amnesty JUNE 1980 Volume X Number 6

international newsletterZaire replies to charges ontorture and detention campsThe security police in Zaire have arrested large numbers of students,teachers and workers over the past six months—some have beentortured to death or summarily executed while in custody.

Al has sent appeals on behalfof many of these prisoners tomembers of the government, andat the beginning of May wasinformed that all the students whohad been arrested had beenreleased at the end of April.

In a memorandum sent toPresident MOBUTU at the end ofFebruary 1980, Al expressed itsserious concern about human rightsviolations in Zaire.

A reply, in the form of commentsby three government departments,included a denial by the security policethat there had been frequent deathsin their interrogation centres.

The government said severalprisoners cited by Al had now beenreleased.

It also said that conditions inprisons and detention centres were notas harsh as had been reported to AI,and that torture was not practised inthe country—several officials whokilled or tortured prisoners had beenprosecuted.

The latest reports of killings receivedby AI come from Kinshasa, wheresecurity police shot dead five studentsat the city's security police prison inJanuary.

They were killed after dozens ofstudents had been arrested following astrike over student grants.

Other recent arrests include suspect-ed members of opposition politicalparties and relatives of prominent

political exiles.In late 1979 teachers, bank employ-

ees and other workers were arrestedin Kinshasa for planning strikes. Threeof them died in custody in September1979, after being tortured andcondemned to 10 years'imprisonment.

Launching a campaign to drawattention to human rights abuses inZaire, Al published a report on 20May giving details of politicalimprisonment, summary executions,torture and starvation in prisonsand camps.

The most notorious camp isEkafera in the Equatorial region,normally holding up to 500 people.

Hundreds are known to have diedthere, some of disease, others ofhunger—yet others are said to havebeen summarily executed or to have"disappeared" in the forest.

President Mobutu's governmenthas shown signs of trying to improveits record and the President hasordered a series of amnesties for poli-tical prisoners and Zaireans livingabroad. But a number of exiles whoreturned under amnesty have beenarrested, and some were executed.

Al has welcomed Zaire's responseto its memorandum and would alsowelcome the opportunity to discusswith the Zairean authorities theconcrete cases of human rights viola-tions it has described.

PRISONERS HARMEDBY WEST GERMANISOLATION SYSTEM

Prisoners held in connection withpolitically motivated crimes in theFederal Republic of Germany (FRG)are being kept in conditions that can,and sometimes do, inflict seriousphysical and psychological damage.

More than 100 such prisoners havebeen kept for years in solitary con-finement or other forms of isolation,and some have suffered severe illnessand mental disorders.

One prisoner, Ingrid SCHUBERT,was found hanged in her cell in 1977after sinking into a state in which shesaid she could no longer distinguishreality and illusion.

Another, Werner HOPPE, was heldfor seven years in varying degrees ofisolation. Doctors said the psychoso-matic effects of his conditions hadendangered his life and they doubted ifhe would recover even if released—which, following a court order, he was,in February 1979.

Al has now released the text of amemorandum to FRG authorities,describing the results of its researchover more than two years.

The study concentrated on theprison conditions of members of the"Red Army Fraction", the "June 2Movement" and the "RevolutionaryCells".

Prisoners suspected of politicallymotivated crimes are always kept insolitary confinement for part of theperiod between arrest and finalconviction—for some, solitary con-finement has lasted three years.

When they are taken out of solitaryconfinement they often go into"small-group isolation"—kept alone ina cell but allowed out for a briefperiod each day with one or moreprisoners with a political background.

At Zweibriicken, two prisoners hadonly each other for company forfour years—after each had alreadyspent three years in solitaryconfinement.

These measures are applied toprisoners charged with non-violentcrimes, as well as those accused ofviolence.

BUKAVU prison in the eastern KIVU region. Prisoners are known to have starved to death

here in mid-1979. Continued on back page

JUNE 1980

News in Brief

2

Council of EuropeAssembly move on death penaltyThe Parliamentary Assembly of theCouncil of Europe has called on thosemember states which still retain thedeath penalty for peacetime offencesto abolish it from their penal systems.

The Assembly, which consists ofmembers of parliament from 21 WestEuropean countries belonging to theCouncil, adopted an appeal to abolishthe death penalty for peacetimeoffences in Strasbourg in April—sevenyears after it began debating the issue.

It also adopted a recommendationto the Committee of Ministers of theCouncil of Europe to amend theEuropean Convention on HumanRights accordingly.

The Convention at present still

AI has appealed to President CARTERto set up a presidential commission tostudy the death penalty in the UnitedStates of America.

Al said such a commission shouldexamine whether executions violatedthe USA's international commitmentsto human rights.

In a proposal sent to the Presidenton 14 April, Al recommended a mora-torium on executions until the proposedcommission had reported.

More than 600 people are undersentence of death in the USA—prisoners are being sentenced to deathat a rate of some 10 a month.

Syrian security forces are reported tohave carried out summary executionsand large-scale arrests in the north ofthe country.

After a wave of violence, generalstrikes and demonstrations, thesecurity forces are said to have sealedoff sectors in Hama, Aleppo and othertowns, with local inhabitants beingtaken away for questioning.

With access to the north restricted,it has been difficult to get clearinformation. Travellers have spoken ofseeing prisoners executed at the road-side, for "trying to escape".

allows for the death penalty as anexception to the right to life.

People can be condemned to deathfor certain peacetime offences inBelgium, Cyprus, France, Greece,Ireland, Liechtenstein, Turkey andthe United Kingdom.

But of these countries only Francehas carried out executions during thepast eight years.

In August 1979 Al appealed to theCouncil to codify the existing trend ofnot applying the death penalty inWestern Europe, and several membersof parliament speaking in favour ofabolition in the April debate referredto Ars Stockholm Declaration andother information supplied by Al•

Three people have been put to deathsince executions were resumed in 1977,after a 10-year break.

Among the issues which the proposedcommission should study is whetherthe "living death" inflicted on prisonerssegregated in "death row" to awaitexecution violates the US Constitution'sban on "cruel and unusual"punishments.

In 1967 a commission appointedby President JOHNSON concluded thatthe death penalty was imposed dis-proportionately on the poor, on blackpeople and on "members of unpopulargroups".

One eyewitness said he had seenprisoners being dragged into a tent,beaten with a cable and burnt withcigarettes.

An outspoken government critic inHama is reported to have been shotdead without legal proceedings.

The Syrian authorities, who blamethe troubles on an alliance of theMoslem Brotherhood, Israel and theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA),have pledged to use all means availableto "eradicate these reactionaryelements".

TunisThirteen people were hanged inTunisia in April after being convictedof taking part in an armed attack onGafsa in January 1980.

The State Security Court in Tunissentenced them—and two others triedin absentia—todeath on 27 March.

Twelve members of the GeneralUnion of Tunisian Workers (UGTT),serving sentences of between five andeight years, have been freed as a resultof two conditional amnesties byPresident Habib BOURGUIBA.

The twelve, all Al-adopted prisonersof conscience, are members of theUGTT's executive bureau.

They had been sentenced to jailterms with hard labour following thegeneral strike of 26 January 1978(March 1979 Newsletter).

All are reported to be living underrestriction; some are said to have toreport to the police twice daily.

GrenadaAt least 56 people were being detainedin Grenada in April without charge ortrial, according to the Grenada Councilfor Human Rights.

Some had been held since the coupwhich brought the Prime Minister,Mr Maurice BISHOP, to power inMarch 1979.

On 28 March 1980 Al wrote toMr Bishop asking to be informed onwhat the government intended to doabout the detainees, and urging him torelease them or bring them to trial.

YugoslaviaThe Yugoslav authorities have allowedProfessor Davor ARAS, a prisoner ofconscience (January Newsletter), totravel to Switzerland for a heartoperation.

The operation, early in April, isreported to have been successful, andProfessor Aras has returned toYugoslavia.

Sentenced to six and a half years'imprisonment in 1975, ProfessorAras was temporarily released forhealth reasons in early 1979—Al hasurged the authorities not to make himserve out the remainder of hissentence.

Prisoner Releases and CasesThe International Secretariat learnedin April of the release of 187 prisonersunder adoption or investigation, and ittook up 101 new cases.

USACall for commission on executions

SyriaSummary executions in the north

JUNE 1980 3

Campaign for Prisoners of the MonthEach of the people whose story is told below is a prisoner of conscience. Each

has been arrested because of his or her religious or political beliefs, colour, sex,

ethnic origin or language. None has used or advocated violence. Their continuing

detention is a violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. International appeals can help to secure the release of these prisoners or

to improve their detention conditions. In the interest of the prisoners, letters to

the authorities should be worded carefully and courteously. You should stress

that your concern for human rights is not in any way politically partisan. In no

circumstances should communications be sent to the prisoner.

Armando F. VALLADARESPerez, Cuba

Born in 1937; a poet whoalso studied painting andsculpture in Havana; arrestedin 1960 at the age of 23;imprisoned in 1961 for"offences against the powersof the state"—sentence: 30years.

Armando VALLADARES is now vir-tually paralysed and has to use awheelchair to move about. Thisfollowed a protracted hunger-strike in1968, when he demanded visits,correspondence, medical attention

and better food.His first book of poems to be

published was called Desde mi sillade ruedas (From my wheelchair).

After his conviction in 1961,Armando Valladares was sent to Islade Pinos prison where, he said, hewas held in darkened cells whosewindows were covered by metalsheets.

In 1966 he was transferred to La

Cabana with a group thought to beleaders of "problematic prisoners".When the blue uniform of rehabilitated

and common prisoners was introducedat La Cabana the following year,Armando Valladares and most of thegroup refused to wear it. He and others

were transferred to another prison,although he was returned to LaCabafia in 1968, the year he went onhunger-strike.

In February last year he was trans-ferred from yet another prison to the

Orthopaedic Hospital in Havana.Apart from his paralysis, Armando

Valladares is also reported to besuffering from asthma and hearttrouble.

On 2 April this year he was taken

to an unknown destination, which may

have been Boniato prison in Santiago

de Cuba. It is feared that his conditionmay get worse.

Two years ago the Cuban Govern-

ment announced an amnesty for 3,600

political prisoners— ArmandoValladares was one of a number to beexcluded.

Armando Valladares has beenadopted as a prisoner of conscience.He has persistently maintained that

his personal and religious convictionsare the sole causes of his detention.

Please send courteously wordedletters appealing for the immediaterelease of Armando F. ValladaresPerez to: Comandante Fidel CastroRuz, Presidente del Consejo deEstado y del Consejo de Ministros,La Habana, Repnblica de Cuba.

Khalil BRAYEZ, Syria

A 45-year-old former captainat Aleppo Military Academy;married with four children—spending his ninth year indetention without trial, atal-Mezze military prison,Damascus.

After the 1967 war with Israel, KhalilBRAYEZ wrote two books—The Down-fall of the Golan and From the GolanFiles—bothhighly critical of the per-formance of the Syrian forces, and

particularly of President HafezAssad, then a commander in the airforce.

The coup of November 1970 brought

President Assad to power, and shortly

afterwards Syrian security forcesabducted Khalil Brayez from Lebanon,

where he was reported to be workingon a third book on the 1967 war.

Khalil Brayez had taken refuge inLebanon in 1964, a year after the Arab

Socialist Ba'ath Party came to power.He had been against union with Egypt

in 1958, and was ideologically opposedto the Ba'athists, whose primary goalis the unification of all Arab countriesunder one Arab Nation.

His political beliefs earned himseveral spells in detention, and in 1963

he was dismissed from the army,following a general purge of all non-Ba'athists.

With the prospect of further arrests

ahead because he would not join theparty, he fled into Lebanon with hisfamily.

After his abduction in 1970 KhalilBrayez was held incommunicado for

three years. Since 1973 his family havebeen allowed to visit him once a month.

AI took up his case two years ago.Syrian authorities have issued noreason for his detention.

Please send courteously wordedletters appealing for the release ofKhalil Brayez to: President HafezAssad, Presidential Palace, Damascus,Syrian Arab Republic.

Samad ISMAIL, MalaysiaBorn 1924, married with alarge family; former manag-ing editor of the New StraitsTimes and one of Malaysia'sleading intellectuals; held insolitary confinement for thepast four years under theInternal Security Act (ISA).

As a young man Samad ISMAIL wasactive in the nationalist movementand was twice imprisoned by theBritish. Considered by many to be thefinest living writer in the Malaylanguage, he has been awardedMalaysia's highest literary award forhis work in journalism and literary

criticism.Samad Ismail was arrested in June

1976 accused of "trying to lower theresistance of the Malays against com-

munist ideology."Since then he has been detained in

solitary confinement at an undisclosedSpecial Branch Holding Centre inKuala Lumpur.

Under the ISA, detainees are kept

for an initial 60-day period in suchholding centres; after this theMinister of Home Affairs may releasethe prisoner, or serve a two-yeardetention order.

Samad Ismail is the only detaineeknown to Al who has been held con-tinuously in such a holding centre.

Please send courteously wordedletters appealing for Samad Ismail'srelease, or for his transfer to a normalprison pending an early trial, to: TanSri Ghazali Shafie, Minister of HomeAffairs, Jalan Datuk Onn, KualaLumpur, Malaysia.

4 JUNE 1980

"AI was able to identify at least 33 centres where political prisoners and former detainees had reported

the use of torture. . . appmximately 50 torture techniques were identified. . . In most cases there are

three stages in the use of torture: psychological torture, including sensory deprivation and threats against

the detainee's family; physical torture, such as beatings, burns, suffocation, hanging; finally, more

sophisticated methods carried out in secret centres, such as the application of electric shocks on the

most sensitive parts of the body and the use of drugs" — Extract from AI mission findings sent to the

Government of Colombia.

Repression in ColombiaAn AI mission to Colombia in January 1980 found that political prisoners were being tortured in military

installations and that there existed in the country a pattern of widespread arbitrary arrests and torture

of political prisoners.A 44-page document containing

Ars findings and presentingdetailed recommendations forending human rights abuses inColombia was given to thegovernment on 1 April.

The authorities rejected the findingsand President TURBAY Ayala—whohad publicly invited AI to visitColombia—spent 58 minutes denounc-ing them on the country's broadcastingservices.

AI decided to make the recom-mendations public to end rumours andspeculation about them in the LatinAmerican media.

The government, as well as civiland military authorities, had denied theexistence of political prisoners orhuman rights violations.

They attributed these allegationsto "subversive agents" and blamedarmed revolutionary groups forviolent acts against the state. It washeld that the government was justifiedin suppressing "subversion" on

grounds of "national security."AI is aware of violence by certain

opposition groups in Colombia, butinsists on respect for human rightseven in situations of violence.

In any case, the mission has con-firmed that political imprisonmentis used against both violent and non-violent opposition.

The three-delegate mission, whichincluded a judge and a medical doctor,met more than 400 political prisonersin 11 prisons, two military installa-tions used as prisons, and in twohospitals.

The majority of those interviewedin prison gave evidence of tortureor maltreatment. Evidence also camefrom ex-prisoners and their familiesand from political and professionalorganizations.

The mission also receiveddetailed information on politicalarrests and preventive detentions—most detainees being members of

An Al mission delegate, Antonio CARRETERO Perez, a Spanish judge, inter-

viewing political prisoners at Villaneuva prison, Cali.

peasant, Indian or trade unionorganizations, although those arrestedin 1979 included doctors, lawyers,journalists, members of slum-dwellersassociations, teachers, students andrelatives of detainees.

Colombia has been underemergency measures—the state ofsiege—almost continuously sinceNovember 1949.

From being a temporary andexceptional measure, the state of siegehas become a permanent instrument ofgovernment.

It has led to the virtually permanentsuspension of human rights guaranteesin the Constitution and in internationalagreements to which Colombia is asignatory.

Under the state of siege, exceptionaldecrees and the emergency provisionshave been used to justify massiveraids by security forces, to control theprivate and social lives of people livingin rural zones under military occupa-tion, to detain people involved intrade union activities, and to trycivilians before military tribunals.

They have also facilitated indiscrim-inate and widespread politicalarrests, prolonged detention withouttrial, torture, summary trials andpolitical murders, particularly inpeasant or Indian areas.

Another measure influencing condi-tions is the "security statute", pro-mulgated in 1978, under which a widerange of actions and offences—includingthe ill-defined charge of "disturbanceof public order"—are placed undermilitary jurisdiction.

Under the terms of earlier decreesdefendants are effectively denied theright of appeal in cases related tosocial protest, and some authoritiescharged with maintaining public order,such as police chiefs, are empoweredto decide what, in fact, constitutesa "crime".

The structure and practice ofmilitary justice in Colombia seriouslythreaten, among other rights, theindividual's right to be judged by animpartial tribunal.

In the military courts, with themilitary acting as both judge andaccuser, normal defence rights aredenied and in some cases defencecounsel have been obstructed, harassedand obliged to leave the court.

Between 1966 and 1973 nearly1,500 "Oral Councils of War"(Consejos Verbales de Guerra) wereconducted, with more than 3,800sentences imposed.

In 1979 alone nine courts-martialtried a total of 427 civilians.

In one trial, in secret session during

JUNE 1980 5

•

Amnistla Internacional Important(' separate

onfirmauras

Asesinatos, desapariciones, emercelamientos y agresiones,

especiaknente en zones campeskuis militarizadas y resguardosIndOenas

Al confirms (existence of) torture—headline from the newspaper El Bogotano'sspecial edition on Al's findings.

Ars visit, 219 people came before amilitary court on charges of rebellionand sedition.

Arrest and detention procedureswere found to be indiscriminate andlacking in effective guarantees againstarbitrary detention, with prisonersheld in military installations beyondjudicial control.

From information given bydetainees, the following typical patternhas emerged: after a dawn raid on asuspect's house, the detainee is takento a military centre, held incommuni-cado for several days... in somecases blindfolded and handcuffed,kept standing almost continuously andalmost totally deprived of food andsleep...

The detainee may be subjected tointense interrogation at any hour ofthe day or night, and frequently topsychological or physical torture...

Finally military judges decidewhether the detainee is to go beforea Verbal Council of War...

The evidence received by Al makesit clear that political prisoners aretortured in military centres inColombia, to such an extent that thisis happening systematically.

Numerous allegations of abductions,torture, killings, and disappearanceswere made against military and para-military personnel in peasant areasunder military control and in Indianreserves (resguardos idigenas).

The allegations were heard first-hand by the mission and were alsodocumented by professional organi-zations, priests, doctors and lawyers.

The lives of people in these areasare rigidly controlled, and degradingpenalities are imposed on those whobreak the regulations—the pervasiveatmosphere is of permanent threat andterror.

Many allegations in the Indianreserves refer to hired gunmen—pajaros—who act as a kind of private policefor landowners: 48 Indian membersof the Regional Indigenous Councilof the Cauca (Consejo RegionalIndigena del Cauca) have beenmurdered since 1973.

Ars main recommendations werethat:

the government should considerlifting the state of siege and repealingthe "security statute"; there shouldalso be safeguards to protect peopleheld under Article 28 of theConstitution, which allows detentionwithout charge for up to 10 days;

civilians should no longer be triedby military courts;

arrest and detention proceduresshould be reviewed, by either the

Afs visit to Colombia intensified awide-ranging national debate on humanrights, and there was extensive presscoverage of the mission.

Squads of reporters and photo-

Council of State or the SupremeCourt.

A series of recommendations to endwidespread torture were submitted tothe government. These included: thecreation of a commission, withindependent doctors and lawyers, toinvestigate torture allegations andreport publicly; allowing detainees tocontact lawyers and families within24 hours of arrest; regular medicalexaminations; compensation fortorture victims.

On the human rights violations inmilitary-controlled rural areas and inIndian reserves, Al recommended thatthe government define strictly themilitary and police powers in theseareas, publicly and in writing, and thatit act against paramilitary groups killingor otherwise using violence againstpeasants and Indians.

Al also called for:the release of trade unionists

arrested for peacefully exercising theirrights, with speedy trials for thosefacing criminal charges;

the protection from arrest orharassment of professional peopleobserving their professional ethics.

a review of the judicial constitutionalreform and the new penal code,introduced this year, to guaranteethe independence and impartiality ofthe judiciary, and to ensure effectiveprotection of human rights.

The mission's final report is beingprepared for publication later thisyear.

graphers were in attendance. Headlinesrecorded the delegates' passage throughthe country, with feature and leadingarticles explaining the visit anddetailing reactions to it.

Individual 'delegates were written upas personalities of the week and theyappeared in political cartoons.

When Ars recommendations weremade public, newspapers ran specialeditions and one published 16 fullcolumns of the details.

During its 16 days in Colombia themission also had talks with theauthorities, meeting President 1 urbay,five government ministers, supremecourt judges and members ofparliament.

In the prisons delegates spoke toprisoners alone, often in the prisonchapel or in the gardens.

Crucial period

Verifying allegations of torture wasclearly a problem. Obviously fewwere accompanied by official medicalcertificates—for one thing, medicalexaminations were practically impossibleduring the crucial period while thedetainee was held in military custody,incommunicado for the 10 daysallowed by law, and often for longerperiods.

Delegates satisfied themselves bychecking the available records, bycomparing detainees' accounts, by care-ful questioning—the doctor on themission was a psychiatrist.

The same methods of torturecropped up, the same patterns of arrestand detention—people tSr away fromeach other, those in prison andthose who had been released, gavesimilar accounts.

In the words of one delegate: "The'coincidences' were surprising..."

A 50-year-old Iraqi religious scholar,Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr AL SADR,and his sister, Bint AL HUDA, havebeen executed after their arrest athome in Najaf on 5 April this year.

The Iraqi authorities have declinedto confirm that he had been executed.

Ayatollah Al Sadr and his familyhad been under house arrest since mid-1979 and he had been threatenedwith death if he did not keep silent.

The leader of growing oppositionamong sections of the Shi'i community,the Ayatollah had called on Shi'is tochallenge and demonstrate against theSunni-dominated government.

His brief arrest on several occasions

A prisoner of conscience in Poland,Dariusz KOBZDEJ, went on hunger-strike last month in Gdansk prisonafter being jailed for speaking at anunofficial rally on 3 May.

He and Tadeusz SZCZUDLOWSKIwere sentenced to three months'imprisonment.

According to Polish regulationsprisoners on hunger-strike are forciblyfed from the fourth day.

Another prisoner of conscience, adopted by Al, Miroslaw CHOJECKI, went on hunger-strike for one month

There are fears that former membersof the East Timor independence move-ment—Fretilin—may have been executedafter surrendering under an amnestyoffered by the Indonesian authoritiesin 1977.

Apart from a number missing sincetheir surrender, others have "disappear-ed" after being rearrested byIndonesian troops last year.

It is also known that at least 800prisoners—some held since Indonesiainvaded East Timor in December 1975—are being detained in the territory inharsh and dangerous conditions.

They are underfed and Al hasreceived persistent reports of prisonersbeing beaten or tortured.

Most of the prisoners are being heldin Comarca prison, which is near a

in May and June 1979 provoked hugeand at times bloody demonstrationsin major Iraqi towns—and these led toextensive arrests and a number ofexecutions: Al has been given thenames of 23 of those executed.

AI has also received the names of16 Baghdad Shi'is reported to havebeen executed since the beginning of1980. They include: Sheikh MahmudAL MALAKI, religious scholar, DrGhalib Abdul Sahib ALESH andDr Riyadh Bakr ZAINI, both medicaldoctors, aged 30, Juwad Kadhim ALZUBAIDI, 39, merchant and formerprofessor of religious studies atBaghdad University.

at Warsaw's Makotow prison, beforebeing released on 10 May pendingtrial.

Al had appealed on behalf of MrChojecki, a member of the Social SelfDefence Committee (KSS KOR) andmanager of the unofficial publishinghouse NOWA.

He was arrested on 25 March oncharges of illegally procuring a stateduplicating machine—but Al believesthat the real reason for his arrest isthat he is a political dissenter.

If found guilty Mr Chojecki facesup to five years in jail.

swamp on the outskirts of the capital,Dili.

Al has written to PresidentSUHARTO, urging him to order aninvestigation into the whereabouts offormer members of Fretilin (FrenteRevolutionaria do Timor LesteIndependente) who disappeared aftersurrendering to or being captured byIndonesian forces.

Al also called for an investigationof the conditions under which theFretilin prisoners are being held.

It asked the President to allow theInternational Committee of the RedCross to trace missing people and tovisit prisons.

Al's letter, of 28 April, includeda list of 22 people who may have beensummarily executed.

JUNE 1980

Egypt'Riot' trialverdict

Egypt's Supreme State Security Courthas acquitted 155 of the 176 peopleaccused of political offences in theperiod up to the riots which shook thecountry in January 1977.

But six of those acquitted facesimilar charges in a new trial.

Eleven of those convicted werejailed for three years and fined £100(Egyptian); nine got one year, with a£50 (Egyptian) fine.

The case against Zaki MOURAD, alawyer adopted by AI, was dropped:he died in a car accident in December.

Al observers attended part of thetrial.

There is no right of appeal againstthe verdicts, which have still to be.ratified by President SADAT.

All 176 had been accused of beingmembers of the Egyptian CommunistParty (ECP) and the Egyptian Workers'Communist Party, or with instigatingthe riots by disseminating leaflets ornotices which were said to have con-tributed to the atmosphere of revoltat the time—the riots took place afterthe announcement that subsidies onbasic foodstuffs were to be removed.

Now 30 people—including sixof those acquitted—are to be tried oncharges of being members of the ECPand involvement in illegal communistactivities from the end of 1977 toAugust 1979.

The prosecution is said to be askingfor up to life imprisonment with hardlabour for all 30.

The authorities have also orderedthe arrest of another 24 people allegedto have represented the ECP abroad.

They include members of theCentral Committee of Fretilin, whichdeclared East Timor independent afterthe Portuguese withdrew in 1975,and resisted the subsequent invasionby Indonesia.

Central Committee memberLeopoldo JOAQUIM surrrenderedearly in 1978. He was held for severalmonths, then released. But in April1979 he and his 17-year-old niece,Marfa Gorete JOAQUIM, a formerstudent leader, were both taken away.Neither has been seen since.

Former members of the Fretilinarmed forces and other members ofthe movement are among those whohave "disappeared".

6

IraqReligious leader is executed

PolandRally speaker on hunger-strike

IndonesiaExecutions fear after amnesty

JUNE 1980 7

amnesty international

- campaign for the abolition of torture

appealsMore killings and tortureTurkey: the terror gets worseNearly 3,000 people have been murdered for political reasons inTurkey over the past two years—the political assassination rate nowaverages 10 a day. And as the killings—by both left and right-wingextremists—multiply, so do the detentions and allegations of officialtorture.

The Turkish daily newspaperCumhuriyet reports that in thefour months up to the beginningof April 1980, 46,796 peoplewere detained for political reasons.

Martial law was imposed inDecember 1978 and has been renewedevery two months—it is now in forcein 21 of Turkey's 67 provinces.

The latest allegation of torturereceived by Al concerns a psychiatristwho had been doing research ontorture—Dr Dursun KIRBAS.

After being picked up in a dawnraid on his house on 28 March thisyear, Dr Kirbas was interrogated at thePolitical Police Centre at Gayreteppe,Istanbul.

From the second day of his deten-tion Dr Kirbas was tortured--punched,kicked, given electric shocks andfalanga (beating the soles of the feet).

Two victims of anti-union action inTurkey: arrested in January with 13fellow-members of the ProgressiveIron-workers Union, they were alltortured for 48 hours before beingreleased without charges.

EthiopiaChurch leader'disappears'

On 28 July last year unidentifiedgunmen kidnapped the ReverendGudina TUMSA, 49, GeneralSecretary of the Ethiopian Evange-lical Mekane Yesus Church, andhis wife, Tsehai TOLESSA, outsidechurch headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Mr Tumsa's wife was freed onthe outskirts of the city—he hasnot been seen since.

His kidnappers are believed tohave been plainclothes governmentsecurity agents—but the Ethiopianauthorities have not acknowledgedthe arrest or detention of Mr Tumsa.

His Church—a member ot theLutheran World Federation—is thelargest non-orthodox ChristianChurch in Ethiopia. Most membersbelong to the Oromo ethnic groupin the south.

Oromo resistance to the militarygovernment has been growing andparts of the country are said to becontrolled by the Oromo LiberationFront.

Oromos in Addis Ababa andother towns are often suspected ofsympathizing with the Front andthere have been large-scale arreststhis year.

Many members of the MekaneYesus Church have been arrested inthe past two years, accused ofbeing "counter-revolutionaries".But the Church, though criticizingexcesses carried out in the name of therevolution, has sought a role withinthe revolution, not against it.

Mr Tumsa himself has been detainedtwice before—in October 1978 andin June 1979. He has never beencharged, but it is thought he wassuspected of supporting Oromoresistance, an accusation he hasflatly denied.

Please write courteously wordedletters asking for information aboutthe disappearance of the ReverendGudina Tumsa to: Lieutenant-colonel Mengistu HaileMariam, Headof State, Provisional MilitaryGovernment of Socialist Ethiopia,Provisional Administrative Council,PO Box 5707, Addis Ababa,Ethiopia.

On the sixth day of torture, DrKirbas fell ill and was taken to TaksimHospital, where a doctor diagnosedacute infection of the lung—Dr Kirbashad previously had half his left lungremoved.

The torture began again as soon asDr Kirbas arrived back at the policestation. It continued until he had beenheld for two weeks.

When Dr Kirbas was taken before amilitary tribunal the judge ordered hisimmediate release.

In another report which reachedLondon on 25 April, Al learned of 18members of the Progressive YouthOrganization, said to have been tortur-ed at the First Police Division inIstanbul.

They were denied access to theirlawyers and families and it was fearedthe torture was continuing.

Al has sent urgent appeals on theirbehalf to the Prime Minister, MrDemirel.

Last August Al wrote to his pre-decessor about the arrest and allegedill-treatment of members of theConfederation of Progressive TradeUnions of Turkey. In April 1980Al raised further reports of anti-union action with Mr Demirel.

Please write courteously wordedletters expressing concern about therising number of torture allegationscoming from Turkey to: HisExcellency Siileyman Demirel, PrimeMinister, Ankara, Turkey.

8 JUNE 1980

Iranians executed after unfair trialsThousands of Iranians have been convicted by the country's Islamic Revolutionary Tribunals after trialsthat were inadequate and unfair—and many defendants were sentenced to death and executed after they,too, had been denied a fair trial.

This is the major conclusion toemerge from an Al report,published on 9 May.

It covers the period up to 14September 1979, and focuses on therole of the revolutionary tribunals—the special courts set up after therevolution.

On the evidence of hundreds ofcases studied, the report finds thatdefendants were "consistently deniedfair trials, including the opportunityto prepare or present an adequatedefence".

Guarantees needed for a fair trialwere "effectively lacking" because:

defendants were often not told ofthe exact charges against them;

they could not choose their owncounsel;

they were often not allowed to calldefence witnesses, or to question wit-nesses for the prosecution;

many trials were closed to the public,and defendants were not presumedinnocent unless proved guilty;

there was no right of appeal.Sometimes defendants only learned

of the charges against them just beforetheir trial—and the only knownfacility offered was an opportunityto write a defence on a piece of paper.

According to one Iranian news-paper estimate the tribunals processedabout 10,000 cases in the first fourmonths after the Shah's overthrowin February 1979.

Up to now more than 800 peopleare reported to have been executed.

At first the tribunals heard casesdealing with offences that the authori-ties said had been committed in

PRISONERS HARMEDBY WEST GERMANISOLATION SYSTEMContinued from page I

Al, which also released the minutesof a meeting with the authorities andthe text of relevant correspondence,urged that severe forms of isolationshould no longer be.used as regularforms of imprisonment.

The authorities rejected Al'srecommendations—including one toallow independently authorizedmedical examinations.

support of the Shah. Their jurisdictionwas soon extended to cover violentand sexual crimes, and "counter-revolutionary" activity said to bedirected against the Islamic Republic.

The tribunals operate independentlyof the Provisional Government. In April1979 the Minister o f Justice wasreported as saying that the courts are"like wartime trials acting under theirown rules and regulations".

On 5 April 1979 regulations on thecourts' jurisdiction and procedurewere promulgated, but the defencefacilities they offer are inadequate.

In addition, the decision on whether

MORE EXECUTIONSThe latest eXecutions in Iraninclude seven members of theBaha'i faith and a formerEducation Minister,Farroukhrou PARSA, whodied early last month.

Al—which has repeatedlycalled for an end to all execut-ions in Iran—had appealed toAyatollah Khomeini to commutethe death sentence passed onFarroukhrou Parsa.

or not to draw up an indictment seemsin most cases to be an effective deter-mination of guilt or innocence, ratherthan a decision on whether there is acase to be answered.

The most frequent complaints ofprisoners reported to Al were thatsome were not told why they had beenarrested, and that they were notinterrogated promptly after arrest.

These findings come mostly frominformation on some 900 cases givento an AI mission in April 1979. Themission studied the tribunals' procedurebut were unable to observe them inoperation.

Each time it went to Qasr Prison inTeheran it was told the trials were notscheduled to take place, or had "justfinished". ...

Al has called on Iran to conformto agreed standards for trials and thetreatment of prisoners to which thecountry is committed by internationaltreaty.

Al welcomed a decision by theauthorities—reported in Iran in March—to set up a Supreme Court to hearappeals against verdicts passed byIslamic judges.

But it remains concerned aboutreports of arrested people being heldincommunicado for long periods—therelatives of some of those arrested inNovember and December last year saythey still have not been able to findout where they are or why they werearrested.

AI sent its report to AyatollahKHOMEINI in January 1980, and toPresident Bani-SADR in February,inviting them to comment. There hasbeen no response.

AI zondemnea human rights violat-ions under the Shah's regime on anumber of occasions; the most recentdocument published, in 1978, was alegal memorandum on the Shah'smilitary tribunals.

LIBYACALL TO RENOUNCEOFFICIAL'LIQUIDATION'PROGRAM

Al has called on the Libyan authoritiesto renounce an official program toliquidate "enemies of the revolution".The program was approved in theLibyan Arab Jamahariya early inFebruary this year.

Since February seven Libyancitizens have been killed abroad, andseveral people are reported to have diedin custody in Libya after beingimprisoned in connection with politicalor economic offences.

The latter include 'AmerDEGHAYES, a former Ba'athist leaderwho died within days of his arrest inFebruary 1980.

Two Al delegates visited Libya inMarch and April 1980 to observetwo trials of prisoners of conscience—both trials are continuing—and to talkto Libyan authorities.

They explained Al's total oppositionto the death penalty and drew atten-tion to the large number of offences—many of them political—punishableby death in Libya.

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