Amnesty InternationalDecember 1977 VolumeV1I Number 12 newsletter 1977

Prisoners ofConscience Year

AI Publishes Briefin on MoroccoAI expressed concern on 31 October at theuse of prolonged incommunicado detention,torture and unjust trial in Morocco againstpolitical opponents of the government ofKing HASSAN II.

In a 16-page briefing paper, Al criticizedthe Moroccan Penal Code's state securityprovisions which have been used to inter-pret non-violent political activities asoffences carrying heavy prison sentences andeven the death penalty. Members of marxist-leninist groups and of established politicalparties have been tried by courts which donot conform to internationally acceptedstandards of impartiality. Defence lawyershave been hindered and on occasion intimida-ted, and defendants have been preventedfrom stating their cases or reporting torture.

The briefing paper details the followinghuman rights issues of particular concern toAI:

prolonged pre-trial detention whenpersons arrested for their political activitiesare held incommunicado by police for up totwo years;

use of torture by police during detentionresulting in deaths and disablement;

poor conditions and absence of legalrights in detention centers and prisons;

the use of the death penalty for politicaloffences.

Al states that, in addition to approxi-mately 200 political prisoners now servingsentences in Morocco, several hundred per-sons are being held secretly, either for left-wing sympathies or for ethnic links with theformer Spanish Sahara territory which isnow in dispute.

The briermg paper is the 13th in Arsseries summarizing available information onpolitical imprisonment and other violationsof human rights in individual countries.

Amnesty International Briefmg on Morocco,16 pages is published by Amnesty InternationalPublications and is available from Al's nationalsections. Price 40 pence (US $1.00) plus postage.A French version is available from Ars FrenchSection.0

MORE EXECUTIONS REPORTEDIN CHINAIn November, AI again appealed to theauthorities of the People's Republic of Chinato commute death sentences on humanitariangrounds, following new reports ofexecutions.

The international press reported inOctober that 10 people had been executedin Peking for criminal offences and that atleast 23 executions were carried out in the

sout ern city o unrning, unnan province,in September. The Kunming accounts came.from travellers who reported seeing sixofficial notices announcing sentences passedon more than 150 people in the city. Theywere able to read fully only one notice whichincluded 47 names. Of these, 24 wereimmediately executed after sentencing inSeptember. According to the reports, mostof those executed had been charged withpolitical offences, including "disseminationof counter-revolutionary leaflets" and form-ing "counter-revolutionary groups".

About 150 executions have been reportedin various provincial cities since the beginningof this year as part of the nationwide "puri-fication" campaign which followed thepurge of the "gang of four"—radical leadersarrested in October 1976. The number ofexecutions is generally believed to be higherthan reported, as information is availableirregularly and limited to a few cities.

Ars appeal expressed concern at theapparent large number of death sentencesand at the frequency of execution immediat-ely after sentences had been passed

Al CONCERNED AT FATE OFKURDISH DETAINEES IN IRAQConcern at the fate of 389 Kurdish detaineeswas the subject of a letter fromAl toPresident Ahmad Hassan AL BAKR of Iraqdated 31 October.

According to Ars information, thesepersons are the families of pesh mergas(members of the Kurdish armed forces). Itis probable that when the pesh mergascould not be located, their families werearrested in their place. Those detainedinclude old people, women and, in somecases, children as young as one or two yearsold. The total number of reported detaineesexceeds the 389 whose names have previouslybeen obtained by Al.

They are reportedly held in prisons inBaghdad, Ammara, Suleimaniya, Diwaniya,Nassiria, Ranya, Mosul, Koet, Shatra,Rumetha and Samawa.

Little is known about their conditionsof detention, but AI is concerned at thepossible effects of prolonged incarcerationon old and ill persons, and on pregnantwomen. In one case a woman reportedlygave birth without due medical attentionwhile in prison. Some of the detainees havebeen held since December 1976.

In its letter AI pointed out that the deten-tion appeared to be in violation of articles

- an o raq's interim constitution ancalled on the Iraqi government to takeimmediate steps to "ensure the early releasefrom prison of all children and other personswho have commited no offence under thelaw"0

Al URGES OPEN INQUIRY INTODEATH OF SOUTH AFRICAN DETAINEEPhotographs of the body of Dr HoosenHAFFEJEE, who died on 3 August whiledetained incommunicado by the SouthAfrican security police, were published by AIon 9 November.

The photographs showed numerouswounds on Dr Haffejee's body, particularlyon his back and around his knees, elbowsand ankle joints. Dr Sigurd RiberALBRECTSEN, a Danish forensic expert,said that some of these wounds had beeninflicted a short time before Dr Haffejee'sdeath and were probably caused by someform of blunt instrument.

Dr Haffejee's death has not yet been fullyexplained by the South African governmentalthough it occurred four months ago. Thefmdings of a post-mortem on 3 August havenot been released and no date had been setfor an inquest. The South African authoritieshave said only that Dr Haffejee was foundhanged in a cell at Brighton Beach policestation, Durban, about four hours after hewas detained by security police.

While it is impossible to determine thecauses of death on the basis of photographicevidence alone, it is clear that Dr Haffejeewas subjected to violence shortly before hisdeath. No official explanation for DrHaffejee's death is satisfactory without athorough and open inquiry into all thecircumstances surrounding his arrest anddetention, including the infliction of woundson his body as well as the specific causes ofdeath.

Al is seeking an urgent inquiry not onlyinto the death of Dr Haffejee, but also intothe death of Bayempin MZIZI, who allegedlyhanged himself in the same Durban policestation only one week after Dr Haffejee.Like Steve BIKO and most of the 20 politicaldetainees who are known to have died incustody in South Africa in the last 20 months,he was detained incommunicado and withouttrial under section 6 of the Terrorism Actuntil his death (November CAT Bulletin)0

The inquest is scheduled to commence on6 December.

MOSCOW GROUP CHAIRMANLEAVES SOVIET UNIONValentin TURCHIN, chairman of the MoscowAI group since its inception in 1974,emigrated from the Soviet Union with hisfamily on 14 October.

Dr Turchin, a cyberneticist, arrived inVienna that day and subsequently travelledto London. There he met members of Ar sInternational Executive Committee and theInternational Secretariat and informed themthat the Moscow group is continuing with itswork. Recent actions by the group includework for their adopted prisoners and collect-ion of 54 signatures to Al's Prisoner ofConscience Year petition.

Kronid LYUBARSKY, a former prisonerof conscience and a member of the MoscowAl group, arrived in Vienna on the sameplane with Dr Turchin, as did another form-er prisoner of conscience, Boris VAIL.

Shortly before Dr Turchin's departure,the group elected writer Georgy VLADIMOVas its chairman.

Dr Turchin will live in New York, where aresearch post in his specialist field awaits him 0

SRI LANKA AMNESTY WELCOMEDAI has warmly welcomed press reports of anamnesty for those serving prison sentencesin Sri Lanka for their alleged part in the1971 insurrection. Some 130 prisoners havereportedly already been released under theamnesty, including Rohana WIJEWEERA,leader of the Janatha Vimukhti feramuna(People's Liberation Front).

In a cable to Prime Minister JuniusJAYAWARDENE on 4 November, Al askedfor full details of all those released and urgedthe government to reconsider all cases ofpolitical prisoners sentenced for acts committ-ed during the insurgency. Official figures saythat 374 people had received prisonsentences ranging from 2 years to life (asentence imposed in five cases). A number ofthese had already been released after servingtheir prison terms.

All the alleged insurgents had been triedand convicted by the Criminal JusticeCommission, a special tribunal establishedunder the 1972 Criminal Justice CommissionAct to try those alleged to have beeninvolved in the insurgency. The CriminalJustice Commission was criticized by Alin its Report on a Mission to Sri Lankapublished in May 1976. The report said thatthe commission compromised Sri Lanka'sprevious high standards of criminal justice,and it recommended that the Act should berepealed.

On 21 October 1977, the CriminalJustice Commission (Repeal) Act was passedin the National State Assembly, and Alwrote to the Prime Minister on 8 Novembercongratulating the government on its effectivsteps for the early repeal of the Act0

CHILE GOVERNMENT 'NOT HOLDING'DISAPPEARED PRISONERSAl has expressed deep concern at a Chileangovernment statement issued on 23 September t

in response to demands made by the relativesof disappeared prisoners.

The Chilean note, addressed to UnitedNations Secretary General Kurt WALDHEIM,stated that the disappeared prisoners involvedwere not held by any security organizationsin the country and that it had no furtherinformation about their fate.

Al is increasingly alarmed at the Chileangovernment's lack of response to the wealthof evidence indicating that its security forceshad arrested people whose detention theyhave consistently denied. Al received newsof more than 60 arrests during August andSeptember, and has reliable information thattorture is continuing.

Among those arrested were three peoplefrom Valparaiso whose arrests remained un-acknowledged by the authorities one monthlater, and there are fears that they may alsohave "disappeared". Since the coup d'etat inSeptember 1973, when the governmeht ofPresident Salvador ALLENDE was over-thrown, 1,500 people have disappeared inChile.

Al considers that the families of thedisappeared prisoners have the right to knowwhat has become of their relatives. In a state-ment issued on 5 October, the relatives"categorically rejected" the Chilean govern-ment statement.

On 25 October Al reiterated its demandfor an adequate explanation of the fate ofdisappeared prisoners in Chile and welcomedMr Waldheim's statement of 30 Septemberthat the United Nations would continue itsinvestigation of the problem0

BANGLADESH EXECUTIONSAFTER ATTEMPTED COUPSDisturbed by large-scale executions ofmilitary men carried out in Bangladeshfollowing recent attempted coups, Al urgedPresident Ziaur RAHMAN of Bangladesh,in a cable of 28 October, to order animmediate end to the executions and to con-sider urgently commuting 55 death sentences.

According to official reports, by 28October 37 persons had already been execut-ed following trial by specially constitutedmilitary tribunals for their alleged involve-ment in an attempted military coup inDacca on 2 October in which unofficial reportsstated that at least 230 people died. The 55awaiting execution were sentenced bysimilar tribunals for involvement in a 30September coup attempt in Bogra.

At least 400 persons have so far beentried and up to 600 reportedly still awaittrial by military tribunals. Those tried haveno right of appeal to any court of law andthe trials take place in secret. The govern-ment has so far not published the names ofthose executed.

Ars experience of Bangladeshi trialprocedure, by which military tribunals trycivilians and military men without legal safe-guards in camera, leaves cause for deep con-cern that the trial of the 92 so far sentencedto death has fallen far short of internation-ally accepted standards0

SUDAN AMNESTY FREES 100 MOREOne hundred political prisoners fromSouthern Sudan were freed by the Sudangovernment in a special amnesty in mid-October. They had been tried by the StateSecurity Court on charges connected withan army mutiny in Juba in February andmost had been arrested shortly before orafter this incident. Those freed includedveteran politicians and parliamentariansBenjamin BOL, Joseph ODUHO, and JosephMALATH.

The amnesty was granted under anational reconciliation proclaimed byPresident Jaafar NIMEIRI in July and wasannounced before the trial verdict was given.More than 2,000 people, detained for politicalreasons or convicted of involvement in theJuly 1976 coup attempt, have also beenreleased since the introduction of thispolicy (September Newsletter).

Al cabled President Nimeiri on 18October welcoming these new releases andrequesting the release of all other politicaldetainees.

One detainee, however, Abdulmageed El-Nur SHAKKAK, a leader of the bannedcommunist party, died in Shalla prison on8 September. He had been detained almostcontinuously since 1971, and suffered froma kidney complaint which appears to havebeen exacerbated by harsh prison conditionsand inadequate medical treatment.

Al wrote to President Nimeiri urging anindependent commission of inquiry toexamine the circumstances of Mr Shakkak'sdeath, to investigate the conditions of otherdetainees reportedly seriously ill and to con-sider their early release.

Mr Shakkak was among about 130 left-wing political detainees who did not benefitfrom the amnesty, despite Al's repeatedappeals for their release.

Al has adopted as prisoners of conscienceknown political detainees in Sudan0

IRISH GOVERNMENT INQUIRYINTO Al CONCERNS

Al has welcomed the Irish government'sappointment of a committee of investigationregarding allegations of police brutality. Atthe same time AI has expressed regret at therestrictions on the committee's mandate.

In a statement on 19 October, Al regrettedthat the committee—set up after an Alsubmission regarding the allegations hadbeen sent to Irish Prime Minister JackLYNCH in August—was only mandated toinvestigate the need for additional safeguardsfor persons in police custody. The committeewas not authorized to investigate specificcases of maltreatment.

Al's submission, incorporating the findingsof a research mission to the Republic ofIreland last June, had included allegationsthat a number of persons arrested betweenOctober 1975 and May 1977 on suspicion ofinvolvement in terrorist or other politicallymotivated offences had been beaten and

Continued on page 4, column 2

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Miss SUGIJAH—IndonesiaSUGIJAH (also known as SUKIJAH) wasonly 13 years old at the time of her arrest inOctober 1965 and she has been detainedwithout trial ever since. The Indonesianauthorities allege that Sugijah was involvedin the abortive coup in October 1965 whichwas planned by several middle-ranking armyofficers and aimed against the army leader-ship.

These officers had as their headquartersa paramilitary training ground at LubangBuaya, in an air force complex on the out-skirts of Jakarta. The camp was being usedat the time by a number of leftwing andnationalist organizations to train women andgirls attending courses there as part ofPresident Sukarno's confrontation policyagainst Malaysia.

During the coup, six leading army generalswere killed and their bodies found at LubangBuaya. The army alleged that the women inthe camp had mutilated the bodies. However,all available evidence suggests that the womenat Lubang Buaya had not taken part inatrocities.

The surviving army leadership, underGeneral Suharto, crushed the coup and morethan 500,000 people were killed and morethan 700,000 people arrested in the ensuingmonths.

Those at Lubang Buaya on the night ofthe coup were considered to be implicatedyet the Indonesian authorities have neverput such allegations to the test of publictrial.

Sugijah herself comes from a poor familyand she completed only her primary educa-tion. She was not in any way connectedwith any political organization, but had beenpresent at Lubang Buaya on the night of 30September 1965. In mid-1965, when otheryoungsters were recruited from her kampong(village) to train at Lubang Buaya, Sugijahwas considered too young. She apparentlyprotested and demanded to be taken withher friends and thereby managed to accomp-any a group attached to the PemudaRakyat, the Communist Party youth organ-ization.

She was held in Bukit Duni prison inJakarta where she was kept in isolation fromother women prisoners.

In 1971, Sugijah was transferred toPlantungan Women's Detention Camp inCentral Java and she remains there today. On28 October this year the Far EasternEconomic Review printed the account of avisit of their Jakarta correspondent, DavidJenkins, to Plantungan. Of Sugijah he wrote:"politically illiterate and utterly ingenuous,Sugijah has spent almost half her life in

prison because no one, it seems, has everbothered to review her case".

In 1976, 55 women were released fromPlantungan, but there are still some 300or more in the camp. Al estimates that thereare about 2,000 women detainees inIndonesia out of a total of more than55,000—possibly as many as 100,000—untried political prisoners in Indonesia.

Please send courteously worded lettersappealing for Sugijah's immediate releasefrom detention in Plantungan, to: PresidentSuharto, Istana Negara, Jalan Veteran,Jakarta, Indonesia; and to: Admiral Sudomo,Kepala Staf KOPKAMTIB, KOPKAMTIB,Jalan Merdeka Barat, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Alfredo BRAVO, ArgentinaAlfredo BRAVO, Joint-President of theArgentine Permanent Assembly for HumanRights and an active member of theTeachers' Union (CTERA), was taken awayfrom the school where he worked on 8September by two men who identifiedthemselves as police officers. At first, theauthorities denied that he was being held.Only on 20 September did the ArgentineMinister of the Interior, General AlbanoHarguindeguy, admit that Señor Bravo wasdetained by the executive power in the cityof La Plata, some 60 kilometers from thecapital. Official acknowledgement of SetiorBravo's detention was undoubtedly due tothe international campaign mounted on hisbehalf.

The Argentine Permanent Assembly forHuman Rights was formed just over a yearago and has amongst its members many lead-ing churchmen and members of the legalprofession. Several of the organization's lead-ing members have been detained or havedisappeared. Mauricio Lopez, a universityprofessor at the Faculty of Theology inBuenos Aires and a former employee of theWorld Council of Churches, disappeared inDecember 1976. Adolfo Perez Esquivel,coordinator for the Service for Justice andPeace in Latin America, was arrested on 4April. He was only acknowledged to be inofficial custody after friends and relativeshad made persistent inquiries and after awrit of habeas corpus had been filed.

It is not clear whether the motive forAlfredo Bravo's arrest was his work forhuman rights or his trade union activities.Since the military coup in Argentina, tradeunionists have been a frequent target forrepression by the security forces.

Al took immediate action on hearing ofSerlor Bravo's arrest and he was adopted asa prisoner of conscience in November. It is

believed that he is now being held in LaPlata prison.

Please send courteously worded lettersappealing for the release of Selior AlfredoBravo to.. Serior Presidente de la RepublicaArgentina, General Jorge Rafael Videla,Casa Rosada, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sergei Adamovich KOVALYOV—Soviet UnionSergei Adamovich KOVALYOV was born in1932. He studied biology at Moscow StateUniversity and attained the degree of Kandi-dat Nauk—roughly equivalent to Doctor ofPhilosophy (PhD) in the United Kingdom.His speciality is the study of mathematicalbiology, with particular reference to electricalcurrents in the body, and more than 60 ofhis scientific articles have been published.He was a senior researcher at Moscow StateUniversity until 1969. He then held a lower-ranking position at the University of Hydro-bioloby, also in Moscow.

Dr Kovalyov's involvement in humanrights activity began around 1969. He wasa founding member of the Initiative groupfor the Defence of Human Rights in theUSSR (created in 1969). He signed a numberof appeals on behalf of Soviet prisoners ofconscience and distributed information aboutviolations of Soviet laws relating to trialprocedure and prison conditions. In May1974 Dr Kovalyov and two other Muscovitesannounced that they were helping to circulateA Chronicle of Current Events, an unoffic-ially published register of human rightsabuses in the USSR, which had been supp-ressed for the preceding 18 months.

Dr Kovalyov was a founding member ofAl's Moscow adoption group, recognized byAl in September 1974.

On 27 December 1974 he joined Academ-ician Andrei Sakharov in signing an appealfor the release of prisoners of consciencethroughout the world. On the same day, DrKovalyov was arrested and taken toLithuania for investigation.

He was tried in Vilnius, Lithuania, inDecember 1975—the charges specifiedinvolvement with an unofficially-publishedLithuanian human rights journal called AChronicle of the Lithuanian Catholic Church,as well as the Moscow Chronicle of CurrentEvents.

Numerous human rights activists unsuccess-fully attempted to attend his trial. Somewho intended to travel from Moscow toLithuania for the trial were detained beforetheir departure, while others were detainedon arrival in Lithuania.

Dr Kovalyov was found guilty of "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda". (To Arsknowledge, no Soviet citizen tried on thischarge has ever been acquitted.) His sentencewas unexpectedly severe: 7 years' imprison-ment in a strict regime labour colony to befollowed by 3 years in exile.

Dr Kovalyov was sent to serve his sentencein a colony in Perm region, near the Ural

Continued on page 4, column 1

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

4

Prisoners of the Month CampaignSergei Adamovich Kovalyov—Sowiet UnionContinued from page 3, column 3

mountains. In the first year his family andfriends expressed growing concern about hisstate of health. Before his arrest Dr Kovalyovhad been scheduled for major surgery for ahaemarrhoid condition. This surgery did nottake place after his arrest, and his symptomswere aggravated by the conditions in thePerm colony.

(In its 1975 report Prisoners of Conscience

in the USSR: Their Treatment and Condi-

tions, A/ summarized conditions of prisonersin similar colonies: "Medical neglect dove-tails with chronic hunger and with overworkto give to Soviet penal institutions a morepunitive character than is justified by anystandards..

Despite his chronic haemarrhoid condition,Dr Kovalyov was not exempted from heavywork in the colony. On a number of occasionshe was placed in a punishment cell afterprotesting against refusal to grant him thenecessary surgery under appropriate medicalconditions. Colony doctors had discovered apolyp associated with Dr Kovalyov's haem-arrhoids. He refused to undergo surgery inhis colony's inadequate medical facilities, butthe authorities refused, during the lastmonths of 1976, to send him to the prisonhospital in Leningrad, which is reputed tohave the best medical facilities in the Sovietpenal system. However, perhaps as a con-sequence of extensive international concernabout Dr Kovalyov's health, he was sent inMarch 1977 to the Leningrad prison hospitalfor the necessary surgery.

Several weeks later Dr Kovalyov wasreturned to Perm. He is not due for releasefrom imprisonment until December 1981,from which time he must spend 3 years ininternal exile. Under Soviet law he has nopossibility of release on parole.

Please send courteously worded letters

appealing for the release of Sergei Kovalyovto: SSSR, Moskva, Kreml, PredsedatelyuPrezidiuma Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR iGeneralnomu Sekretaryu TsK KPSS L. I.Brezhnevu.

Al NOT PRESENT ATRAF AUTOPSIESContrary to any other statements, no A/observers were present at the autopsies ofthe bodies of Andreas BAADER, GudrunENSSLIN and Jan-Carl RASPE, the threeRed Army Fraction prisoners who reportedlycommitted suicide on 18 October inStammheim prison, Stuttgart, FederalRepublic of Germany.

AI was invited by the FRG authorities toobserve the autopsies, and was ready tonominate two forensic specialists while itsought clarification of the precise terms ofreference of the invitation.

However the autopsies started in theevening of 18 October, which made itimpossible for AI to attend.

In telexed letters of 20 October to FederalChancellor Helmut SCHMIDT and to the

Minister of Justice of the State of Baden-Wllrttemberg, Al called for an independentand public international inquiry into thereported suicides. The letters said that theevents in Stammheim prison were clearly amatter of international interest and concern,and that the conflicting interpretation of thecircumstances of the deaths of the threeprisoners necessitated such a course ofaction.

The reply received from the Baden-Warttemberg Minister of Justice, the com-petent authority, stated there was no needfor such an inquiry in addition to theinvestigation already underway by a specialcommission set up by the parliament ofBaden-WOrttemberg0

Al LISTS 92 MEDICAL PERSONNELIMPRISONED IN 25 COUNTRIESAl on 28 November published a list of 92members of the medical profession who, forpolitical reasons, are imprisoned in 25countries throughout the world. Some ofthe prisoners have been tortured and manyheld for long periods of time, sometimeswithout trial. "

The introduction to the list states that"the majority of the prisoners on the listwere arrested because of their politicalwork or membership in political organiza-tions. However, as persons who are involveddaily with acute individual suffering, theymay be led to challenge either the availabilityof health facilities or the abuses of theirprofession for political purposes".

The 25 countries named are: Argentina,Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroun, Chile, Egypt,German Democratic Republic (GDR),Indonesia, Israel, Mali, Morocco, Paraguay,Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Romania, Singapore,Somalia, South Africa, Syria, Taiwan,Thailand, Tunisia, the Union of SovietSocialist Republics, Uruguay, Vietnam andYugoslavia.

The list is confined only to those casesknown to Ars research department on 31September, and is in no way complete as tonumbers and countries.

Indonesia ranks highest in its number ofmedical prisoners with 13 persons known tohave been held without trial since at least1966.

From the inception of its Campaign forthe Abolition of Torture in 1973, Al hassought the cooperation of members of themedical profession in its work against torture.As 1977—Prisoners of Conscience Year—draws to its close Al appealed to all membersof the medical profession to work for therelease of their imprisoned colleagues andfor all prisoners of conscienceD

Irish Government Inquiry into AIConcernsContinued from page 2. column 3

otherwise maltreated while in police custody.A/ had urged the Irish government to instig-ate a full, independent and public inquiryinto the allegations.

Writing to the Irish Minister of Justice

on 17 October regarding the establishmentof the committee, Al pointed out that thepossibility of ill-treatment of suspects isincreased greatly by detention in the com-pany only of officers of the detainingauthority. If detainees are isolated from theirlawyers and families, courts find it difficultto judge fairly the detained persons' allegat-ions of maltreatment and police denials ofthe allegations.

Al suggested that detained persons shouldhave access to solicitors of their choicebefore interrogation and should have medicalexaminations at regular intervals while inpolice custody.

In its submission AI had expressed con-cern over apparently systematic maltreatmentby police detectives to extract statementsor confessions. Those allegedly maltreatedhad been arrested under the OffencesAgainst the State Act (1939 and 1972)which permits the police to detain suspectsfor 48 hours without charge, or under theEmergency Powers Act of September 1976,which empowers the police to detain sus-pects for up to seven days without charge.While there were a number of apparentlywell-founded allegations of maltreatment ofpersons arrested under the Offences Againstthe State Act, introduction of seven-daydetention without charge had particularlyaggravated the risk of maltreatment ofsuspects.

On 4 October the Irish Governmentannounced that it would not renew thisyear the section of the Emergency PowersAct providing for seven-day police detentionof suspects.

Ten days later the Irish Government itselfpublished the bulk of the text of Ars sub-mission, omitting those parts which referredto the Special Criminal Court (SCC)—a non-jury court set up in 1972 to try personscharged with politically motivated offences.The submission had described in some detaila case before the SCC in which the courtrejected apparently corroborated defenceevidence that incriminating statements hadbeen extracted from the defendants by useof maltreatment. This, together with informa-tion related to other cases, led Ars delegatesto conclude that the SCC had "seeminglyfailed or refused to scrutinize allegations ofmaltreatment according to the principles oflaw.. . with regard to the admissibility ofstatements".

The partial text of Al's submission waspublished in a number of Irish newspaperson 15 October following the government'spublication of part of the submission. Onthe same date, the Irish Times publishedthe full text of Ars submission, including thereferences to the SCCD

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTERis published monthly by: AMNESTY INTER-NATIONAL PUBLICATIONS, 10 SouthamptonStreet, London WC2E 7H1, England. Printed inGreat Britain by Hill and Garwood Ltd, FourthWay, Wembley. Middlesex. Available on subscrip-tion at £6 (US $15) per calendar year.

amnesty international

campaign for the abolition of tortureDecember 1977 Volume IV Number 12 MONTHLY BULLETIN

AI Launches Paraguay CampaignA campaign against torture 'and secret detention in Paraguay was launchedthroughout the world by AI members in October. AI published a 15-pagebooklet with photographs and descriptions of 10 cases of death and 20 cases of"missing" prisoners about which it has detailed and reliable information.

Despite a long record of human rightsviolations, Paraguay, the poorest country inSouth America, is relatively unknowninternationally. Unlike its neighbours—Brazil,Uruguay and Argentina—Paraguay has aformal parliamentary framework and asystem of civilian justice. However, the ruleof law has been subjugated by the autocraticrule of General Alfredo STROESSNER who,for more than 20 years, has declared a"state of emergency" every three monthsas a matter of routine.

Imprisonment and torture are system-atically used to discourage dissent. Real oralleged opponents of the regime are deniedall constitutional safeguards. As a result,unacknowledged detentions and long-termimprisonment without trial are routine, anddeaths under torture occur. The fact thatParaguay held the longest-serving politicalprisoners in Latin America—with cases of upto 19 years of detention with trial—fuelledwidespread international criticism in recentyears. Three such prisoners, AntonioMAIDANA, Alfredo ALCORTA and JulioROJAS, were released earlier this year.However, the alarming incidence of deathsunder torture and disappearance of politicalprisoners has not received such internationalattention.

DeathsAn unknown number of victims of politicalrepression have died under torture or byextrajudicial execution in Paraguay. Arrestis normally followed by a period of deten-tion incommunicado in a place unknown tothe prisoner's family or lawyer. The con-stitutional limit of 48 hours' detentionwithout charge is not applied nor is thelegal provision of habeas corpus followed.Political prisoners deprived of legal protec-tion are often subjected to severe torturewhich sometimes leads to death.

Peasant farmer Arturo BERNAL wasarrested on 12 May 1976 and reportedlykilled under torture 25 days later. TheBishop of Caacupé, who had previouslyappealed to the national authorities on behalfof Bernal and other arrested peasants,wrote in an open letter to the Minister ofInterior:

".. .Is this your reply? The dead body of Arturo, the mourning of a peasant family,

On 10 Decemoer 1976, "Human Rights Day",the Paraguayan Episcopal Conference publicizedthe plight of families of disappeared prisoners inits publication Sendero. The caption reads:"Carlos Jose MANCUELLO RIOS, born in prisonon 10 August 1975. Until today he continuesas a political prisoner with his mother GladysEsther Rios de Mancuello... The whereabouts ofhis father are unknown since 22 September".

a widow left without protection and fiveyoung children left without a father! Andthere can be no doubt about it—the dreadfulresponsibility which you bear for the crueldeath of one more citizen in the custody ofthe Ministry under your control!"

The Paraguayan authorities seem disinter-ested in investigating such abuses or inbringing the offenders to trial.

The family of Joel FILARTIGASPERATTI, the 17-year-old son of a doctorwho runs a free medical service, has beentrying to discover how Joel died since hewas kidnapped and killed on 30 March 1976.The police allege he was the victim of acrime of passion, but there is substantialevidence that he was tortured to death bypolicemen. A court case brought by theFilartiga family to establish the circum-stances of Joel's death has not been comple-ted because of attempts by some officials toblock the investigation.

Peasant farmer Juan de Dios SALINASwas one of the victims of the violent repress-ion in the rural area of Quiindy in the springof 1976. He died in custody. His wife, RosaJoaquina, who had given birth 40 daysearlier, was also arrested and reportedlysubjected to torture.

HOW DID THEY DIE?Mario ARZAMENDIA FLORES,

Evasio BENITEZ ARMOA, ArturoBERNAL, Juan Manuel CABRAL, JuanCarlos Da COSTA, Juan José FARIAS,Joel FILARTIGA SPERATTI, SilvanoFLORES, Sixto MELGAREJO, CándidoOVIEDO, Juan de Dios SALINAS,Mario Rail! SCHAERER PRONO andAlbino VERA? WHY HAVE THEREBEEN NO OFFICIAL INQUIRIESINTO THESE DEATHS?

DisappearancesRelatives of political prisoners and theirlawyers have little help from the law ingetting information on those prisonersclassified as "missing". Failure by theauthorities to recognize the arrests or pro-vide information sometimes means prisonersare presumed dead, although some arebelieved to be held secretly in police stationsand military detention centers.

Carlos José MANCUELLO, a studentarrested with his pregnant wife inNovember 1974, disappeared in September1976. Since then the authorities have refusedto say where he is. His wife was transferredto Emboscada prison after giving birth totheir second child.

Families often search for years:The father of Lorenzo LOPEZ, who dis-

appeared after arrest in 1970, wrote in anopen letter to the Minister of Interior dated19 May 1977: "I am a humble 84-year-oldpeasant... Before I die I should like theconsolation of knowing whether my son is

Continued on next page, column 3

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CAT Bulletin 2

appealsYANG Chin-hai— TaiwanYANG Chin-hai, a 44-year-old businessmanfrom Taiwan (Republic of China), wassentenced to life imprisonment in July 1976on charges of "sedition". He is now held onGreen Island—an isolated prison-camp offthe south-east coast of Taiwan—and is saidto suffer from chest and abdomen pains dueto ill-treatment during pre-trial detention.According to reports, the medicine Mr Yangis taking to lessen the pain upsets his stom-ach and he can hardly eat.

Yang Chin-hai was the election campaignmanager of Yen Ming-sheng, an unsuccessfulindependent candidate in the December1975 elections to the Legislative Yuan. Bothmen were arrested in Taiwan at the end ofMay 1976 and tried by a military court on27 July 1976. Mr Yang was sentenced to lifeimprisonment, and Mr Yen to a 12-yearprison term, under article 2 of the Statutefor the Punishment of Sedition for allegedconspiracy to carry out sabotage and sub-version against the government.

Mr Yang claimed during the trial that hehad been forced to sign a confession afterbeing tortured by Investigation Bureauagents. The torture reportedly includedround-the-clock interrogation without sleep;repeated beatings and kickings after beingstripped naked and chained, which causedhaemorrhage in several parts of the body;punching in the stomach; insertion of needlesin the fingernails; forced swallowing of salt,chillis and other materials while beingdeprived of water, as well as other abusesaimed at humiliating him.

Please write courteously worded letters,requesting that Yang Chin-hai receivesproper medical treatment by a doctor ofhis own choice and that he be retried in anopen court with full rights of defence, to:Premier Chiang Ching-kuo, Chung Hsiao E.Rd. Sec 1, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.

TORTURE CHARGES INTANZANIAFour railway police detectives were broughtto trial on torture charges in Tanzania on 18October. The state prosecution alleged thatthe four assaulted James MAGOTI on 19November 1976 during interrogation at therailway police station, in connection withthe theft of cash from the Bank of Tanzania,where Mr Magoti was a manager.

A police officer testified that Mr Magotihad been taken from Ilala police station,'-iandcuffed and blindfolded, and returnedlater "in a bad shape. His body was swollenup and he had bruises on his legs whichmade it difficult for him to walk"(Tanzania Daily News). The case continues.

Mr Magoti, who is an Al investigationcase, is held at Ukonga prison in Dar esSalaam. He has been detained withoutcharge or trial since November 1976, despite

his protestations of innocence and the arrestof a number of soldiers in connection withthe theft. His brother Adam MAGOTI isalso held there, and was also reportedlytortured.

Al has repeatedly urged the Tanzaniangovernment to investigate allegations oftorture, but this is the first trial of allegedtorturers. In January two cabinet ministersand two senior regional administrators re-signed following a special presidentialinquiry into torture and killings committedby security officers over whom they heldresponsibility. (March CAT Bulletin).

GREEK DOCTORS TO WORKAGAINST TORTUREDoctors in Greece are the latest to expressinterest in working with Ars MedicalAdvisory Board, specifically to developresearch projects and possibly to offertreatment for torture victims from the daysof the junta regime in Greece.

They will join older medical groups inDenmark, Holland and the United States,and recent additions in Sweden and France.AI national groups as well, from Switzerlandto Sri Lanka, have gained significant supportfrom medical contacts in their countries.

In November Al published a list ofmedical personnel in prison (see page 4), butworking for imprisoned colleagues is only asmall part of Ars medical program.

Since the 1973 Paris Conference for theAbolition of Torture, where medical pro-fessionals convened a special meeting todiscuss medical aspects of torture, Al hasinitiated activities of special interest to themedical community: strengthening codes ofmedical ethics against torture, repudiatingcolleagues who collaborated in torture,supporting those who resist collaboration,and researching the specific effects oftorture.

The AI Medical Advisory Board,appointed by the International ExecutiveCommittee early this year, has been given theinitial responsibility of coordinating Arsgrowing medical program. Most (but not all)of their work to date has been with theCampaign for the Abolition of Torture(CAT).

Al has published research articles bymembers of the Danish Medical Group aboutthe effects of torture (June CAT Bulletin).Other Danish research includes work on theeffects of falanga, electric shock, and othersevere forms of torture.

The United States group has taken aparticular interest in medical ethics. It hasproduced a teaching kit to be offered tomedical schools as an aid in teaching medicalethics, and is investigating medical standardsfor the care of prisoners in an effort tocreate conditions which reduce opportunit-ies for abusing prisoners. Related to this iswork by a Danish group of forensic patholo-gists who are examining national require-ments for death certificates and autopsiesfor persons who die in custody.

The Medical Advisory Board also recentlyconsidered physicians resident in a numberof countries against whom allegations ofcollaborating in torture have been received.It intends to investigate these charges andto seek sanctions by the internationalmedical community against those shown tobe guilty.

Because concern about medical involve-ment in torture is in such an early stage,education of the medical community aboutthese issues is of paramount importance.Papers have been published in scholarlyjournals and results reported at professionalmeetings; medical press conferences havealso been held, first in Europe and soon inNorth America. It 's also planned to holdan international medical seminar earlynext year to survey progress to date and toset new goals for Ars program.

Prisoner Releases and CasesThe International Secretariat learnedin October of the release of 121 prisonersunder adoption or investigation and tookup 118 new cases.

AI Launches Paraguay CampaignContinued from previous page, column 3alive or whether he was killed so that I canat least say a prayer for him."

The AI booklet describes 20 other casesof "missing" prisoners and asks:

WHERE ARE:Bienvenido ARGUELLO, NiloBENITEZ, Aurelio GAONA, AgustinGOIBURU, Dario GORI MARTINEZ,Lorenzo GONZALEZ, Octavio R.GONZALEZ ACOSTA, DoroteoGRANDEL, Elixto, Policarpo,Francisco and Adolfo LOPEZ, CarlosJosé MANCUELLO,. . . and DerlisVILLAGRA?WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM AFTERTHEIR ARRESTS?

0 Support your national AI section'scampaign, or

0 Send courteously worded letters to thePresident of Paraguay expressing concernat the disappearances and deaths undertorture of political prisoners, and request-ing that a full public inquiry into thesecases be carried out.

o Appeal to the Paraguayan governmentto apply to political prisoners the basichuman rights and legal safeguards provid-ed in the 1967 Paraguayan constitution:

Write to:Exmo Sr Presidente de la Republica delParaguay, General Alfredo Stroessner,Palacio de Gobierno, Asunción, Paraguay.

Please send copies of your letters to theParaguayan Ambassador in your country.