The success of Amnesty International

(and the fact that over 1,000 of theprisoners for whom groups have workedduring this last year have been releasedcannot be anything less than success)depends on the close cooperation of boththose who are paid to devote the whole oftheir time and expertise to its work andthose who can volunteer only a small partof both. One of the remarkable features ofAmnesty International over the years hasbeen the enthusiasm with which the twogroups have worked together. There is everyreason why this should continue andbecome even more effective.

After all, the prisoner can do nothing forhimself; our freedom gives us both theopportunity and the duty to do what wecan for him.

term of office comes to an end this year.Ov er the years during which he has beenassociated with it, he has made a majorcontribution to Amnesty International'sprestige in the world and thus to theeffectiveness of its work for prisoners ofconscien ce. His efforts to have a protocolado pted which would have gone a longway towards achieving the release ofpolitical prisoners in Vietnam, and hisdiscussions with both the Spanish govern-ment and the authorities in the USSR onAl's behalf, are well known. What is not sowell-known, perhaps, was his willingnessto be consulted on Al's affairs at any timeand the tireless attention which he gave tothe detail of its administration. His appoin t-ment to the position o f Commiss ioner forNamibia (with the rank of AssistantSecretary-Genera l in the United Nations)is one which all who know him feel ispar ticularly fitting yen though it may

from the Secretary General of the UN ispro vided in full detail. Amnesty Internationa lmu st, on a wider front, continue to pressfor the ratificat ion of the UN Covenant onCivil and Political R ights by those countries(many of them countries in which AmnestyInternation al has well established nation alsections) which signed the covenant in1966 and have made excuses ever since.It must cont inue, too, to set its sights onthe appointment of a UN commissioner ofhu man rights with effective powers ofinvestigation.

So far as torture is concerned, the cam-paign to abolish it did not come to an endin Paris: it began there. What follows isthe long (but perhaps not too slow) haul toco nvince governments that brutality cannotbe the basis of a stable society. Ever sincait was established, Amnesty Internat ionalhas repeatedly reminded governments thatthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights,oft en honoured an d often ignored, is never-theless the standard of a civilized behaviourof governments towards their citizens . Anew element in its work is that it has nowto remind armieseven those in the NorthAt lantic Treaty Organization (NATO)thattorture is forbidden by the Geneva Conven-t ions and there is no defence for eitherpractising or perfecting its methods.

How ever, what no government welcomes,an d what every army makes the greatestefforts to avoid, is unfavourable publicity.Publicity, therefore, is one of AmnestyInterna tional's most effect ive weapons.Impartial, detailed an d up-to-date reportsand press releas es on the one hand, andco urteous but insisten t inquiries fromof ficial Al missions, groups and individualson the otherthese ha ve proved the ireffect iveness over the years. Indeed, duringthe last 12 months the Internat ional Execu-tive Committee has approved an increasein the sta ff of the Information and Publica-tions Office, the insta llation of a telexmachine and other printing equipment andauthorized accredited missio ns to over 20countriesinclud ing extensive miss ions toLatin America, Africa and the Indian sub-cont inent. At the same time, the number ofAl groups has grown by nearly 300 and thenumber of adopted prisoners by 900.

Keeping pace with this rapid rate of

'In view of the pOst which he now holds in theUnited Nations, Sean MacBride felt it would beinappropriate for him to write the preface to thisye ar's Annual Report .


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Introductionby Martin EnnaIs, Secretary Ge neral the rather specialized needs of the organiza-tion. An international secretariat of some 16na tionalities, covering the problems of 100countries, and unable to offer the advan-tages of international salary scales andallowances , is not easily recruited or main-ta ined. Al work calls for a political andbehavioural discipline not normally expec-ted of either the age g roup or the salarylevel of the secretariat. Within anyorganizat ion which depends on voluntaryeffort the ro le of the professional secretariatis never a routine. Within Amnesty inter-na tional, the commitment to the prisonersfor whom we are all working is as essentialas the expert knowledge and experiencewhich can be contributed. Tho atmosphereof the secretariat combines the enthusiasmof the membership with the professionalismof the specialis t. The organization owesmuch to this combination.

of research and negotiation, field officersin Asia and shortly In Latin America,observers at trials, an d a constant flow ofdemands for authoritative and accurateinformation on prisoners of conscience,death penalties, torture an d human rightsthroughout the globe. The administrativepro blems of adjustmont to this type ofgrowth require little imagination. Thefinances to pay for such development createdemands and pressures on the membershipand sections which have to streamline andex ploit not only the en thusiasm of newrecruitment and public recognition but alsoto find the money to pay for the ever-increasin g demands of the central secr e-tariat.

Amnesty International has always beenfo rtunate in its staff: young people, on thewhole, who have acquired before joiningthe secretariat a degree o f expertise in theirfield of work which has to be adapted to

Tho Campaign for the Abolition ofTor ture started, like Amnesty Internationalitself, as a one year campaign. LikeAmnesty International the campaign hasproved that its existence is imperative untiltorture is abandonednot merely con-de rnnedas an instrument of governmentand a means of repression. The approvalby the United Nations General Assemblyof a resolution recognizing that torture ispractised by governments and calling for itsabolition is not enough to prevent oneper son from being tortured. It does, how-ever. mark a new awareness and willingnessby the United Nations to recognize thatinternational responsibility extends tohuman rights as well as to war and peace.

The publication of the Am nesty Inter-national Report on Torture and theinternational conference in Paris in Decern-ber 1973 provide background material andan action program which go beyond theborders of Amnesty International member-sh ip. The response to the lead given by Alhas been inspiring, but while the directionof international cooperation is clear, theroad is a long one.

An introduction to an annual reportprovides an opportunity to look forwardto the programs and problems of the presentand future based on the acquired experienceof the past. The continued growth of theorganization requires a constant process ofadjustment on the part of the membership,the secretariat and the executive. Anorganization such as Amnesty Internationalmu st respond to new situations, but it mustalso maintain the priorities and principleswhich justify its existence and cause itsgrowth. Amnesty International is not aprotest movement, reacting to worldatrocities. Nor is it a cris is organization ableto apply first aid to the victims of in ternalchaos. But as the organization becomesmore widespread in its repute and impact,there are greater demands upon it torespond to crises which we are not equippedto deal with and for which other organiza-tions exist.

The tragedy of Chile in September 1973is one challenging example of a situationwhich canand didstrain the resourcesof Amnesty Internationa l to the limit. Thosuccession of death penalties, the pre-valence of torture, the apparently lim itlessnumber of persons detained for supportingthe legal government of the previous day,the countless refugees from all over LatinAmerica affected by the coup, the need forand the abundance of information: allcreated in their own way a strain on thosecretariat and the sections in financial,manpower and emotional terms. Thetragedy of Chile, however, could andshould not overwhelm the urgent long-termneeds of those in other areas to whichAmnesty International already has conenitments.

Th is commitme nt to the unpubi icized butcontinuing problem is a fundamental partof Al's philosophy. It is worth notinq thatdespite the attention which has been paidto Chile, there have also been mksi:ins andoth er related act,rities on beholt ofprisoners in Uruguay Bo!ivia, Paraguay andArgentina during mu ye:it. in addition tothe adoption program in other LatinAmerican countries.

The structure envisaged in the statutedrafted in 1968 was designed to providefor an organizatio n with a research staff offour in a secretariat of 12, servicing at avery limited level some 500 Al adoptiongroups. The full- and part-time staff of theInternational Secretariat now numbers some70 persons, including an information andpublications department, a campaign stafffor the abolition ot torture, a specialcoordinati on unit to work closely withsections and groups, separate research unitson Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe andthe Middle East, and vo lunteers. The callson the secretaria t are no longer limited tothe production of case information but nowinclude specialist reports and publications ,a growing relief program, submissions andrepresentation s to the United Nations andother inter-governmental agencies, missions


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Th e Mem be rs hipuni ons hav e giv en their sup por t to cam -pa ign s organ ize d by the Far oe IslandsSec tion on be hal f of prisone rs in Indone siaan d Chi le. Th e Fin nis h Se ction ha s rece ntlyapp oin ted a ne w boar d an d plans aroun der way for a fund -raising and pu bli citydrive, on e of the main aim s being toenc our age the estab lishme nt of gro ups out-sid e He lsinki.

The Fren ch Sect ion doub led in size , staffand bu dge t in 197 3-7 4. The expa nsion waslargely the res ult of the pu blicity gene ratedin Franc e by the Cam paign for the Ab olit ionof Tor ture an d by the siting of the in ter-na tional conf ere nce on torture in Paris.More tha n 20 0 art icles appe are d in theFre nch press on the con fer enc e and ca m-paign. Al sta tem en ts and po sitions on oth erissues are no w co nst ant ly refe rred to inne wsp ape rs, ma ga zine s an d bo oks and onradi o and television and en joy wide respe ctin po litical and acad emi c circles.The Be lgian Section grew rapidly duringthe first five mon ths of 1974 , wh en 11 newgro up s we re form ed. The first Flemi sh-

spe aking group s are now be ing forme d af tera previou s em ph asis on ind ividual me mb er-sh ip. The Luxemb ou rg Se ction has co n-tinued to gro w stead ily, and a grou p ha srecen tly bee n for med of mem ber s at theCou rt of Just ice of the Eu ropean Co m-mu nities.The Aust rian Se ction, which orga nizedthe 1973 Inte rnation al Cou ncil mee ting, ha sesta blished a num be r of gro up s to wo rk onbeh alf of prisone rs in cer tain profess ion alca teg ories. Suc ces sful pu blic ity cam pai gnsorg anized by the Sw iss Se ction haveen sur ed its con tinued deve lop me nt.Individu al memb ers hip of the rishSe ction ha s inc rea sed and efforts are bein gmad e to es tab lish gro up s ou tside Dublin.The Brit ish Sec tion has devo ted att ent ionto the es tab lishmen t of co- ord inationgro ups . In ta ly consi der able prog ress hasbe en mad e towar ds the form ation of a

se ction. Man y peop le ther e sig ne d theap pea l to the UN Ge ner al Assem bly to ou t-law torture.Me mb ers an d gro ups in Cana da hav eforme d a single se ction with an office inOt taw a. Ther e ha s bee n a rap id incre asein the numb er of Ca nad ian gro up s. Themaj ority are still in the east bu t me mbe r-

An oth er deve lop me nt ove r the pa st ye arhas be en a series of meet ings in Lo ndo nbe twe en the se cretaria t staff an d rep res en-tatives of nat iona l section group s wo rkingon particula r co un tries. The ob jec t wa s toexchan ge in format ion an d idea s abo ut the secou ntr ies with a view to de velopin g long -term polic ies and mak ing Al's work mo reeff ective. Su ch mee tings wer e he ld onSpai n, Ch ile, the Sov iet Unio n and Braz il.

A significant meet ing of Eu ropeanna tional sec tion repre sen tatives, held inAm ste rda m in Febr uary 197 4, discu sse d thewh ole direction of Al's wo rk, exam ining ourpre sen t pr iorit ies an d ter ms of referen cean d discu ssing the effectivene ss of ourstructure. The mee ting was also attende dby mem ber s of the Internat ional Secr eta riatand a repre sen tat ive of the IEC. Al l theme etings were aimed at es tab lishing clo serlin ks and a be tter und ers tanding betw eenthe se cretaria t and se ctions and group s.Fo llowing a de cision of the 19 73 Inter-national Cou nc il me eting in Vienn a, the IECapp oin ted a com mittee of eigh t Al me mbe rs

to stu dy the no n-v iolence prov isions ofAl's sta tut e. Thi s comm ittee met InAm ste rda m on 6 Apri l 19 74 und er thechairma nsh ip of Dr Herm an van Geun s ofthe IEC . Its rec om men dat ions will be con -sidered by the 1974 Interna tional Co unc ilme eting in Ve jen , De nma rk.The mo vem en t itself aga in grew signi-ficantly in 19 73- 74, the total nu mbe r ofgro up s ris ing to 1,48 3, an incre ase of 28 0groups ov er 19 72 -73 . Es tab lished sec tionsha ve mad e ef forts to ens ure tha t theincre ase in their grou ps has bee n mo reorganiz ed than in the pa st. They have con-centrate d on strength ening existing gro ups .New grou ps have been enco ura ged in areaswh ere at present no gro ups exi st.W es t Germ an y and the Neth erlandsrem ain the two lar ges t sec tions, the formerwith over 50 0 group s, the latter wi th over14 ,00 0 me mb ers. The Swe dis h Se ction ha sforme d over 70 new grou ps. A mem be r ofthe staff of the Stockhol m office spent awe ek at the Interna tional Secretar iat todeve lop pla ns for clos er coope ration.Th e Da nis h and Norw eg ian Se ctions,a fter a period of co nso lida tion, ha veinc rea sed the nu mb er of the ir grou ps.Mem be rs of pa rliam en t and local trade

The exte nsi ve pub licity su rro und ing theCam pa ign for the Abo lition of To rturestreng thened su pp ort for Amn esty Inter-na tional in the majo r na tional sections in1973 -74 . It also foc us sed attention on thewo rk of the sma ller sec tions an d attract edmemb ers in ne w are as.The cont inuing gro wth of the move me ntan d the nece ssa ry de ve lopmen t of fresh Altech niques for helping prisone rs ofcon sci ence led to the est ablishm en t of aco-o rdination uni t with in the InternationalSec retaria t un der the Exec utive Secr etary,Ma rtin En tho ven . Th e un it wa s set up tobroa den channe ls of comm uni cationbet wee n the sec retariat and sec tions,gro up s and mem ber s an d to hel p thos e wh owish to pro mo te im ag inative ne w kin ds ofcam pa igns for prisoner s.Reco gni zing the urg en t nee d for Al to

build and grow in the Third Wo rld, and inrespo ns e to a pro pos al by the India nSec tion, the Interna tional Execu tive Co rn-mit tee app ointed Ric hard Re och , wh o ha dbeen a mem ber of the secretar iat staf f, towo rk as a reg ion al field se cre tary in So uthAs ia on an exp erim en tal bas is. He took uphis ap poi ntm ent in Febr uar y 19 74 and isba sed in New Del hi.Whil e keep ing the individu al prison erver y muc h in mi nd, spec ial ca mp aig ns havebeen laun che d to attract att ent ion to who lecat ego ries of det ain ees suc h as doc tors andtea ch ers, and to enc ourage oth er organ iza-tions to join Al in ap pea ling on beha lf ofthe se pr isoners . The co-or dination unit isalso en co uraging an oth er ne w de velopm entin Al tech niques: the forma tion of pro-fes sio nal ly-base d Al grou ps, such as thedoctors gro up in the US Sec tion and thejournal ists' group in the Aust rian Se ction.Thes e sp eci alist group s and othe rs lik ethem provide exp ert know led ge for themove me nt and are un iqu ely eq uipped tobring pre ssu re to bear throu gh professi ona lorg ani zations to he lp co lleague s who are inprison.

During 1973 -74 , national sec tions, incoop era tion with the In ternationa l Secr e-

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taria t, moun ted intensi ve cam paigns direc-ted at crisis areas . Am ong the m were anem ergen cy Viet nam ac tion cam paign whic hraised a con side rab le sum of mone y forthe relief of prisone rs there ; a campa ignon be hal f of the increasin g num be r ofper son s wh o hav e "disapp ea red" in Gua te-mala; drives on beha lf of de tained doc torsin Urug uay and Ch ile , teac her s in Gu atemalaan d me mb ers of pa rliamen t in Indo nes ia;and a ca mp aig n for a gen era l am nes ty inBra zil to mark the 10th anni versary of thePres en t reg ime .


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Campa ign for the Abo litio n of To rtureroposal for the constitution of a sectionin Egypt has bee n drawn up .The Indian and Bangladesh Soctions

played an active part in the Campaign forthe Abolition of Torture. One of the tasksof Al's new field secretary in the area willbe to help organize an Asian regional co n-ference which is planned for the autumn of197 4. Contact is being mad e with the sec-tions in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

In addition to forming se ve ral newgroups, the Japanese Section has organiz edcampaigns on behalf of prisone rs in Taiwan,Sou th Korea and Brazil. It has also assistedthe Internationa l Se cretaria t in findingob servers to attend trials in South Korea.The Sou th Ko rean Sect ion has co ntinuedto publici ze actively the work of AmnestyInterna tional in the Korean press. Bothsectio ns were represented at the Inter-national Co uncil meeting .

All the branches of the AustralianSe ct ion have continued to expand andini tia l steps have been taken to centralizeso me of their joint activities. A parliamen-ta ry group ha s be en formed which hascontacted sim ilar groups in other countriesin order to exchange ideas. The NewZealand Sec tion received good publicity inthe press and on television during itscam paign agains t torture .

sh ip has spread to centra l and westernCanada. One of the f ra ncophone groups hasundertak en to transl ate and distribute theAmnesty International Newsletter, newsreleases and other material in French.Th e United States Section has qua d-rupled its number of groups, the greatestexpansion being in Cal ifornia and Texas.A ca mpaign has been launch ed on behalfof imprisoned mem be rs of the medicalpro fessio n. Th e section has provided con-siderable help In relations with the Un itedNations Secretariat in New York an d infinding observers for missions.The Mexican and Per uvian Sectionshave receiv ed increased support. A weekof films, plays and folk concerts wa sorg anized by the Mex ican section to high-light Amnesty Internationa l's campaignagainst to rture. Both sections played a majorro le in helping Chilean re fugees followingthe coup.

Efforts to expand the existing sec tionsin Africa and to form new sections therehave not been success ful so fa r. TheGam bian Section was represen ted at theInternational Co uncil meeting in Vienna.The section in Israel has been reorgan-ized an d a new boa rd ele cted. A mem berof the International Secretaria t staf f has metwith Al supporters in Lebanon, and thereare hopes of reviving the sectio n the re . A

Opp osite: Symbol of the C ampaign for theAbolition of Torture, designed byRaym ond Gid

Th e Campaign fo r the Abolition ofTo rture, launched in December 19 72, wastra nsformed during 1973-74 from a dr iveto arouse public con sc iousne ss throughoutthe wo rld to the ep idemic of systematictorture by go vernments, into a con creteaction program to era dicate it. In theprocess a score of governments and inter-nationa l organizations committed them-selves to the campaign and more than onemil lion ind ividua ls spread over some 90countries signed Al's international app ealto the United Nations General Assemblyto outlaw tor tu re effective ly.The pivo t of the campaign's newdirection was Amnesty In ternational'sConference for the Abolition of Torture,which was held in Paris on 10 and 11December 1973. The con fe rence waspre ceded by an intensive interna tionalpubl icity campaign mounted jointly by these cretaria t in London and all nationalse ctions. Ne wspapers , magazines , radio

and te levision everywhere respondedalmost imm ediately to the campaign,devotin g co nsidera ble space and time tothe serious problem of torture in theworld. Many internatio nal and na tionalorg an izations and individuals also res-ponded, express ing their interest and

con ce rn and offering ass istance. Th eind ividuals included politician s, church-me n, trade uni on ists, profess ional peoplesuch as doctors and lawyers, and peoplein man y other walks of life.In preparation for the December con-ference, a number of regional studyconferences and meetings we re hel d. AtLysebu, ne ar Os lo, Norway, physicians,psychiatrists and psycho logists dis cussedthe physic al and men ta l consequences oftor ture. At Schilde , near Antwerp,Belgium, a Benelux confere nce took plac eon the so cio-ec onomic and political asp ectsof torture . Seminars in Eng land dealt w ithlegal, moral and medical aspects. Othermeetin gs were held in West Germany,Ireland , Canada, Mex ico, Switzer land,New Zealan d, US A and Australia. Expertsfrom man y disciplines analyz ed causesand made recommendations for prevention

an d treatment: their reports and findingsprovided background material for the ParisConference .At the same tim e, the InternationalSecreta riat prepared an extensive reporton the his torical, ethical, medical andlegal dimensions of torture, as wel l as itsuse in more tha n 60 co untries throughoutthe world. Th is Am nesty InternationalRep ort on Torture, pub lished on 3 Decem-ber 1973, gives a dev astating ac count ofbrutality and cruelty perpetrated by manon his fellows. Pu blication of the reportled to a last-minute dec ision by UN ESCOto deny the use of its Paris headqua rtersto Al for the conference. UNE SC O claimedtha t the report was a con ference docu-me nt an d that this constitu ted a breachof the con tract that Al had signed in April197 3. Th e contract stated that mem be rstates could not be criticized insideUNESCO Ho use or in documentation forany conferences held there. Al, on theother hand, claimed tha t the cancellationhad been prompted by pressure from somegov ernments who se practices were exposedin the report.

Within three days of the cancellation,the French Section found an alternative


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conference site in Paris, and the prepara-tions proceeded w ithout interruptio n.

The Conference for the Abolition ofTorture opened on 10 December 1973,the 25th anniversary of the UnitedNations' Universal Declaration of HumanRights. It proved an enormo us success,both in terms of international publicity forthe issue and of a program for futureaction . The 300 participants Includedmany internationally distinguished figures,representative s from governm ents andfrom a score of international non-go vern-mental organizations, members of AmnestyInternationa l and other concerned indi-viduals from all over the world. Messageswere received from, among others, primeministers and the UN Secretary General,Dr Kurt Waldhelm. More than 150 inter-national journalists and half a dozentelevision teams covered the conference.

The conference was opened by itsChairman, Sean MacBride , who remindedthe participants that their task was toestablish the strategy for a continuingcampaign against tortu re and to draw upan effective program to eradicate it. Afterother renowned speakers had addressedthe first plenary sess ion, all those on theconference platform, as a symbolic act,signed the Appeal ag ainst T orture. A wire-photo of the signed appeal was thentransmitted to New York, where it waspresented the same day to the Presidentof the UN General Assembly at the startof a special session commem orating the25th anniversary of the Universal Declara-tion of Human Rights.

The main work of the conference wasdone in the four conferen ce commissions.They produced a vast amount of recom-mendations and proposals for futureact ion, some of a very general and"utopian" nature, others practical and ofimmediate urgency.

Commission A. which dealt with theproblems of identifying individuals andinstitutions responsible for torture, recom-me nded the establishment of a centralclearing house for Information on torture.It also recommen ded continuation of theefforts to develop an international courtof criminal justice, a nd, pending its estab-lishment , the setting up of international

tribunals to hold public hearings onallegations of torture.

Commission B, dealing with the socio-economic and political factors affectingtorture, formulated s pecial recommenda-tions for action ag ainst torture to betaken by police and military personnel,religious organizations, educ ators, artists,trade unions and business enterprises andemployers.

Commission C discussed international,regional an d national leg al factors a ffectingtorture practices and made recommenda-tions concerning the strengthening ofinternational law and its Implementationon the one hand, and of national law andits Implementation on the other. Commis-sion C also emphasized the specialresponsibi lity of the legal profession,stressing the important role that could beplayed by professional organizatio ns inexpressing solidarity with persecutedcolleagues, sending observers to trials,and making funds available for individualsin need of legal aid.

. Commission D dealt with the physicaland psychologica l effects on the victimsof torture and the involvement of doctorsbefore, during a nd after torture session s.The commiss ion, recognizing that medicalpersonnel become Inv olved in the practiceof torture in a variety of ways, drew upguidelines for a code of conduct formedical personnel with regard to tortureand made a number of specific proposalsfor action against torture in the medicalfield. Commission D established two inter-national committees to ensure the imple-mentation of these proposals. In addition,It recomme nded that an internationalregister of medical c onsultants be initiatedto record those willing to undertakeresearch missions to investigate allega-tions of torture. The committee to investi-gate existing national and internationalmedical codes of conduct will determinewhether existing ethical codes should bemodified or amended to reflect sp ecialmedical obligation3 with respect toeradicating torture. It will also be respon-sible for promoting the inclusion ofmedical e thics relating to torture inmedical training pro grams. T he committeeon research planning will be responsible

fo r the assembly of bibliographic materialon torture and the developmen t of relevantresearch projects.

Immediate ly after the conference, Al'sInternational Executive Committee, Inaccordance with the recommendationsmade, decided to establish a newdivision within the International Secretariatto work exclusively for the continuationof the Campaign for the Abolition ofTorture. One of the first tasks of the newcampaign department, which assumed itsthree-man strength in May 1974, was theproduction 'and distribution of the FinalReport of the Paris Conference. Thisreport contains a concise account of theconclusions and recomme ndations of thefour conference commissions, togetherwith the final conferen ce declaration,messages addressed to the conference, anda full list of participants and organiza-tions represented. Another major initiativeon the basis of the conference recom-mendations has been the setting up of acentral information clearing house, whichcollects and disseminates information ontorture.

On the diplomatic front, a majorachievement of the Campaign for theAbolition of Torture was the unanimousadoption by the UN General As sembly on2 Novembe r 1973 of a resolution on

torture. T his was largely the outcome ofAl's efforts in promoting its proposedDraft for a UN Resolution on a Conventionon Torture and the Treatment of Prisoners.More than 140 governments had beenasked to back such a resolution, andduring his visit to New York in October1973, Secretary General Martin Ennalsdiscussed this matter with representativesof some 15 governments. Eight countriesagreed to sponsor the resolution: Austria ,Costa Rica, Ireland, Les otho, Nep al, theNetherlands, Trinidad and Tobago andSweden. In the resolution that was passedon 2 NovemberGeneral Assembly Reso-lution 3059 (XXVIII)the assemblyagreed that "torture is still being practisedin various parts of the world" and rejectedany form of torture. Mo reover, it decidedto examine the question of torture at afuture session. The full resolution isprinted at the end of this article.

Al has now begu n a fresh dr ive fo rgov ernmental support for including thequestion of torture on the agenda of thenext session of the General Assembly. Anew draft resolution has been preparedfor adoption at that session. T he resolutioncould prove important in creating inter-nat ional legal machinery for reporting tothe UN Secretary General on the applica-tion of the UN Standard Minimum Rulesfor the Treatment of Prisoners by themember states. An ongoing effort topersuade governments that sponsored the1973 resolution against torture and anumber of others to propose this strongerresolution has provided tentative co-sponsors for the next session of theGeneral Assembly.

Dr Irmgard Flutter, Chairwoman of theAustrian Section, repres ented Al when thequestion of torture was discussed at ameeting in Bucha rest, Romania, 15-20April 1974, of the Inter-ParliamentaryUnion, a non-governm ental organizationcomposed of parliamentarians from morethan 70 countries. Al and the InternationalCommission of Jurists had submittedmaterial on the subject to the IPU. TheIPU's Committee on Parliamentary, Juridi-cal and Human Rights Questions unani-mously pass ed a draft resolution ontorture which will be presented at theIPU's annual conference in Tokyo inOctober 1974.

The CAT office is not only concernedwith projects that look toward such long-range results as international legalmachinery, but also with newly rec eivedallegations of torture that require urgentaction. After receiving from Greece manyallegations of torture (by electrical shock,beating, falanga, rape and enforcedstandin9), the CAT office issued a newsrelease and sent letters and cables toPresident Phaedon Gizikis and to thecomman ding officers of five nam ed tor-turers. T he office also asked seve ralnational sections to follow suit. Theresponse from the US Section was particu-larly thorough: it solicited and receivedthe help of severa l US senators andcongressmen on behalf of Greek prisoners.

On 10 June 1974, a letter was sent toPrime Minister Bulent Ecevit of Turkey


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Relieffterseveralrep ortshad bee nreceived tor ture cha mb ersused bythesecurityabo ut bruta l beatingsin am ilitary pri son police. DrAfonsode Albu que rque,ain Ank ara. Mr Ecevit was urg ed to suspe ndthree kno wn torturers from their dutiesand to initiate an official investigation.At the time of wri ting the CAT officewa s prepar ing materia l for relea se aboutpublic floggings In Namibia. It was alsowork ing on the aftermath of the cou p inPortugal which has resul ted in gre aterexposure of the torture meth ods and

Por tuguese psychiatr ist who has treatedtorture vic tims and who attended Al' sParis conferen ce in Dece mber, is leadinga tea m of Portuguese doc tors who areinvestigating the me thodo log y of torture,the short - and long-term effec ts on thevictims and the collaboration of med ica lpersonnel in torture.

Re so lut ion 30 59 Ad op ted un an im ou sly by the 28th Se ss ion of th eGene ral Ass em bl y of th e Un ite d Nations 2 No ve mb er 197 3Observance of the 25th ann iversary of the Un iversal Declaration of Hum an RightsThe General Assembly,Mindful of art icle 5 of the Universal Declaration of Hum an Righ ts, which affirms tha tno one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or deg rading treatment orpun ishme nt,Gra vely concerned that torture is still practised in var iou s par ts of the world,Bea rin g in min d hat this subject ha s been brought before various organs deal ing withhum an rights, through various repo rts re lating to violations of human rights andfundam ental freed oms ,Bear ing in min d also hat the Su b-C om missio n on Prevention of Discrim ination an dPro tection of Minorities has asked the Commis sion on Hum an Rights to authorize itto inc lud e in its agenda for the next session an item on the huma n rights of personssub jec ted to any form of de tention and imprisonment,Rejects any form of torture and othe r cru el, inhum an or deg rading treatment orpun ishment;Urge s all Go vernm ents to be come parties to existing intern ational ins truments whichcontain prov isions relating to the prohibit ion of torture an d other inhuma n or de gradingtreatm ent or punishment;Re quests he Secretary-General to inform the Gene ral Assembl y, unde r the "Reportof the Economic and Social Council", of the con sideration which may hav e bee n givento this qu estion by the Su b-C om mission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protectionof Mino rities or by the Comm iss ion on Human Rights and other bodies con cerned;

Man y aspects of Amnes ty Interna tional'swork attract publ ic attention , an d it isind eed one rol e of the org an ization to focuspu blic Indignation on the horrors of politicalimp risonm en t. But an important part of ourtask frequently escapes notice, except ofcourse by the fam ilies and prisoners whoben efit by it. This is the vast an d growingprogram of reliefIn the form of mon eyand good s--which is co-ordin ated bet weenthe International Secre tar iat, grou ps an dnationa l sect ions.As the num ber of prison ers under adop -tion by Al groups grows, so do es theopp or tunity for the groups to offer posit iveassistance to the prisoners and theirfamilies in the form of relie f. Wh en thebre ad win ner of a fam ily is unjustlyimprisoned, it often happens that the basicfinancial underpin ning of the fam ily col-lapses. Items such as school fees, mone y

for shelter, cloth ing, foo d, and othe rbasic ne uessities become impossible toobtain. In Thi rd World countries , where thestrugg le for survival Is often difficult evenin nor ma l circumstan ces, the Imprisonmen tof a wag e-e arning membe r of the familycan plu ng e lar ge numbe rs of depe nd entsinto a crisis which ma y take them rapidlybelow subs istance leve l. Thu s the Imp rison-ing autho rities, by detain ing one pe rson,punish man y. And the prisoner, subjectedto all the hu miliation and pai n of physicalimprisonme nt and per haps also torture, hasto face the additiona l agony of knowingthat his fam ily is threatened with starvation.It is here that Am ne sty International canand does intervene. Where the necessityexists, adop ting grou ps are instruc ted tora ise and cha nnel funds to the families oftheir prisoners. With mor e tha n 3,600prisoners under ado ption, man y of themwith destitute families, the amo unt ofmon ey raise d and tran smi tted by grou psis now cons ide rable, and is grow ing as

ado ption work exp an ds. In addition to thefunds raised volun tarily by groups for theirown pr isoners, Al has ove r the past yea radministered large-scale ald projects basedon donation s from the United Nations andother bodies: for Instance, 1 0,000 wasmade availab le by the Swed ish Rad io TrustFund for prisoners in one cou ntry, andmore than twice this amo unt has beendes ignated for southern Afr ica in a grantreceived by the Swedish Sec tion from theSwed ish Governme nt. But even wh ere thera ising of funds is the responsibility ofind ividua l gro ups , the sums involved canbe very imp ressive . So me 800 of grou p-raised mone y flows every month throughthe International Sec retariat to Rhodesia,for Instance.The growing scope of Al 's relief workpresen ts a continuing chal lenge to theorganization and its sup po rters. The misery

inflicted on the relatives of pri soners ofconscience thro ugh out the word is anap palling affront to hu manity which mustbe remed ied. The ult imate rem edy is ofcourse the rele ase of the prisoners an d theeradica tion of political persecution. But thisis a solut ion which can on ly be hop ed forin the long term. In the meantime, Al gro upsmu st continue to bea r the brunt of theproblem. Their work is de dicated and vital.Just how vital is per ha ps ind icated by thefollowing extract from the letter of aprisoner's wife to he r husban d's adop tinggrou po ne of hun dreds of such letterswhich pass throu gh the Interna tional Se cre-tariat ea ch yea r:Ve ry often, I won der whether ourlives wi ll ever improve. At suchmom ents I cry, and I try to figure outhow to ea rn more money. Eleven hou rswork a day make s a woman worried ,tired, and dow n-hearted. May Go dble ss you for you r hel p on behalf ofmy children.De cides o examine the ques tion of torture and other cruel, inhum an or degrad ingtreatment or punishm ent in rela tion to dete ntion and imprisonme nt as an item at a futuresession of the Gen era l Assemb ly.


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Rela tio ns with othe r Organizat ion s

Un ited Na tions mus t be seen as a step fo rward, albeit atim id one. The commission also autho rizedits president to send a teleg ram to Pre sidentAugusto Pinoch et Ugarte of Chile express-ing concern at the situation there. Thismove, too, may prov e to be a valuableprecedent. Meanwhile, Al has communi-cated sup plementary materials on Brazi l an dIndone sia to the commission requestingthat they be broug ht directly to the a ttentionof the working group of five.

Al also joined several other non-g overn-men tal organiz ations In circulating to thecom mission a statement on the need forconscientious thjection to milita ry serviceto be recognized as a human right. Thecommission agreed to take up the matter asa priority item at its next ses sion.

In another statement submitted by agroup of non-gov ernmental organiza tions,Al took positions on va rious aspe cts ofrepo rts and studies of the sub-comm issionde aling with equality in the admini strationof justice, discriminat ion in the matter ofpolitical rights and discriminatio n in respectof the rights of everyone to leave anycountry, including his own, and return tohis coun try.

Al continue d its policy of prese ntingev ide nce to va rious UN bodies concernedwi th violations of human rights in southernAfrica. Of particular note was the excep-tional opp ortunity granted on 11 Octoberto the Secretary General to testify befo rethe Special Pol itical Com mittee of theGe ner al Assembly on the serious situationin South Africa and Namibia, with par ticularref erence to torture pra ctices in the lattercountry. Soo n afterward s, Sean MacBride,Chairman of Al's In ternational ExecutiveCommittee , was ap pointed by the Gener alAssembly as UN Commissioner forNam ibia.

Organization of African UnityAmnesty Inte rnational enjoys obs erver

sta tus on the Co-ordinat ing Committee ofthe Organization of Africa n Unity's Bureaufor the Placem ent and Ed ucation of AfricanRefugees (O AU/BPEAR) . A repr esentativeof the Re search De partment attended arefugee seminar org anized by the BPEARin Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, In earlyeDecem-ber 1973, where the question of refug eesdeta ined in their host countr ies was fo r thefirst time openly discussed, as a res ult ofan Al initiative. A furth er OAU/I3PEARmeeting in Addis Ababa during May 1974was also attended by an Al dele gate, andAl continues to value its relations with theOrganization of African Unity, not only ini ts work for detained refugees , but also inregard to broader human rights proble mson the African continent.

a lon g-standin g Al member in Stras bourg,an d Nigel S. Rodley, Al's Legal Officer, atthe 18th and 19th meet ings of internationalorganizatio ns interested in quest ions relat-ing to hum an rights, which were convenedby the Counci l of Europe Secretariat'sDirectora te of Hum an Rights on 24 Janu aryand 8 May respectively. Arra ngements havebee n made for Al and other conce rnednon-g overnmental organiza tions to partici-pa te actively in the deve lopment of Counci lof Europe po licy with regard to a proposedEuropean code of police ethics. (The con-nection of such a cod e with the preventio nof torture was stressed at the Pa risConferen ce for the Abolition of Torture. )

In accordance with a request from AI,and with the rul es relating to consultativesta tus , an Al statement on conscien tiousobjection was circulate d to the Counci lof Europe's Committee of Ex perts onHuman Righ ts. Al has reason to believe thatthe commit tee has included the questionon its pro posed sho rt- and medium-termprogram on human rights.

No n-Go vernmental Orga nizationsAl has continued its policy of cooperatin g

with and seeking the cooperation of a w iderange of other non- governmenta l organiza -tions INGOs), pa rticularly those concer nedwith human rights. The Chairman of theIEC , the Secreta ry Genera l and the LegalOff icer represe nted Al at various meetingsof the speci al committee of NG Os con-cerned with human rights which haveconsulta tive status with the UN 's Economicand Soci al Council (ECOSOC) in Genev a.Dr Am elia August us has represented Al atme etings of the NGOs' sister comm itteein New York. The Legal Officer and RolandFis cher repre sented Al at m eetings ofNGOs intere sted in human righ ts whichhave cons ultative status with the Councilof Europe .

Fo llowing up on the draft resolutio ns oninterna tional hum anitarian law and tor ture,sup port for whic h had been secured frommo st NG0s, Al is now seeking broa d-basedNG O support for new draft UN GeneralAssembly resolution s on torture and capitalpunishment and has been working with asmal l group of NG Os to mak e the most ofthe cur rent diplcm atic confe rences on there -affirmation and develo pment of inter-nati onal human itarian law .

Meanwhile, 69 NGOs attended the

Amnesty Internat ional 's most spectacularachievement at the UN was the passage bythe 28th General Assembly on 2 Novem ber1973 of Resolution 3059 (XXVIII) by whichthe assembly re jected any form of torturoand other crue l, inhuman or deg radingtre atment or punishment in rel ation todetention and imprisonm ent. The details ofthis aspect of the cam paign against tortureare covered on pages 13 -16.

Availing itself of its. consuR ative statu swith the UN Econom ic and Social Counc il(EC OS OC), Al directed a concerted effortbef ore the Comm ission of Human Rights, afunctional comm ission of ECOSO C, at its30th session (4 February- 8 March 1973).Al was repres ented by Professor Frank C.Newman of the University of Ca lifornia inBerkeley, Betty Richa rdson Nute , a formerdirector of the US Nationa l Counci l ofChurches Latin Am erica department, andDr Amel ia Augustus, Executiv e Director ofthe US Section. Al was particularly con-ce rne d that the commission exercise itspo wers to investigate, or make thoroughstudies of, situations which reve al a con-sistent pattern of gross violations of humanrights.

Al had communicated the situation inIndonesi a as meri ting such attention, andit wa s known that this communica tion,toget her with earlier repo rts on Brazil andNorthern Ireland, had been referre d by thecommission's Sub-Com mittee on the Pre-vention of Discriminat ion and Protectio nof Minorities to its parent body for possibleaction . Furthermore, Profes sor Newman, inan oral intervent ion before the commission,argued forceful ly that the urgent situationin Ch ile required an imme diate inve stiga-tion.

In the eve nt, the co mmission set up aworking gro up of five of its members tostudy the referred communicati ons andagreed to consider them as a matter ofpriority at its next sessioc . Given theresistan ce of som e states to this kind ofaction within the commiss ion, the move

Organiz ation of America n States

Council of Eur op eAl cont inued to take an active part in the

work of the Counc il o f Europ e. The org ani-zation was repres ented by Roland Fischer,

Al, whic h has "cooperative relations"with the Inter-Am erican Com mission onHuman Rights of the Or ganization ofAme rican States, maintained close consul-tation with the commis sion reg ardingdev elopments in the cases of certainind ividuals detained in Paraguay and inthe case of a long list of deaths and disap-pearances in Guatemala (see LatinAmerica).

On 23 May Al sent its Re search Dep art-men t document "Deaths in Custody inBra zil" to the commission alleging grossand widespread violations of the right tolife , liberty and security of the pe rson, theright to humane treatm ent during the timeof custody and the right not to receivecruel, infamous or unusual punishment, allin contravention of the Ame rican Decl ara-tion on the Righ ts and Du ties of Ma n. Alrequested the commission to investigatethe allegations and take all the mea sures inits power to ensure that the practice sthereby described be termina ted .


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Cap ital Pun ish men tthe Covena nt on Econ om ic, Cultura l andSocial Rig hts.Decem be r 19 73 Paris Conf ere nce for theAbo lition of Torture, and the ir rep res ent a-tives ma de an impor tan t con tribution to theconference 's succe ss. It is ho ped that thistype of coo pe ration with the ant i-torturecamp aign wil l con tinue and that manyNGO s will be repre sen ted at the mee ting ontorture to be he ld in Den ma rk in ass oc iationwith the 1974 Internat ional Co uncil meet-ing. Already man y NG Os with whom Alhas coo per ate d ha ve pass ed resol utionsconfirmi ng their ow n com mitme nt to secur ethe ab olition of torture.Pe rha ps the majo r NGO even t of the pas tyea r was the World Co ngress of Pea ceFor ces held in Moscow in Oc tob er. Thecongr ess , con ven ed by the World Pe aceCou nci l, bro ught tog eth er a vast arr ay ofna tional an d inte rnation al NGO s as well asrepre sen tat ives of gov ern men ts. Al's contri-bu tion was res tricted to participation in thecongr ess 's Comm iss ion on Social Progr essand Hum an Rights. Two mo nth s prior tothe cong res s, the Chairma n of the IEC andthe Leg al Officer attend ed a prep ara toryme eting in Mo sco w to formu late a wo rkingpape r for the comm iss ion . At the comm is-sion itse lf, Al was repre sen ted by IECme mb er Thom as Ham ma rbe rg, the Infor-mation Officer, Mark Gra nth am, and theLe gal Officer, Nigel S. Rod ley , the lat terparticipa ting in the drafting of the repor tof the com mission . Sean MacBride wasvice-pres ide nt of the congr ess in hiscapa city as Chairman of the Internationa lPea ce Bure au. Al memb ers from ma nycoun tries als o par ticipate d in the com mis -sion as mem bers of their na tional delega-tions . It sho uld be note d tha t just beforethe op eni ng of the congr ess the SovietUnion rat ified the UN's Interna tionalCovena nt on Civil an d Poli tical Rig hts an d

to work towards the same goa l at thenational and interna tional leve l.Fol low ing the ma nda te of this resolution,Al con sul ted sev era l no n-g ove rnm en talorga niz ations (NG 0s) wi th drafts of aresolution for the sig na ture of all NGO sconcerned with huma n rights and of a dra ftdec laration tha t the UN Gen era l Assem blywill be urge d to ado pt. Al 's dra ft dec lar a-tion read s:

The campa ign to eliminate cap ital pu nish-me nt as a form of pu nishme nt wascont inu ed after the 197 3 Internationa lCounc il me eting in Vien na called on allgo vernm ent s tha t retain the dea th pen altyto cease to em ploy it. The cou nci l furtherca lled on the UN Genera l Ass em bly toprom ulg ate a dec laration tha t wou ld urgethe total, worldw ide ab olition of cap italpunishm ent , and on all no n-g ove rnm en talorg ani zat ions con cer ned with hum an rig hts

In October 19 74 Mart in En naI s testifiedon beh alf of Amn esty Interna tional befo rethe Sub-Com mittee on Interna tional Orga ni-zations an d Mov em ent s of the Com mitteeon Fo reign Af fairs of the Uni ted StatesHous e of Rep res ent atives. Under the chair-mans hip of Representa tive Dona ld M.Fra ser , the sub-c om mittee, after Its hear-ings, produ ced a valua ble report on "Hum anRigh ts in the Wo rld Com mu nity: A Callfor US Lea dersh ip". Qu oting Mr Enna Is'stateme nt that:Wh en torture Is carried ou t withinstates, It is done, wi th ver y rare excep -tions , with at leas t the acqui esc enc eof the gov ern men t conce rne d an d inman y cas es as a de liberate part ofgov ern me nt po licy.the report recom me nd s ac tion to abo lishtorture by the UN Com mis sion on Hu ma nRights, the UN Comm ittee on Crim e Pre -vent ion and Contr ol and the forthcom ingFifth United Na tions Cong res s on thePreve ntion of Crime and Treatme nt ofOffenders , to be hel d in Toronto in 197 5.The repo rt con sid ere d the work of Am nestyInternat ional "the lar ges t intern ationa lhum an rights orga nization bo th in terms ofmem ber ship and staff"t o be "effective",des cribing the work of NGO s as "a vitalcontribu tor to the internationa l pro tec tionof hum an rights". A l Is coo per ating wi thCong ressma n Fra ser in seek ing to deve lopan ass ociation of par liamen tarians from allover the wo rld to work for the be tter pro-tection of huma n righ ts.

Th e Ge ner al As sem blyRe cal lin g ts Re solution 2393 (X XII I) of 26 Novem be r 19 68 conce rning the appl icationof the mo st care ful legal proce dur es and the great est po ssible safeg uar ds for the acc use din capital cas es as well as the attitide of Mem ber States to pos sib le further res trictionof the use of capi tal punishme nt or to its total abolition;Reca lling ur the r Eco nom ic and So cia l Council Res olu tions 1574 (L) of 20 Ma y 197 1and 17 45 (LIV) of 16 May 1973 ;Re-a ffirmin g Gene ral Asse mb ly Resolution 2857 (XXV I) of 20 Decem ber 1971 whic haff irm ed that, in ord er ful ly to guarantee the right to life provi ded for In Article 3 of theUni ver sal Decl ara tion of Hu ma n Rig hts , the main objective to be pu rsu ed is that ofprogressively res tricting the num ber of offences for wh ich capi tal pu nishm ent may beImp ose d, with a view to the des irability of abo lishing this punis hm ent in all coun tries;Con sid ering hat capital pun ishment is irrevocab le an d tha t, given the fa llibility of allhu man institutions, it ma y be inflicted on the innoc en t;Con ce rne d ha t the sentencing to an d exe cution of capital punishme nt is bruta lizing toall who par ticipate in the proce ss tha t lead s to the inf liction of such pu nishme nt;Be lieving hat retribution for its own sake ha s no legit ima te place In pena l systems ;Affirmin g hat cap ital punishm ent mus t now be seen to be cruel, inhu ma n and degra din gwi thin the me ani ng of Ar ticle 5 of the Uni ver sal Declarat ion of Hum an Rights:Solemn ly Proc laim s ts una ltering comm itm ent to the protection of the righ t to live ofevery hum an being and to the era dication of all cruel, inhum an or degr adi ng treatm en t orpunishm ent ;Dec lares tha t:Th e dea th pe nal ty s a v iolation of the rig ht to life and the right not to be subjected tocrue l, Inhuma n or deg rad ing treatme nt or punishme nt, within the me an ing of the Univ ers alDe cla ration of Hum an Righ ts.Th e use of the dea th pe nal ty mu st be totally and univ ers ally abo lis hed .

Throu gho ut the year letters and tele- there were case s of threatene d or actualgram s we re sen t to many coun tries in which executions .


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Information and Publications

Priso ners and Human RightsCountry by Country

A burge oning awar ene ss In the worldme dia of the importance and dep th ofAm nes ty International's research andactivity in the field of hum an rights broughta ma rked increase during 1973-74 Inreque sts fro m journalists, organizations,universities and private indiv iduals forinformation abo ut Al. The public impac tof the Camp aign for the Abo lition of To rturewas a majo r contributing factor. Orde rs forAl publications and bac kground papers ros esha rply.To mee t the dema nd, the InternationalEx ecu tive Co mm ittee doubled the size ofthe full-time Informa tion Office sta ff fromtwo to four. Added were a publicationsassistant and a Lat in Ame rican secre tary,the latter to help with the grow ing volumeof information mat erial be ing pro duce d inSpa nish.In Nove mbe r 1973 a Latin Ame ricanjou rnalist attached part-time to the Informa-tion Office he lped launch a new Al initia-tiv e: a monthly bulletin In Spanish aim edlargely at radio stations in Lat in Amer ica.The bul letin has the dual purpose ofincreasing awar eness of huma n rig hts andmak ing Am nes ty Internationa l know n inareas with few news pap ers and a hig hilliteracy rate. Co pies of .the bulletin andspecial articles in Span ish on Al and itsconcerns also we re sent to new spa pers inLatin Am erica and Spain. A specia l leafletin Spanish abou t Al wa s prepared.Amnesty International Pu blications (AIP)issued three ma jor reports in 1973 -741Pol itica l mprisonm ent in Spa in32 pag es, published Au gus t 1973, 50 pen ce(US 81.2 5) plus postage for illustratedEnglish edition; 30 pen ce (US 75 cen ts)plus postage for Sp anish edition withoutI ustrations.Amn esty nternational Re por t on Torture224 pages , published De cem ber 1973 inass ociation with Du ckw orth of London,paperback 1.50 (US $3.75), cloth 3.95(US $10.00) plu s posta ge. A Dutch trans-lation wa s published in Ho lland in March1974 . A Fre nch ed ition wi ll be published

by Editions Gal limard of Paris, an Ame ricanedition by Farrar, Straus Et G iroux of Ne wYor k, and a Germ an edi tion, al l three Inthe autum n of 1974. Oth er translations arebe ing ma de Into Spanish and Japanese,and Italian and Turkish editions are beingnego tiated.Con ference or the Ab olition of TortureFin al Report32 pages , published Fe bru ary 197 4, 50pence (US $1 25) plus postage. The Frenchsection will soon pub lish a French edition.De man d led to the reprinting of the fol-lowing AIP reports:Po litical Prisoners in So uth Vietn am36 pages, illustrated, first published July1973, 35 ponce (US 91 ) plus postage.Report on Allegations of Tortu re inBraz il108 pages , first published Sep tem ber 197 2,rev ised and re-set Ju ly 197 4, 1.20 (US93) plus post age.Report of an Inqui ry into III-Treatmen t inNo rthe rn Ireland46 pag es, first published Ma rch 197 2, 75pence (US $1.85)) plus postage .

AIP also issued a 16-page stencilleddoc ume nt called Amnesty Interna tion al inQu otes , a collection of often con tradictorycri ticisms and comm ents about Al ma deby newspapers and gove rnm ent officials inEastern, Western and Thi rd World countries.The Information Office also produce d 63news re leases in 1973-74 and sent anum ber of spec ially-written fea tures articleson the Camp aign for the Abo lition ofTorture and on countries of Al concern tonational sections for use in their me dia.Greater em pha sis has inc rea singly beenplaced on better pre sen tation of Al rep ortsand doc ume ntation and for printing moremat erial in other langua ges bes ides En glish.With a view to this, the IEC in May 197 4authorized the pur chase by the InformationOf fice of typesetting, headline-m aking andpaper-colla tion equipment. A telex mach inewas installed in the secretariat for the firsttime.


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Fo rewo rdby Stephan ie Grant , Head of Re search

interests, and make appe als whenev ersentence of death Is pass ed or threa tened .In the last 12 mo nths , speci al efforts toaver t jud icial execu tions have been madeon behalf of prisoners In Ta nz an ia (Z an zi -ba r), Ye m en Ar ab Re pub lic, Iran ,Ind on esia , Chile , Sp ain and seve ral othe rcoun tries .Ce rtain oth er deve lopments shou ld beno ted. This ha s be en the first year in whichthe IEC ha s agreed to aut horize resea rchmissions on a reg ular bas is, and resea rche rsha ve trave lled to Af rica, Latin Ame rica,Sou th Asia and the Middle East. In eachcase the tangib le resu lts cont acts, newcases , resear ch mate rialhav e bee n con-sid erab le. Ano thor inn ovation has bee n thepla nning by resea rchers of speci al cam-paign s wher eby appea ls are ma de onbe half of individuals who are eitherine ligible, or unsu itable, for ado ption. InVietna m in 197 3, som e 2,300 cas es weresent out of pr isoners deta ined without trial,abo ut whom little was known ap art from

In the yea r covere d by th is report , June1973-May 1974, Amne sty Interna tiona ltoo k ac tion directed toward s the release ofprisoners in over 100 cou ntries: 26 missionswere sen t to obs erve trials, nego tiate withgo vern ment s and collect info rmation in atota l of 27 coun tries; 2,190 prisoners caseswere written up for groups, and 1,080 oftho se already und er adopt ion or inves tiga -tion were released . As this report Iswritten, 1,4 83 Al group s are working fora total of 3,6 40 prisoners , a figure whichrep rese nts a ne t increase of 90 0 since May1973 . The Rese arch De partment produc edthe repor t Po lit ica l Imprisonm ent in Spain,published Aug ust 1973, and was largel yresp onsible for the Am nes ty Internationa lRepo rt on Tortu re, publ ished in Decem ber1973.Thes e statistics illustrate some of theuses to which Amn esty Internationalresea rch is put. The sec tion whi ch fo llowsreports the Research Depart ment 's wor kduri ng the last yea r to ide ntify and docu-ment cases of political impr isonm ent in allparts of the world and to assist pri sone rsof con science. Excep t where a politicalsituation has unde rgon e radi cal cha ngeduring this period, we do no t de scribe thepheno menon of political imp risonmen t Ineac h count ry, but rath er repor t the actiontake n by Al to chan ge it. So, in the cas e ofChile, where Al has faced an en tirely newsituation since Sep temb er 1973, thepol itical contex t of imp risonment is shownin more det ail than , for examp le, in theUSS R, where the form take n by politicalpe rsecu tion remain s cons tant. Figures forthe tota l number of prisone rs in a cou ntryhave bee n given onl y where the Re sear chDepartment can suppo rt the estimate withfacts. This is often most dif ficult where

repre ssion is har shes t. Iran is one exam pleof a situation in whi ch Al's files containinformat ion on no more than a hu ndred orso prisoners, a figur e which can be onl y afraction of the real total, whic h is unk now n.This has be en the first com plete year inwhi ch a comprehen sive Resea rch Depart-men t, as pla nned by the previous Head of

nam e and prison . Appea ls were to be for aperiod of three months, but after this tim eit was ass ume d that the information migh tno longer be accu rate . In Guatem ala , asimilar limited cam paig n was de sign edwhere the subjects were not prisoner s, butind ividu als wh o had "disappe ared " andmigh t well be dead. The pur pose of appealswas, at best, to help tho se still alive, andat wor st to di rect out side pre ssur e on theGua tema lan aut horities. Th is flexible appli-cation of case-w ork ha s en able d AmnestyInternation al to respon d to situations wherethe cla ssic ado ption techni que wa s un suit-able . A third, an d impor tant, inn ovation hasbeen the hol ding of mee ting s at the Inter-nationa l Secretariat at which repres enta -tives of nat iona l sections discu ss Al's workon a sing le cou ntry and, with theresear cher s, recom men d future po licy. (S eechapter on The Mem ber ship.) This ha sprov ided a val uabl e mean s of involvingexpe rts from outside the sec reta riat inpolicy-making.

Researc h, Dr Zbynek Zeman , an d the Inter-national Executive Co mmit tee (IEC) In19 71, has be en oper ating with qua lifiedres earc hers wo rking in each of the fivegeog raph ical un its, The department nowconsists of 35 researcher s, exe cutiveassistants and sec retar ies. For the first timein its existence, Am nesty International cannow claim system atic resear ch on politicalimprisonme nt in eastern Eur op e an d in theAra b-sp eaking Mid dle East , In April 19 74,with the app ointment of a resea rcher withfirst-hand exp erience of Ch ina since theCu ltural Revolution, the depar tment beganthe difficult task of app lying Al's statu toryinterests to the Chin ese com munist fram e-wor k, and in particular to the system ofrefo rm and re- educ ation through labo ur.In Asia, three cou ntries have con tinuedto be priority are as: Vietna m, Ind one siaand Bang lade sh . In Africa, inten siveresearch and adoption hav e conce ntratedon Moroc co , Malaw i, so uthern Af ric a andthe Ivo ry Coa st , The Lat in Ame ricandep artment, althoug h overs hado wed by theChile crisis and unde r-staffed, ha s organizedmissions and cam paigns in respo nse to thespecial hu man rights problems of Ur ug uay,Parag ua y, Gu atem ala and Arge nt ina; thescop e and depth of its work on Chile isdescribed in detail bel ow. In Europ e, an areain which Al res earch unders tand ably ha s thefirm est foundations, adoptions have con-centrated , as be fore, on the USSR , Spa in,Greec e and Tu rk ey . Sp ecial attention isbei ng paid to the trans -national problem ofimpr ison ed cons cien tious objectors.The Amne sty Interna tiona l Re po rt onTo rture was the first attemp t by Al toide ntify a single problem which is global. Init, allega tions of torture from more than 65countries wer e summ arized and analyzedby res earchers, using Rese arch Departmentfiles cov erin g a 10 -year pe riod. Ac tion ontorture Is now taken in coope ration with thene w depar tmen t estab lishe d to continue theCam pai gn for the Abolition of Torture. But ,as is clear from this repor t, it rem ain s aroutine part of the Rese arch Department'swo rk to implem ent an other of Al's statutory


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Af rica* prisoner s be implemented later in the year.A ge neral am nes ty of this nature had beensuggested by the Secretary Ge ne ral of Alin a let ter to Pre sid ent Ngou bai in Decem-ber 1972. The amne sty even tua lly tookplace in Nov em ber 1973, liberat ing all theprisoners on whom Al had receivedinformat ion .

July 197 1. This group later incre ase d to sixas further in formation was received, whichperm itted the m to be reclassified as adop -tion cases in Augu st 19 73. All six casesare still ac tive. The Rese arch Departme ntreceived wor d in March 1974 that all theprisoners had been rem ove d from Buj um-bura, the capital , to a dete ntion cen ter atRumo ng e further south.During the course of 197 3 Al alsoreceived detai led eye-w itness torture alle-gations from Buru ndi.

EthiopiaThe serious drought in Ethiopia du ringthe sum me r of 197 3 brought to a head thespora dic clashes between radical stude ntsan d the gove rnm ent whi ch have markedEth iopian domestic politics during the pastfew years. Rep orts that dem onstratingstudents ha d bee n sho t dea d by troopsreached the Research Department inNovembe r 197 3, an d the follow ing monthbroug ht the first na mes of students arrestedand held illegally for protesting againstgovernmental incompetence in the distribu-tion of rel ief supplies.In January 1974 de tails of eigh t arrested

students were obtained, but in Febru arymut inies in the Ethiopia n arm ed forces ledto the fall of the governm ent and precipi-tated a long per iod of internal dis turbances ,strikes an d unrest. One dema nd put for -ward by student and trade union gro upsat the time of the mutinies was for therelease of political pri soners, but theRes ea rch Depa rtment in London had sometrou ble verifyin g whether releases hadactually taken place, and, if so, whetrier thestud ents whose de tai ls had been obtainedwere among st those free d. By May 1974it had become apparent that this was not,in fact, the case, an d adoption case sheetswere therefore prepared on the students.

The year 1973- 74 was marked by ano table Inc rea se in the numb er of prisonerstaken up by Amnes ty Intern ational gro upsas ado ption and investiga tion cas es , withover a thou sand cases be ing handled byMay 1974. Following a pattern which hasbeco me evide nt In Al's work in Africa durin gthe past four years, these cases, to a largeextent, concerned persons held witho ut tria lfor long periods of time und er securityreg ulations pro viding for ind efinite deten-tion.In Rhodes ia, he num be r of peo ple sodetained doubled. In Malawi, he autocraticrule of Pre sident Hast ings Banda con tinuesto ent ail the detention of over one tho usa ndindividuals; an d francopho ne states suchas Cha d, Ma ll, and Ca me rou n con tinuedto hold considerab le numbe rs of prisonerswho ha ve not bee n given access to thecourts. In some states, such as Suda n,pro vision for detention without trial wasrein troduced, and others, such as Swaz i-lan d, expe rimente d with this dangerousexecutive ins trumen t for the first time.While detention witho ut trial continuesto be the mos t widespread problem, Al hasover the pas t year concerned itsel f withoth er asp ec ts of hum an righ ts violations onthe continent. In Tanzania and Morocc o,Al has closely followed large politicaltrials, and protested ag ainst the dea thsentences which have resulted . The use oftorture in Tun isia and of flogging inNamibia have ea ch el icited ac tion andpublicity from the organization. In Leso thoan d Uga nda , Al has con de mne d the murd erof opposition pe rsonalities. n Sou th Af ric a,the use of such expedients as ho use arrestand "banning" has led to the adop tion ofma ny Ind ividuals. In a number of states,from Moro cco to Rho des ia, large-scale

relief prog rams hav e bee n ope rated withthe assistance of adopt ion groups andnat ion al sections.Althoug h the year saw amnesties inSuda n, Nige r, Ta nzania, Ghana and els e-

where in Africa, the problem of politicalimpr isonme nt continues to be a vast andintractable one.Alger ia

Fou r Al gro up s continued to wor k onthe mult iple-adoption of former Alg erianPreside nt Ahme d Ben Bella, who has be enin prison and restriction since his govern-ment was overthrown by a coup d'etat nJune 1965 .

Cam erou n

Bo tswa na

Amn es ty International grou ps are atpresent wo rking on seven inves tigationcases and two adop tion cases in Cam eroun.Thes e prisoners, who inc lud e a forme rcabin et minister, are hel d at pr isons andinternment centers in Poli an d Mantoum.A rese arc h missio n to Cameroun in Mayand Jun e 197 3 obtaine d data on the generalsituation in the country, and reported thatthe estimated nu mbe r of political prisonersdetained was close to 5,000, mos tly fromthe Dassa and Bamileke tribe s. This infor-mation was passed on to ado pting groupsin Augu st 1973.

The pre dicam en t of Rho desian refugeesIn Bot swana con tinued to pre occupyAmne sty International throughout the yoar.Prote sts had be en made to the Bot swanaauthorities following an attem pt by thelatter to repatria te 42 Rhodesian s duringMarch 1973. In August a num ber ofRhod es ian studen ts fled to Botswanafollowing dis turbances at the University ofRhod esia. Ea rly in 19 74 the InternationalSecretariat mad e representations to theBotswan a High Comm ission In Lond onabo ut the se refug ees , see king assurancesthat they would not be repatria ted. The seassuran ces were forthcoming, an d Al sub-seq uently ma de a d onation of 20 0 to assistthe Rhodesians dur ing their stay inBotswan a. Go dfrey Beck , a South Afr icanrefugee who wa s rep atr iated ag ain st hiswil l by the Botswan a gov ernme nt in April1973 and subsequently det ain ed by theSou th African s, was adopted by Al. He wassentenced to six months imprisonme nt (a llbut 10 da ys suspended) in August 19 73,and an adopting gro up continues to assisthis family, who wish to leave Sou th Afr icafor New Zealand.

ChadDur ing the past year the num ber ofadoption cases in Cha d rose from 13 to 38.Almost al l are person s who were arre stedbetween Ju ly 1972 and Marc h 1973,inc lud ing several former col lea gue s ofPresident N'garta Tom balbaye. None hasyet been tried. A res earch mission to Chadin May and Jun e 19 73 brought bac kdetailed information abou t prison cond i-tions , which was distributed in Au gus t 1973to all ado pting groups with prison ers inCha d. Ga bo n

Bu run di

Ad option groups con tinued throu gho utthe year to han dle nine inves tigation cases,and received additional informa tion fromthe Rese arch Depa rtm ent fol low ing asuccessful resea rch miss ion to the countryin May 19 73.

Co ngoAlthough inform ation on a nu mbe r ofCongolese po litical prisoners had reachedthe Re sea rch Department by July 19 73,pro duction of investigation case shee ts waspostponed when it was learned that Pre si-den t Mar ien Ngo ubai had suggested dur ingAugust tha t an amn esty for political

Gh ana'Fo r An go la, Gu ineaBissau and Mozambiqu e seeunder Portuga l. An amnes ty in Gha na in June 197 3

Followin g a partial amn esty in Marc h1973, adoption gro up s continued to handlethe cases of five prisone rs who ha d beentaken up as Investigation cases follow ingtheir conviction for pol itical. offences in


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resulted In the release of mos t of theado pted deta inees in tha t co untry, thema jority of whom had bee n he ld withouttrial si nce the government of Dr K. A. Bus iawas overthrown by a coup d'etat InJanuary 1972. However, during the autumnof 1973 there were a number of re -arrestsand some ado pted prisoners rem ained indetention without trial until December 1973.Re ports from Gha na In April 1974 indicatedtha t over one hundred persons were Incustody w ithout trial, but it is unclearwhether these are political prisoners orpersons aw aiting trial on criminal charges.Al legations of army brutality an d tor tureof civilians reached the Re search De part-men t from se veral sources during 1973 andea rly 1974. Som e of this data was pub -lished In the Amn esty International Reporton Torture which ap peared in Dec ember1973. The Research Department hasevidence that at least three persons died incustody under the military regime. On therequest of the International Secretariat, Al'sBritish Section und ertook a specia l pub licityact ion in Ma rch and April 1974 followingthe closure of all three universities in Ghanaby the military authorities wh en studentsdemon strated against the brutal tteatme ntof civilians.

Tr ials under the Subversion De cree(1972) continued during 1973 and 1974.In December 1973 three per sons, IncludingKo jo Botsio, a former minister in thegovernment of the late Dr Kwam e Nk rumah,were sentenced to death for sub version, andin Ja nuary 197 4 a former trade unionistreceive d a sim ilar sentence. On both occa-sions Al cabled the Ghanaian authoritiesasking fo r com mutation. The sentences werecom muted to life imp risonment in April1974.An updated background paper on Ghan awas prepared by the Research Departmentduring Feb ruary 197 4.

latest of these wa s a letter from theSecretary General of Al to Pre sident Se ko uTour of Guinea in Jan uary 1974, wh ichasked for the releas e of 22 Europeans whohad been imp risoned on po lit ical groundsin Guinea since January 1971. No replywa s rec eived to this request, which wa sals o ma de by Al's United States Section.

Ivory Coas tTh e principle con cern of Amnes ty Inter-national during the past year has been withthe fate of over 30 0 personsmos tlyillite rate peasant fa rmerswho werede tained wit hout trial in the Gag noa district*o f the Ivo ry Coast in November 197 0fo llowing tribal disturba nce s. During a vis itto the Ivory Co ast in May 197 3, the Secre-tary Gene ra l of Al received assurances thatthe detainees wou ld be either tried orreleased in the near fu ture. Whe n, by theautumn of 1973, no news of releases hadbeen received, the Research Departmentproduced 66 ado ption cas e sh eets on theprisoners whose nam es It had obtained.This was fo llowed in Dec embe r 1973 by a

partial am nesty wh ich freed 100 of theGagnoa prisoners: only five of these, how-ever, we re Al ado ptees. Adoption gro upsare continuing to work on the remainingcases.

release from detention in 1960 (he wasde tained for a year for his nationalist viewwh en Malawi was st ill a colony), askingfo r a genera l amnesty on 14 Ma y, thePresident's official bir thday. Adoptinggroups we re also pro vided with bac kgroundmaterial for a press cam paign cen tered on14 May. Reports reaching the InternationalSec retaria t late in May spoke of somepol itical deta inees bei ng released on tha tda te, but nonetheless fur ther plans we remade for an appeal for a general amnes tyon 6 July, the 10th anniversary of Malawi'sindependence.

Reports tha t 26 persons had been sen-tenced to dea th for violent political cr imesreac hed the International Secretariat inNo vember 1973, but remained unconfirm edun til May 1974. Also during the ye ar, theResearch Departm ent received allegationsof tor ture in Dzeleka Deten tion Cam pwhich, previous to its almost completeclosure in May 197 3, had been the mainprison housing long-term deta inees.

taken up by Am nesty International during1972 wer e closed as a result of the"normalization" of Lesotho politics wh ichtook place at that time. There was no furtherAl activity in regard to this cou ntry untilear ly 19 74. Then, on 6 Jan uary, 20 mem-ber s of the opposi tion Basutoland Con gressParty (BCP), wh ose supporters had mad eup the bulk of the Al ado ptees dur ing theprevious ye ar, were arrested. The followingday there were raids by arm ed gangs onthree police sub-stations. Th e governmentblamed the BCP, and in reprisa l fu rtherdet entions took place. Acc ording to BCPsou rces, 80 peop le we re killed by govern-me nt action dur ing the week after theattacks. Re ports from South Africa statedthat the trial of those in detention wou ldtake place during May 1974. In March theRese arch Depa rtment rec eived the first listof detainees, and in May arrangementswere unde rway for an Al delegate to visitLet so tho in order to discuss the plight ofthe deta inees with gov ernment officials andattend any trial that m ight take place.

Mal awi Ma li

Guin ea

Am nesty International groups co ntinuedthroughout the yea r to work on approxi-mate ly 40 ado ption cas es in this country.Most of the prisoners had been detainedwithout tr ial at Kid al in the northe rn regionof Mali since the military government cameto powe r in November 1968. Con cern aboutpr ison conditions and the health of thedetainees was increased in August 19 73when the Malian aut horities announced thedeath of Captain Yoro Diakite, who hadbeen in prison sin ce 1971. This con cernwas strengthened in April 1974 whe n DrSe ydou Badian Ko uyata, wh o had bee n heldat Kidal, wa s rep orted to be near to death.Al app ealed in vain to the Ma lian govern-ment in November 1973 the fif th anni-versary of the coup wh ich brought it topowerfor a general amn esty for allpolitical prisoners.

KenyaThroughout the yea r Amnes ty In ter-national groups continued to pre ss for therelease of three former membe rs of thebanned opposition party, the Ken ya People'sUnion (KPU ), wh o ha d bee n de tained with-out trial since 1969. Although all three ofthese cases ha ve proven very difficult forthe groups han dling them, a notable suc cesswas achieved in March 1974 whe n OcholaOg aye Mak'Anyengo, one of the three KPUdeta inees, was released following an Alpo stcard ca mpaign on hls beh alf the pre-vious month. Th e remaining two adoptiongroups con tinue to work on their cases.mnes ty Interna tional continues to becon cerned at the large num ber of po liticalprisoners and de tainees in Guinea, and hasbegun to produce cas e she ets on ind iv idualprisoners after direct approaches to theGuinean Government pro ved fruitless. The

Le sotho MauritaniaDuring the ' sum mer of 1973 all adoptionand investigation cases which had been

Following a research mission to Ma lawiin August an d September 1973 Am nestyInternational groups working on cas es inMa lawi received detailed additional infor-mation con cerning prison loca tions andconditions, as well as more data abo utindividual prisoners. Mo st of the act ivecases in this area continue to be personsheld for long periods without tr ial underthe Public Se curity Regulations. Anamn esty in May 1973 released a numberof long-te rm adoptees, but a large numbe rof new detentions ha ve taken place sincethat time, the majority of the new prisonersbeing held in the rec ently-opened detentioncenter at Mik uyu, near Zom ba. Amongstthe detainees presently under ado ption aremem bers of the banned Jehovah's Wit-ne sses sect, lawyers, former civ il ser vants,teachers, trade unionists and journalists.Adoption work on these cas es is bei ngintensified, and a co-ordination group onMalawi has been established in Al's Ger-man Section. In April 1974 the SecretaryGen eral of Al wrote to President Has tingsBa nda of Ma lawi on the anniversary of his In mid -1973 Am nesty Int ernational tookup as investig ation cases 20 Mauritanian


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students and professors who had beenarrested in January and February of thatyear. Most of these prisoners were beingheld in the civil prison In the capital,Nouakchott. Gro ups worked intensely onthe cases throughout the year, and Britishgroups in particular were effective inco-ord inating their work for Mauritanianprisoner s. In March 1974 it was learned thatthe detainees had been released on "pro-vis ional liberty", which still places con-siderable restrictions on their freedom.Groups have been asked to maintain contactwith their prisoners in order to assist themduring the period following their release.

NamibiaAm nesty International took up the casesof about 30 members of the South West

Africa People 's Organization (SWAPO)Youth League who were arrested for cam-paigning against the election of the tribalau thorities in the reserv e o f Ovamboland.The detainees were later charged under thePass Laws and either sentenced to short-term imprison ment or fined. Action against

and the Secretary General of Al had writtena protes t letter to Niger President HamaniD iori about their imprisonment, whe n theDiori government was overth rown by acoup d'etat n March 1974. The samemon th the new military government carriedout its announcement that it was freeingall political prisone rs, and therefore theadoption cases were closed.

themdidnot end here ,however: onrelease many were re-arrestedby thesecurity police and handedover to the

Morocco

tribal authorities for flogging. Al protestedto South African Prime Ministe r Dr JohnVorste r about this develop ment and main-tained the adoptions until the SupremeCourt ruledfollowing an application byone of the detainees that flogging shouldnot be used for political purposes. Whenthis ruling was quashed in March 1974,public floggings resumed once more inApril. Al protested against this, believingsuch punishment to be torture in public.Al also requested the World HealthOrganizati on (W HO) to send a medicalmis sion to Namibia to inquire into torturereports.

Al also protested the detention withou ttrial in February 1974 of David Merero,SWAPO's chairman, and nine of hiscolleagues under the Terroris m Act. Allhav e been taken up as investigat ion cases.Investigat ion ca se sheets have also beenmade out for three young men whoallegedly ma de inflammatory speechesagainst the South African administration,were convicted un

Documents

Amnesty International Report 1974