arnnestyJULY 1982 Volume XII Number 7

-41111Ire international newsletter

Salvadorians come to identify relatives killed during the night by paramilitary

Call for endto politicalkillings bygovernmentsHuman rights workers from 30countries ended a conference inAmsterdam in May 1982 with acall for the international com-munity to act to halt politicalkillings by governments.

The International Conferenceon Extrajudicial Executions,organized by A/'s Dutch Section.said hundreds of thousands ofpeople had died in the past 10years as a result of the practice,which it described as "unlawfuland deliberate killings carriedout by order of a government orwith its complicity".

In its final statement on 2 May, theconference said the killings were con-tinuing today in a number of countries:"These killings continue day after dayoutside any judicial process and indenial of the protection of law ."

units outside San Salvador, March 1981.

It said the killings were carried outboth by regular military and policeforces and by special units created tofunction without normal supervision.by death squads operating with govern-ment complicity., and assassins actingagainst victims in other countries.

Many of the victims of extrajudicialkillings were subjected to "disappear-ance", illegal detention or torturebefore being killed.

"The scope of killings ranges frontassassinations to the wholesale liquid-ation of political opposition,- the

conference said."The scale of the

Chris Steele-Perkins/Magnum

crime is sometnnes not known to theinternational community before it hasreached proportions that will damagea whole Sociels• for genera! ions tocome."

The three-day conference, called toshed light on the abuse and to seekways of stopping it. brought toget her

I 20 part icipants, including independentexperts, members of Mtergo\ ernmentaland non-governmental organi/ations.members and staff of I front many

countries. and activists front ot net hu-man rights groups. The lull text of thnconference's final stateinent appealson page 7 r:11

Djibouti forcibly returns refugees to EthiopiaAbout 80 Ethiopians who had fledacross the border into Djibouti inthe past year or more are reportedto have been forcibly returned toEthiopia by the Djibouti authoritieson 16 February 1982.

They are said to have been putin a locked train and taken to theborder, where they were handedover. Some are reported to havecommitted suicide and others tohave been injured leaping out of themoving train.

The fate of the remainder onarrival is uncertain but there arereports that they may be detainedat Dire Dawa.

The expulsions followed therounding-up of several hundredEthiopians in the capital, Djibouti-

ville, allegedly for committingviolent crimes.

Most of those carrying refugeedocuments were released--butseveral recognized refugees weredetained in custody. They includeda number of people who had beenaccepted for resettlement in theUSA, as well as many others seekingasylum whose applications were stillbeing processed.

A/ wrote to the Djibouti authori-ties expressing concern about theexpulsions and fears for the safetyof the people concerned. It calledon the government to reaffirm itscommitment to the principle of non-refoulement of refugees, as guarante-ed by the United Nations Conventionon Refugees which the Djibouti

Government has ratified.The government replied that 88

"illegal entrants- had been expelledto Ethiopia and 100 others toSomalia, allegedly after being invok-ed in robberies and armed attacks.

In a reply, .41 cited the names ofsome of the refugees said to havebeen expelled and called for anofficial inquiry into the expulsionsand a review of procedures for deter-mining refugee status.• A/ also appealed to the Ethiopianauthorities to release uncondition-ally all those who had been returnedto Ethiopia: it pointed out that anamnesty decree of June 1980, re-ferring specifically to Ethiopianrefugees in Djibouti, guaranteed themfreedom from persecution on returnl-

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: •South African bannings, page 2; • Uruguayan prisoners retried, page 4; • Executions in Iran, page 6.

2

South AfricaBannings: 13 orders liftedbut church leadergets three more years

Kenya

Detentions followcall for anopposition party

JULY 1982

Thirteen South Africans restrictedunder banning orders had their orderslifted in February 1982. They includedseveral who had been adopted by Al asprisoners of conscience, among themDavid Adler, Alan Aderem, SedupeRamokgopa and Asha Rambally. Noreasons had been given by the Ministerof Justice for the administrative im-position of these orders and no reasonswere given for their revocation.

In May another 10 banned peoplehad their banning orders prematurelylifted, among them Don Mattera andCharles Nqakula, both journalists, andKader Hassim, a lawyer.

In the last few months, however,several banning orders have been im-posed or renewed.

On 30 April 1982 the first blackSecretary General of the South AfricanCatholic Bishops' Conference, FatherSmangaliso Mkhatshwa, who had beenrestricted since 1977, had his banningorder renewed for another three years.Dr Mamphela Ramphele, a member ofthe Black Consciousness movementwho ran a health centre in King-williamstown, Cape Province, had herfive-year order (imposed in 1977)renewed for two years on 31 May1982. She has again been banished tothe remote town of Tzaneen, in north-eastern Transvaal.

New restriction orders included afive-year ban imposed on DavidJohnson, President of the BlackStudents' Society at Johannesburg'sWitwatersrand University, on 11January 1982.

In April and May 1982 banningorders were served on several peoplerecently released from five to ninemonths' detention without charge ortrial under the Terrorism Act: Fourleading trade unionists from the PortElizabeth area, Sipho Pityana, MaxwellMadlingozi, Zamile Mjuza and DumileMakanda, were served with two-yearorders on being released in Februaryafter nine months' detention. Nicholas"Fink" Haysom, lawyer and researcherat the Centre for Applied Legal Studiesat Witwatersrand University, andformer President of the National Unionof South African Students, was bannedfor two years after four months'detention. Two industrial sociologystudents at the same university, Keith

Coleman and Clive van Heerden, whohad written for the South AfricanStudents' Press Union, were also bannedfor two years after being detained forfive months. Another former detainee,Morris Smithers, was banned for twoyears on 13 April 1982 shortly beforehe was due to testify at an inquest intothe death in detention of Dr NeilAggett (see March Newsletter); he hadbeen released in March after fourmonths' detention.

In May two executive members ofthe Natal Indian Congress in Durban,Pravin Gordhan, who had just beenreleased from over five months'incommunicado detention withouttrial, and Mooroogiah Naidoo, wereserved with three- and two-year bann-ing orders respectively.

Banning orders are imposed admini-stratively by the Minister of Justice: noreasons are given and there is no legalredress against such an order. Bannedpeople may not communicate witheach other, or be quoted or havematerial published. They may notattend any social or political gathering,or enter an educational establishmentor factory. They arc usually restrictedto a certain district and are oftenput under house arrest during thehours of darkness and throughoutweekends. Those contravening bantl-ing orders may be prosecuted andimprisoned r:

Death sentences onthree are commutedThe death sentences on three allegedmembers of the banned AfricanNational Congress Ncimbithi JohnsonI.ubisi, Petrus Tsepo Mashigo andNaphtali Manana—were commuted tL)life imprisonment on 3 June 1982by the State President of South Africa.All three had been convicted of treasonand sentenced to death by the PretoriaSupreme Court in November 1980.Their appeals against sentence wererejected by the Appeal Court in April1982 (see June Newsletter).

Convicted political prisoners inSouth Africa receive no remission ofsentence and those serving life sentencesare held for the duration of theirnatural lives0

A former member of parliament andhis lawyer are among the first peopleto be detained under Kenya's Preserva-tion of Public Security Regulationssince President Daniel arap Moi'sgo‘ernment came to power in 1978.Both are being held without charge ortrial.

George Anyona, who was adoptedby A/ as a prisoner of conscience in1977 and 1978, was arrested on 2 June1982 after publicly advocating theformation of an opposition party, aspermitted under the country's con-stitution. Ills lawyer, John Khaminwa,who had acted as defence lawyer inpolitically sensitive cases in recentmonths but was not himself active inpolitics, was arrested the ncxt day. Nospecific reasons were given by theauthorities for the detentions butshortly afterwards President Moi isreported to have publicly accused"subversive element s and plot t ers"of 'seeking to undermine the govern-ment and cause political chaos".

At least seven university lecturerswere also arrested in early June, includ-ing Al-Amin Mazrui and Maina waKinyatti. The latter has been remandedin custody on a holding charge ofpossession of a seditious publicationbut the legal status of thc other lectur-ers is not clear at the time of going topress.

A journalist, Wangondu Kariuki,is currently in custody on the sameholding charge; he was arrested on 15May. The Attorney General's consentis required before a holding charge canformally proceed.

1/ has expressed concern about thearrests to President Moi and has calledfor those still held to be brought totrial or released without delay I]

Prisoner Releases and CasesThe International Secretariat learnedin May of the release of 66 prisonersunder adoption GI- investigation; ittook up 188 cases.

DEATH PENALTYAl has learned of 109 people beingsentenced to death in 15 countriesand of 72 executions in five countriesduring May 1982.

JULY 1982 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•s 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.

Pastor Anaya Cuadros,Peru

A teacher and leader of a pea-sant community near Lima, hehas been detained since 10February 1982, charged with"terrorism".

Pastor Anaya and nine others weredetained after about 300 Civil Guardsraided the Jicamarca comunidadcampesina (peasant community) on10 February. According to communitymembers, house-to-house searcheswere carried out and residents beaten.

A primary target of the raid was the community development institute,the Instituto de Investigación Promo-ción Agraria-Lima (INPAL), which has

helped develop the area. Pastor Anayais the institute's director.

The raid followed a court case inwhich a local landowner had unsuccess-fully claimed title to community lands.Before the raid landowners claimingrights to community lands had putpaid advertisements in Peruvian news-papers accusing it of terrorism.

Under Peruvian law, if a communityloses its status as a comumdad campe-sina its land may be sold off.

In a statement to a press conferencethe day after the raid, a Civil Guardrepresentative said Jicamarca shouldnot have its comunidad campesinastatus, suggesting that it was a "facade-for subversive activities. He said PastorAnaya was the head of a terrorist organ-ization and was responsible for "incitingland takeovers". The evidence present-ed to the conference included a slideprojector from INPAL and reels offilm from a Dutch documentary on thebuilding of Jicamarca's reservoir bycommunity women.

Despite the gravity of the chargesagainst the community, a local courthad by 22 February ordered the un-conditional release of all the detaineesexcept Pastor Anaya. He is being heldunder Decreto 046 (known as the "Lawagainst Terrorism")—but no specific acthas been cited in the charges againsthim. He remains in detention in ElFronton island prison awaiting a judic-ial hearing. Al believes he is being held

solely for the non-violent leadership ofhis community.

Please send courteous letters appeal-ing for the release of Pastor Anava to:President Fernando Belannde Terry/Palacio Nacional/Lima/Peru.

Jean- Marie Aubame, Gabon

A civil servant in his late fifties,and formerly a diplomat at theUnited Nations; he has beendetained without trial sinceNovember 1981.

Jean-Marie Aubame and at least 10others were arrested by security policein Libreville on 27 November 1981.on suspicion of forming an oppositionpolitical party, the Mouyement de re-dressement national (MORENA),Movement for National Recovery.(Gabon is a one-party state and noopposition parties are permitted.)Jean-Marie Aubame and several otherswere accused also of writing an 18-pagedocument criticizing the politicalsituation in Gabon. They are said tohave intended sending this to PresidentMitterrand of France in the hope thatthe French Government might intervenewith Gabon's President Bongo in orderto introduce a multi-party system inthe country.

Jean-Marie Aubame was initiallyquestioned by the security police andthen held at the headquarters of militaryintelligence. In December 1981 he wastransferred to Libreville's central Gros-Bouquet prison, where he was held forseveral days naked in a damp cell. Heis believed to be detained now in aspecial section of the prison for politicaldetainees.

Throughout his detention he hasbeen kept incommunicado and notallowed to communicate with his familyor with a lawyer; he was, however,eventually allowed to receive food fromhis family.

Please send courteous letters appeal-ing for his release to: Son ExcellenceEl-Hadj Omar Bongo/Président de laRépubliq ue/ B.P. 546/ Libreville/Gabon.

Henrikas Jashkunas, USSR

A 55-year-old Lithuanian, he is

serving a 15-year sentence of

imprisonment and internal exilefor preparing samizdat, privately

published, unofficial and un-censored material.

Henrikas Jashkunas was arrested afterabout 1,000 unofficial documentswere discovered in his cellar inDecember 1976. Written by a groupcalling itself the "United Front forPeace and National Liberation of thePeoples of the USSR- (of which he wasa member), the documents called fora referendum on peaceful secession ofminority nationalities from the USSR.The right of Union Republics to secedefrom the USSR is guaranteed by theSoviet constitution.

Henrikas Jashkunas was convictedof "anti-Soviet agitation and propa-ganda- in 1977 and is now confinedin the special regime section of aCorrective Labour Colony No. 36 in

the Perm region. This regime is the

harshest form of corrective labour

camp under Soviet law and is intendedfor "especially dangerous recidivists".Henrikas Jashkunas is reported to havehad at least one heart attack duringhis imprisonment and also to have lostmany of his teeth.

He previously served 18 years'imprisonment and internal exile afterbeing arrested in 1947 for his partin an unofficial youth group whichposted leaflets protesting againstLithuania's accession to the USSRin 1939. He was sentenced to 25 years'imprisonment. The sentence wasdoubled in 1953 after he had organizeda successful labour strike among hisfellow prisoners. He was releasedahead of term in 1965.

He was adopted by AI as a prisonerof conscience in January 1978, and ismarried with two children.

Please send courteous letters appeal-ing for the release of Henrikas Jashkunasto: Mr A. Rekunkov/The ProcuratorGeneral of the USSR/ul. Pushkinskaya15a/Moskva/ USSR.

4 JULY 1982

Some 1,U00 political prisoners are being held in Uruguay, according to official figures released earlier this year. The

majority of them are held in the military-run Libertad Prison for male political prisoners, and the testimony of former

inmates suggests that most prisoners there are being held in conditions deliberately designed to undermine their psycho-

logical stability. A particularly disturbing development has been the retrial of political prisoners, some of them after they

had served sentences of eight and nine years and had their release ordered by the courts. In a number of cases the prisoners

are reported to have been tortured.

Long-term political prisoners inUruguay face new charges

I.

•• •••.4.

4.•• •

Two months after a court hadordered his release from LibertadPrison, 35-year-old AugustoKennedy Arbiza is reported tohave been secretly removed fromthe prison complex by threeofficers of the armed forces.

Reports received by A/ say theyentered his cell, hooded him andtook him to a military barracks,where he was held incommunicadofor at least 10 days. During thisperiod he is reported to have beentortured, interrogated and forcedto sign a "confession" which hehad not been allowed to read.

This confession is reported to havebeen used later when he was tried iii

camera before a military court; thecharge was under Article 60(5) of theMilitary Penal Code: "subversiveassociation-.

By then Augusto Kennedy, a formerteacher, had been imprisoned for juston nine years. He was first sentencedin May 1972 to between six months'and two years' imprisonment for"assisting a subversive organization,a charge that then fell under thecountry's civilian penal code. lie wassubsequently twice retried in prisonon the same charge before militarycourts:

After about 18 months he was re-

tried under the Law of State Securityand Internal Order (1972), appliedretroactively, and sentenced to anotherfive years' imprisonment. After theexpiry of this sentence his release wasordered by the Supreme MilitaryTribunal in April 1979.

However, two days after being legally

notified of his release he was broughtbefore the same military tribunal, re-tried and sentenced to a further twoyears' imprisonment.

His total sentence of eight and ahalf years expired in December 1980,when he again received legal notificat-ion of his release by court order. InFebruary 1981 he was removed from

Libertad Prison

Libertad Prison by the three militaryofficers. He was tried in April andreturned to Libertad at the end of thatmonth and held incommunicado in anisolation cell until 24 June.

In February 1982 A/ received areport that he had been sentenced toanother eight years' imprisonmentafter the April 1981 trial.

Augusto Kennedy is one of a numberof political prisoners in Libertad Prisonwho are reported either to have beenretried or to be facing retrial for allegedoffences under the Law of State Securityand Internal Order (1972) and theMilitary Penal Code. allegedly committ-ed while the inmates were being heldin prison. A 1 has details on 21 of thecases, including that of AugustoKennedy.

The following eight prisoners areknown to have already completed theirprison sentences before or shortly afterthe new trial proceedings were initiatedand in five of these cases A/ has beeninformed that the prisoners' releasefrom prison had been authorized byt he competent mint ary j udge JulioEtchecury Moreira. release mdered bycourt December 1980; Americo

Domingo Méndez Segovia, releaseordered by court February 1981: LuisF.nrique Bernier Ferrero. release ordered

by court May 1981; Ruben Paiva,release ordered by court in 1980; JoséLuis Frustacio de los Santos, completionof sentence December 1980; OrlandoJose Pereira Malanotti and Milton

Ramirez Romero, completion of sen-tences August 1981; and AlfredoGeomer. Selay, completion of sentenceJanuary 1981.

—4041trowe

Perry Kretz/Stern

Another 12 prisoners have reportedlybeen committed for trial on similarcharges but have not reached the endof their original sentence. They includetwo prisoners whose sentences are notdue to expire until the second decadeof the 21st century. The 12 are:Mario Teti Izquierdo and Julio Fernando

Frejeiro Correa, original sentencesexpire May 1982; Jorge Voituret.original sentence expires December 1982;

Ra61 Martinez Machado. original sen-tence expires 1982-1984; LeonardoMoreira, original sentence expires May1983; Walter Medvedeo Lema, originalsentence expires 1983-1987; ConradoAlcedo Gyurcovitz I lerbón, originalsentence expires 10k6 -1989 Jose

Felix Martinez Salgueiro, original sen-tence expires 1989-1994; Juan Alfredo

Alzugurat Trfas, original sentenceexpires 1989: Juan Jose Cruz Garcra,original sentence expires 1995-1997;Ignacio Fonseca Young. original sen-tence expires 2010-2015: .mdWashington de Vargas Saccone. origMal

sentence expires 2012-2017.A/ is concerned that proceduYs in

the trials of these prisoners do not con-form to international standards for afair and impartial trial. Thal proceedingsare reported to have been based onconfessions obtained under duresswhile prisoners were held incommunic-ado without access to a lawyer. Prisonershave allegedly been asked to sign suchconfessions without being allowed tosee their contents.

Unconfirmed reports have indicatedthat interrogations have been conductedby a court official or military officerswithout proper legal authority. Many

JULY 1982 5

of the prisoners were allegedlytortured before these interrogations.

Courts have not been impartialsince proceedings have been conductedby military judges who are themselvesofficers in the armed forces, and inmany cases the defence of the prisonerhas been conducted by military officersappointed by the courts.

Prisoners serving sentences havebeen summarily removed from theprison by orders of the military author-ities for re-interrogation, without theirfamilies being informed of their where-abouts. Many have been held for monthsin military barracks where they havebeen held incommunicado and report-edly tortured before being returned tothe prison.

Most of the prisoners were originallyconvicted on charges of sedition underthe Law of State Security and InternalOrder (1972) and the Military PenalCode, following their arrest by thesecurity services in 1971 and 1972,and received sentences ranging from7 to 40 years' imprisonment. Thetiming of the arrests, and official state-ments, indicate that the majority, butnot all, of the prisoners were arrestedon suspicion of membership of, orlinks with, the Movitniento de Libera-ción Nacional (MLN-Tupamaros), anurban guerrilla group which carried outarmed actions during the late 1960suntil it was effectively dismantled bythe armed forces in 1972.

Prisoners arrested before and during1972 were charged under the OrdinaryPenal Code. However, after the enact-ment of the Law of State Security andInternal Order in July 1972 (whichbrought civilians charged with politicaloffences under the jurisdiction ofmilitary courts) their cases were handedover retroactively to military courts.

Most of the prisoners have beenaccused of belonging to a faction ofthe MLN Tupamaros, known as theSeis Puntistas, and of having beenengaged in subversive activities whileserving prison sentences in Libertad.(A/'s information is that Ruben Paiva,José Felix Martinez Salgueiro, IgnacioFonseca Young and Washington deVargas Saccone were not amongthose charged in connection withthe activities of the Seis Puntistas.)

It is believed that the majority arecharged with "subversive association",which carries a prison sentence of3-18 years. Others have been chargedin addition with "desacato" (contempt)under Article 173 of the Ordinary PenalCode.

In October 1980 Al issued an urgentaction appeal on behalf of a medicalstudent, Mario Teti Izquierdo, following

Washington de Vargas Saccone.. . aformer law student now aged 30,he is reported to have been torturedrepeatedly since his arrest in May1972 and is now held in LibertadPrison, where he is reported to bein poor physical and mental health.

He was sentenced in December1972 to two years' imprisonmentfor "unlawful association to com-mit a crime". A year later a militaryjudge signed a warrant for his releaseand ordered bail of 100,000Uruguayan pesos, which his familypaid. He was not released but heldin a military barracks in San Joseuntil June 1976, when he wasretried and sentenced to six years'imprisonment for "attacking theconstitution". (The sentence wasdated from the time of his arrestin May 1972.) He was transferredto Libertad Prison, but removedagain from April to June. 1977,when he is reported to have beenrepeatedly tortured.

reports that he had been removed fromLibertad to an unknown destination.

In November and December 1980four other prisoners were removed fromLibertad for interrogation in a militarybarracks: Orlando Pereira Malanotti, apsychologist, Victor Romano and Ilugr,Blanco, both doctors, and Raul NoelMartine/. Machado, a history teacher.

A further series of "secret transfers"from the prison were reported inFebruary 1981, including that ofAugusto Kennedy.

The official explanation for theseevents was given in a press statement inDecember 1980 which referred to analleged conspiracy involving about 120Libertad prisoners which was to culmin-ate in a planned invasion of the nationalterritory from abroad.

The plausibility of the chargesagainst the prisoners may be questioned.The allegations made in the officialstatement, which was issued before the

In June 1977 he was chargedwith involvement in the murder oftwo police agents, two armedattacks and the takeover of a radio-station. The charges related toevents in 1971; officials are report-ed to have claimed they onlylearned of Washington de Vargas'alleged involvement after he hadbeen imprisoned for some time.He has consistently maintainedhis innocence of these charges.

In March 1978 the SupremeMilitary Tribunal notified his de-fence lawyer that the date for hisrelease was 21 May 1978. In Aprilhe is reported to have been badlybeaten by a group of officers inLibertad Prison after he had refusedto sign a confession to the newcharges. He was taken to hospitalin a coma. From there he wastaken to a military barracks forfurther interrogation and is reportedto have been tortured once more.

In May 1978 a new trial beganagainst him for "co-authorship" of"attacks on the constitution",murder, and robbery. He was sen-tenced to 24 years' imprisonmentand a further four years' administra-tive detention. The SupremeMilitary Tribunal is reported tonave increased this to 30 years'imprisonment and 10 to 15 years'administrative detention.

In September 1981 he is reportedto have been removed fromLibertad again and tortured. He isnow facing a fresh trial, for "con-tempt" — for refusing to signan official notification of hissentence.

prisoners were charged, have not beenpublicly clarified after the subsequentsecret court proceedings. A/ does notknow on what alleged individual crimin-al acts the charge of "subversiveassociation" has been based. The oppor-tunities for prisoners to congregate andtalk together in the high security prisonof Libertad are extremely limited: duringthe daily one-hour recreation periodprisoners can only talk in pairs, andconversations during the fortnightlyfamily visits are carried out by tele-phone from behind a glass screen.

1/ believes that the retrials mayhave been used to silence a group ofprisoners who were attempting todenounce conditions at LibertadPrison. It is also believed that prisonersconsidered politically dangerous or aslikely to resume political activities ontheir release may be subject to furtherdetention or retrial as a preventivemeasureE

6

IranExecution toll over 4,400

many shot in secretThe number of people officiallyannounced to have been executed inIran since the revolution of February1979 is now well over 4,400 --butreports reaching Al indicate that manymore people have been put to death inexecutions which have not been madcpublic by the authorities.

A total of 165 secret executionsare reported to have been carried outin Tehran's Evin Prison on 12 and 26March 1982, according to a statementon 15 May by the Paris office of thePeople's Mujahideen Organization ofIran. Among those reportedly executedwere Amir Siavosh. a university student,and Golamreza Safari. The 75 peoplereported to have been executed on 12March are said to have been given aweek to express repentance on tele-vision or face execution.

The French newspaper Le Malin

referred on 2 April to reports of some800 executions between 1 and 11February 1982 which had reached thenewspaper from Iranian prisons: itdescribed its sources as "totally inde-pendent of political channels". How-ever, Le Matin added that "Suchfigures cannot be openly investigated,for executions are no longerannounced."

Although it is impossible for ill toconfirm these figures, accounts fromother sources--including members ofthe Baha'i faith and a group of exiledIranian lawyers, the Collate indepe..-

The death penalty has recently becomea major political issue in Swazilandfollowing a series of so-called "muti"murders, in which victims are killed forritual purposes. In March 1982 PrimeMinister Prince Mabandla Dlamini toldthe country's parliament that therewere 34 reported murders of this typebetween 1978 and 1981, and that 12 ofthem had resulted in arrests.

No executions are reported to havebeen carried out in Swaziland between1977 and mid-1981, although a numberof people are believed to have beensentenced to death. In July 1981 there

dant des avocats iraniens "en exil"—confirm that people are being executedsecretly in Iran and that in many casesthe families are not informed untilwell after the executions.

Many executions appear to havetaken place without trial or when nodeath sentence has been passed:

Omid Gharib, a former student inFrance, was arrested on 9 June 1980after a letter of his to a friend inFrance had been intercepted by theauthorities. His indictment stated thathe had been "westernized, broughtup in a westernized family... hadbeen too long in Europe for hisstudies... smoked Winston cigarettesand... displayed a tendency to theleft". At his trial he was sentencedto three years' imprisonment—but on2 February 1982 his parents learnedthat he bad been executed two daysearlier.

Ebrahim Eshghani is reported tohave been secretly executed in Novem-ber 1981 in Chah Bahar Prison inBaluchistan, after having been sentenc-ed to life imprisonment.

AI is still seeking information about11 Baha'is who were arrested in August1980 and have not been seen or heardof since. Nineteen Baha'is have beenexecuted in Iran during 1982, bringingthe total number of adherents executedsince the 1979 revolution to morethan 1000

was an abrupt change in governmentpolicy and eight prisoners were hanged,all apparently sentenced to death forritual murder.

Al wrote to Swaziland's Head ofState, King Sobhuza II, and to thePrime Minister and Minister of Justicein May 1982 to appeal against thedeath penalty. It called for a reviewof government policy on the questionand a return to a position of de factoabolition through the application ofthe Royal Prerogative of Mercy tocommute all sentences of death impos-ed and confirmed by the courts111

JULY 1982

El SalvadorHuman rightsworker killed,two 'disappear'Three more human rights workersare reported to have become victimsof "disappearance" and politicalkilling in El Salvador in recent months.

Two of them, Maria JesfisEcheverria and Juana Lara, are report-ed to have "disappeared" in April,together with several children. The twowomen are members of the Comitede Madres y Familiares de Presos,Desaparecidos y Asesinados Politicos,Committee of Mothers and Relativesof Political Prisoners, the "Disappeared"and Victims of Political Killings. Alhas no further details on their case.

A third human rights worker,Tomas Antonio Leiva, is reported tohave been kilted by a paramilitarygroup in Morazán Province in lateApril or early May. He was a journalistand member of the Comisión deDerechos Humanos de El Salvador,El Salvador Human Rights Commission,

an independent human rights monitor-ing group.

In early October 1980 MariaMagdalena Enriquez, the comission'spress secretary, was found dead in ashallow grave about 20 miles fromSan Salvador. She had been abductedon 3 October 1980. Another represent-ative of the commission, RamónValladares Perez, was killed on 26October 1980 by unidentified gunmen.

In December 1981 three more mem-bers of the commission were arrested:Carlos Eduardo Vides, aged 20, amedical student; Norberto HuezoMartinez, aged 25, a dental student; andFrancisco Antonio Barraza, aged 27, aschool teacher. They were later locatedin a cavalry barracks, to which they hadbeen taken by the 5th Infantry Regi-ment. However, according to thelatest information available to Al, theyare still being held illegally and nocharges have been brought against them CI

VIETNAMESE JESUITS HELD

Al has learned of two more Jesuitsbeing detained in Viet Nam: FathersKhuat Duy Linh and Do Quang Chinh.They were arrested in June 1981 andare being held with five other Jesuits,who were arrested in December 1980and January 1981 and were prisonersof the month in December 1981 (seeDecember 1981 Newsletter andsupplement to June 1982 Newsletter).

SwazilandHanging now a major issuefollowing ritual murders

JULY 1982 7

Political killings by governmentsThe three-day International Conference on Extrajudicial Executions ended in Amsterdam on 2 May 1982 with a call for the

world community to bring an end to political killings by governments (see page 1). The conference, organized by Al's Dutch

Section, was called to shed light on extrajudicial executions—which it described as "unlawful and deliberate killings carried

out by order of a government or with its complicity"—and to seek ways of stopping the abuse. The conference brought to-

gether 120 participants, including independent experts, members of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations,

members and staff of Al from many countries, and activists from other human rights groups. The full text of the conference's

final statement appears below.

-International Conference on Extrajudicial Executionsfinal statement

The International Conference onExtrajudicial Executions, convenedin the Netherlands by AmnestyInternational from 30 April to2 May 1982,

Believing deeply that the arbitrarydeprivation of human life is utterlyindefensible in any circumstancesand that governments have primaryresponsibility for ensuring the obser-vance of this principle,

Angered that governments engagein arbitrary killings of persons be-cause of their political beliefs oractivities, religion or ethnic origin,

Demands that governments stopthese practices,

Declares that the internationalcommunity should regard extra-judicial executions as a matter of thegravest and most urgent concern andshould make every effort to bringto an end this denial of the right tolife.

Hundreds of thousands of peoplein the past 10 years have been victimsof extrajudicial executions—unlaw-ful and deliberate killings carried outby order of a government or withits complicity.

Fhese killings continue day afterday outside any judicial process andin denial of the protection of law.

These killings are carried out bothby regular military and police forcesand by special units created to funct-ion without normal supervision, bydeath squads operating with govern-ment complicity, and assassins act-ing against victims in other countries.

A pattern of extrajudicial execut-ions is often accompanied by thesuspension of constitutional rights,a weakening of the independence ofthe judiciary, intimidation of wit-nesses, suppression of evidence andfailure to act upon the results ofindependent investigations.

Governments often seek to coverup extrajudicial executions. Theydeny that killings have taken place,they attribute them to oppositionforces, or they try to pass them offas the result of armed encounterswith government forces or ofattempts by the victims to escape.

Many of the victims are subject-ed to -disappearance", illegal deten-tion or torture before being killed.

The scope of killings ranges fromassassinations to the wholesale liquid-ation of political opposition. Thescale of the crime is sometimes notknown to the international com-munity before it has reached pro-portions that will damage a wholesociety for generations to come.

The principle of protectionagainst arbitrary deprivation of lifeconstitutes a value of paramountimportance. This principle cannotbe abandoned under any circum-stances. however grave.

Legal responsibility

Extrajudicial executions arecrimes for which governments andtheir agents are responsible undernational and international law. Theiraccountability is not diminishedby the commission of similarabhorrent acts by opposition groupsor others, or by considerations ofnational security.

It is the duty of governments notto commit or condone extrajudicialexecutions, and to take all legislative,executive and judicial measuresnecessary to ensure that thosedirectly or indirectly responsiblefor such acts are brought to justice,and that the families of victims arecompensated for their moral ar dmaterial sufferings. Alleged per-petrators should be submitted touniversal jurisdiction—trial or extra-dition wherever they may he.

RECOMMENDATIONSExtrajudicial executions can only beprevented through firmly rootedinstitutions in all countries capableof dealing with abuse of humanrights of every kind. The conferencerecommendations in the followingsummary all have this aim.

Individuals should raise theirvoices to make governments stopthese killings and to show supportfor those left behind. Human rightsorganizations should provide themthe opportunity by disseminatingrelevant information as promptly andobjectively as possible. Joint pro-grams of action should be initiatedexposing the involvement of govern-ments in the killings and theirresponsibility to bring the practiceto an immediate end. Particularattention should be given to pre-ventive measures designed to protectindividuals who are in immediatedanger.

Educational institutions shouldbe encouraged to place greaterstress on the principle that extra-judicial executions are not justifiableunder any circumstances.

Minimum standards should bedeveloped to establish that a govern-ment has investigated reports ofextrajudicial executions.

Governments should take stepsto ensure that extrajudicial execut-ions are not fostered through milit-ary, security or police transfers andinternational training.

Governments should permitindependent investigation on theirterritories, press for such investiga-tions elsewherP, and use their diplo-matic channels for fact-finding andpressure.

Intergovernmental bodies shoulduse existing mechanisms for investi-gation, reporting, and good officesand other forms of speedyinterventionE

8JULY 1982

Foreign nationals 'disappear' inConcern is growing for the safety and

well-being of more than 20 foreign

nationals who are reported to have

"disappeared" after arrest inHonduras since mid-1981.

Among the cases being followed by

A/ is that of a 23-year-old CostaRican, Eduardo Anibal BlancoAraya, reported to have "disappeared"

in November last year. He and his Cosa

Rican wife, Gabriela. arrived in

Honduras in June 1981; he found work

as a mechanic and the couple now have

a baby son.During the afternoon of 14

November three hours after he had

left home for work -three men in

plain clothes called at his house,

identifying themselves to his wife as

agents of the Honduran intelligence

service DireccOn Nacional de hmesti-

gaci(in (DIN). They questioned her

and searched the house; they found

nothing and left.Eduardo Blanco did not return

home that night and his wife has not

seen him since. Inquiries by her and the

Costa Rican Embassy in Honduras

into his whereabouts were unsuccessful:

the Honduran authorities denied he had

been detained.Gabriela de Blanco and her son

ComorosFreedom for twoformer ministersMouzaoir Abdallah, a former Foreign

Minister, was released by presidential

clemency on 28 May 1982. He had

been arrested in November 1981 andsentenced to one year's imprisonment

in early May by the Court of StateSecurity for "activities intended to

disturb public order and encourage

hatred towards the government". Al

believes he was a prisoner of con-

science.Salim Himidi, a former Minister of

the Interior adopted by A/ as a prisoner

of conscience, was released in January

1982 after being detained since PresidentAhmed Abdallah took power in May

1978. He was still being held without

charge or legal authority when an Al

mission visited Comoros in May 1981.

In late 1981 he was charged with having

committed a murder in 1975 but was

acquitted by the Special Court ofJustice and released. Eight other 1978

detainees were released at the same

time0

Francisco Fairen Garbi

returned to Costa Rica on 24 Novem-

ber. She heard no more about herhusband until I December, when a

released prisoner reported having

spoken to him in a secret detentioncentre in Honduras. Reports in

March 1982 indicated that he was

still in the custody of the Honduran

security services.Honduran diplomatic representatives

have told A/ groups that firearms

were found buried in Eduardo Blanco's

garden --yet the Ilonduran authorities

have continued to deny holding him.

Relatives and others have denied the

arms allegation and said he was not

involved with any organization that

used or advocated violence.

Two other Costa Rican nationals

are reported to have "disappeared"

in Honduras on 11 December 1981:

Venezuelan-born Francisco FairenGarbi and Yolanda Solis Corrales, both

aged 28.The former, a student at the

University of Costa Rica. had been

working since 1974 at the National

Bank of Costa Rica; the latter was

teaching at the Colegio Agropecuario

Humberto Melloni in San Vito de Java,

Costa Rica.They left Costa Rica on 8 December,

planning to drive to Mexico through

Nicaragua. Honduras and Guatemala.

Witnesses say they saw their car -with

a young couple inside—in Tegucigalpaon I I December. The Honduran

authorities at first denied having any

record of their entry into Honduras.

However, the Nicaraguan authorities

confirmed that the pair had passed

through the border post of Las Manos

on the Honduran border on 11

HondurasDecember—and the Honduran author-

ities subsequently told relatives that

the two had entered and left thecountry on the same day. Since

then Honduran statements as to when

the pair left the country and whichcountry they then entered have

varied. The available information

suggests strongly that the two were

abducted by the Honduran security

forces.Al has also been following the

cases of other foreign nationals reported

to have "disappeared" in Honduras

after arrest. They include eight

Salvadorians missing since their arrest

in April 1981, together with twoHondurans who had been helping

Salvadorian refugees in Honduras.The Salvadorians are: José Mauricio

Barillas, Nora Trinidad Gomez deBarillas, Marta Alicia Navarro, Francisco

Garcia, Edgardo Garcia Arias,Salvador Fabian, Enoe de Jesiis

Arce Romero, Ana Arce Romero,

Sara Arce Romero, and Ana Maria

Sierra. The two Hondurans are:Claudia Maria Dominguez Amador

and Ana Isabel COrdoba Ramirez.In addition the following have

been reported missing since theirarrest in early August 1981: six

Salvadorians, Yamira Villalta, José

Eduardo Gonzalez, Rafael Torres

Rodriguez, Jorg Enrique Jiménez

Argueta, Lisbeth Carminda Castro

Sanchez, Flavio Narciso Lopez Ayala,

an Argentinian. Jorge Manuel Morales,

and a Venezuelan, Eduardo GarciaEl

Mission to ChileAn A/ delegation visited Chile from 24

April to 15 May 1982. The delegates

were two medical doctors and a mem-

ber of the International Secretariat

staff.The mission examined people who

are alleged to have been tortured and

contacted a variety of sources such ashuman rights groups, lawyers andmembers of the medical profession.

Although the delegation requested a

meeting with the Minister of the

Interior and the Minister of Justice,there was no response to the request D

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