Death Penalty in Include Those of 40 People in Tianjin in Al's Latest Worldwide Annual Report Serious Cases

amnesty NOVEMBER 1983 Volume XIII Number 11 international newsletter Wave of executions .• in China At least 500 executions are reported reported to have been paraded through to have been carried out in the the streets or before mass rallies before People's Republic of China since the execution. The actual executions—by a beginning of August 1983—and shot in the back of the head—are by law reports emerging from the country not to be held in public. Photographs of the bodies of those executed have been indicate that the actual number of displayed publicly. people executed might be as high as On 23 August 29 men and one woman 5,000. —convicted of murder, rape or robbery The executions are part of a —were executed in Beijing (Peking). country-wide campaign against crime Just beforehand they were taken to a which has led to thousands of arrests mass rally in the city's workers' stadium, and a more extensive use of the death where the Mayor gave a speech on the penalty. need to preserve public order to some On 2 September the Standing Commit- 100,000 people who had been brought tee of the National People's Congress there by fleets of buses and trucks. approved a decision for more offences Other reports of multiple executions to be punished by the death penalty in include those of 40 people in Tianjin in Al's latest worldwide annual report serious cases. August and of 42 people, aged between attacks efforts by governments to manipu- These offences include trafficking in 18 and 51, in Xian, Shaanxi province, on late public opinion by covering up torture human beings, organizing secret societies 6 September. and killings in their own countries while for counter-revolutionary activities and Large-scale executions have also been making political propaganda about such luring or forcing women into prostitution. reported in Shanghai, Qinghuangdo, abuses elsewhere. At the same time the procedures for Dalian, Guiyang, Zhongqing and Urumqi. Governments have used "deception, trial, appeal and execution were changed Many of those executed are reported distortion and disinformation on human to speed up the judicial process. In one to have been unemployed people of rights questions", the report says. They case known to Al, Chen Guangsen wa§ between 18 and 40. The majority had have jailed human rights activists, stifled executed in Guangdong (Canton) on 12 been convicted of murder, rape or rob- information and used different standards September—only eight days after his bery, but people have also been executed in reacting to violations in different alleged offence. for spying, smuggling art treasures, countries, it says. In many cases convicted offenders are embezzlement or molesting women El The 351-page report, with detailed entries on 117 countries and territories, covers the calendar year 1982. It describes the movement's efforts to stop the imprisonment of people for their ideas United Kingdom or origins and it campaigns against torture and the death penalty. In a preface which underlines obstacles 'Diplock 'courts' concern to protecting human rights, the report has expressed its concern about the judge who recommended in a 1972 deals with the reactions of governments Al so-called "Diplock courts" in Northern inquiry that "terrorist" offences commit- of all types to the politically explosive Ireland to the judge appointed by the ted in Northern Ireland should be tried aspects of human rights. United Kingdom Government to inquire by senior judges sitting alone with no "Statements about human rights have into emergency legislation in the province. jury. None of those tried in this way have been misused to make political propa- In August 1983 Al submitted material been adopted by Al as prisoners of ganda," it says. Among examples, the documenting its concerns to Sir George conscience. report cites: reporting by Soviet news Baker, the English judge who is conduct- Defendants in these courts have access media on Poland; statements by US offi- ing an inquiry into the workings of the Continued on back page cials on Central America; and the sudden Emergency Provisions (Northern Ireland) attention given in Britain during its con- Act of 1978. flict with Argentina to torture and "dis- Al submitted a detailed analysis of the appearances" in that country. legislation along with a summary of its Also in this issue: • Arrests "The concealment of facts, the dis- concerns which it had submitted to the in Pakistan, page 2 •Japan's semination of half-truths or lies and other Secretary of State for Northern Ireland death penalty, page 4 *Pol- forms of manipulation of public opinion in December 1982. itical executions in Iraq, page by governments must be challenged," In its submission, AI expressed con- the report says. cern that the proceedings in the "Diplock 5 *Basque detainee alleges The report is available fromAl Publica- courts" might not conform to interna- torture, page 6 • USA 'plea dons in London (address on back page), tional standards for fair trial. bargain' concern, page 7 price £.5; or from section officesD These courts were named after the

See this month's Supplement on the Amnesty International Report 1983 2 NOVEMBER 1983 Pakistan Somalia Thousands arrested over POC dies in top security prison political protests Warsame Ali Farah, a member of parliament who was adopted by A/ as a prisoner Several thousand people have been and Syed Munir Shah, acting President of conscience, died in prison on 20 July arrested throughout Pakistan in connec- of Tehrik-i-Istiqilal, Steadfastness 1983. He had been arrested in June 1982 tion with political protests since early Movement. All three were arrested before with six other members of parliament, August. Al considers many hundreds of the beginning of the civil disobedience including former Foreign Minister Omar them to be prisoners of conscience. campaign. Arteh Ghalib (AI prisoner of the month Some of these prisoners of conscience MRD activity has found most support in June 1983), and charged with capital have been tried by Summary Military in Sind province, where some demonstra- offences under the National Security Courts for offences related to the peace- tions have resulted in violence, including Law (1970). ful expression of political opinions and attacks on law enforcement personnel They are believed to have been arrested participation in public demonstrations and damage to property—at least 60 for opposing the renomination of Presi- against the government and the continu- people are reported to have been killed dent Siyad Barre for a further term of ation of martial law. A number have been in the violence. office. The authorities have given no sentenced to up to one year's imprison- On 20 September Al expressed concern indication when they might be tried ment plus flogging. to President Zia-ul-Haq about recent before the National Security Court, As of the beginning of September more human rights violations in Pakistan. It whose procedures have been strongly than 130 prisoners had been sentenced to acknowledged that acts of violence had criticized by AI. be flogged (see October Newsletter).The taken place but pointed out that some of Warsame Ali Farah was reportedly authorities have not said how many of those arrested were simply engaged in the arrested in hospital while receiving medi- these sentences have been carried out— peaceful expression of political opinions. cal treatment for diabetes and hyperten- although the Governor of Sind province, Al welcomed.the release on 17 Septem- sion. He was held in the remote maximum Lt-General S.M. Abbasi, has stated that ber of over 1,000 people held in connec- security prison of Labatan Jirow, near no political worker or politician has been tion with anti-government protests, but Baidowa, allegedly incommunicado and in permanent solitary confinement. Diet flogged in Sind. urged the prompt release of all those held for peaceful participation in demonstra- and medical attention there are poor. Civil disobedience tions and processions, if there is no evi- Al is investigating whether his death was attributable to neglect by the auth- The arrests followed a decision by an dence of involvement in criminal acts. orities. The Somali Government has not alliance of banned opposition parties No right of appeal so far responded to its inquiries E —the Movement for the Restoration Over 170 people were tried by Summary of Democracy (MRD)—to launch a Military Courts in the first 20 days of campaign of civil disobedience on 14 anti-government protests. The accused August to press its demands for the has no right of appeal against the verdict immediate holding of repeatedly post- Sudan of these courts and Al received reports poned general elections and the restora- that those brought to trial were permitted Prisoners freed tion of fundamental rights as provided no access to defence counsel. in Pakistan's 1973 constitution. The Among those tried by Summary Mili- as Sharià law MRD's campaign has been open and it tary Court No. 39 in Rawalpindi was a has publicly announced where its group of nine members of opposition is introduced demonstrations were to be held. political parties. They were sentenced to In the 10 days before the 14 August one year's imprisonment and 10 lashes In a measure accompanying the intro- launching of the campaign some 150 each on 19 August for violation of martial duction by decree of Islamic Sharià law in Sudan, President Numeiri in Septem- people were arrested. law regulations—they were accused of In a cable to President Zia-ul-Haq of ber announced the release of all 13,000 shouting slogans and delivering speeches prisoners convicted under the previous 15 August, Al expressed concern at the "in an attempt to create dissatisfaction secular penal code. It is not yet clear arrest of prisoners of conscience, includ- among the people". whether all of the 200 or more political ing Aftab Sherpao, President of the According to reports reaching Al, the prisoners arrested in the past three years Pakistan People's Party in North West nine had participated in a peaceful politi- were among those released. Frontier Province, Maulana Fazlur cal gathering in Islamabad on 17 August. The President also announced that all Rahman, President of Jamiat-i- Ulema-i- Al has taken up their cases for adoption people convicted of murder and under Islam,the Association of Islamic Scholars, as prisoners of conscience0 sentence of death would have their sentences commuted if the murder victim's family in each case agreed to accept financial compensation from the convicted person's relatives. Releases ... On 25 September 1983 former Prime Chile: Javier Ruiz Vera, who featured DEATH PENALTY Minister Sadiq el - Mahdi was arrested in the October Prisoners of Conscience Al has learned of 42 people together with over 120 of his supporters Week Campaign (see October Newsletter), being sentenced to death in after he publicly criticized the President's was freed on bail on 4 October. Although 10 countries and of 417 execu- Sharià decree. Al has called for their no longer held, he has to report regularly tions in six countries during immediate release. to the authorities and risks further September 1983. The organization is concerned that the imprisonment if found guilty of the new Sharra law extends the use of the charges against him. death penalty in Sudan, provides for Prisoner releases and cases execution by beheading or stoning to Kenya: Two Kenyans, John Khaminwa death, and—for the first time in Sudan— (who also featured in the October POC The International Secretariat learned imposes amputation of the left hand as Week Campaign) and Al- Amin Mazrui in September of the release of 230 the penalty for certain forms of theft and (prisoner of the month in March 1983) prisoners under adoption or investi- flogging for certain sexual and alcohol- were released on 12 October. gation; it took up 86 cases. related offencesLll

NOVEMBER 1983 3 Campaign for Prisoners of the Month Each 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.

and denied any reading or writing material turers are believed to have received prison George ANYONA, Kenya or exercise in the open air. sentences of 10 and eight years respect- A prominent critic of the govern- Diet in the prison is monotonous and ively. The five others had earlier been ment and former member of par- nutritionally poor. Prisoners suffer from freed, reportedly after making statements heat and poor hygiene—with rats and of support for the government.) liament, he has been detained Professor Kakar denied the charges without charge or trial since mid- lice allegedly seen in the cells—and malaria is common. against him and said the group which he 1982. George Anyona was previously had tried to form was purely a vocational association, entirely consistent with the Although George Anyona was arrested adopted byA/ as a prisoner of conscience after he had been detained under the Afghan Constitution. He also stated his by police in Nairobi on 30 May 1982, the complete rejection of violence to bring authorities refused to acknowledge the same act from 1977 to 1978 under the late President Jomo Kenyatta's govern- about social and political change in fact or explain what had happened to Afghanistan. him until a habeas corpus petition was ment, which he had criticized in parliament. Professor Kakar, who has written heard in the High Court three days later. widely on Afghan history, both in Persian It was then revealed that he had been He is in his late thirties and married with three children. and English, has lectured at the Univer- detained under the Public Order and sities of Boston and Harvard. He received Security Act, which provides for indefi- Please send courteous letters appealing His Excellency President his postgraduate education at London's nite detention without charge or trial on for his release to: School of Oriental and African Studies. the grounds of "the preservation of pub- Daniel arap Moi/Office of the President/ Please send courteous letters appealing lic security". P.O. Box 30510/Nairobi/Kenya. for his release to: H.E. President Babrak His lawyer, John Khaminwa, was Karmal/Office of the General Secretary arrested the next day and detained under Afghanistan of the Central Committee of the PDPA the same act, apparently because he had Hassan KAKAR, A distinguished historian, he is and President of the Revolutionary legally represented George Anyona and Council / Da Khalkoo Koor / Kabul / another critic of the government detained serving an eight-year prison sen- A fghanistan . the previous month; the lawyer was freed tence for counter-revolutionary on 12 October 1983. offences imposed after a secret Tamer KAYAS, Turkey Although the authorities have never trial in May 1983. A former newspaper editor, he is stated any precise reasons for George serving a long term of imprison- Anyona's detention, it appears to have Professor Hassan Kakar, Head of the ment imposed earlier this year by been the result of his advocacy of the Department of History at Kabul Univer- formation of an opposition political sity, and seven other university teachers a military court which had con- party. Ten days before his arrest he had were arrested by the Afghan security victed him of making communist publicly stated that Kenya "was ripe for police, the Khad, on 21 March 1982. propaganda. a second political party". He was then The arrests apparently followed increas- ing expressions of disquiet among staff Tamer Kayas, who was Editor-in chief expelled from the Kenya African National of the Istanbul daily newspaperPolitika Union (KANU)—the sole permitted party and students over the growing number of Russian teachers on the campus and until it was banned in early 1980, is since the banning of the Kenya People's reported to have been arrested in Istanbul Union (KPU) in 1969. earlier widespread arrests of students. On 12 April he was There had also reportedly been pressure on 11 March 1983. His arrest took place just before he sentenced by a military court in the city was reportedly due to announce the for- on university teachers to join the ruling People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan to seven and a half years' imprisonment. mation of a second party. He is believed to have been convicted There was at the time no constitutional (PDPA). Although Professor Kakar refused to under Article 142 of the Turkish Penal bar to forming one—however, four days Code. It prohibits making propaganda after the arrest the government published join the PDPA, he is known to have helped several members of the party's aimed at achieving the "domination of a a proposed constitutional amendment social class over other social classes". As declaring Kenya to be a one-party state now dominant Parcham faction during the previous government of Hafizullah interpreted by Turkish courts, this means and prohibiting the existence of any party making communist propaganda. besides KANU; parliament unanimously Amin, when Parcham members were being arrested and killed by the author- Many left-wing Turkish journalists adopted this amendment five days have been prosecuted on similar charges, afterwards. ities. He personally sheltered several members in his home. both before and after the 1980 coup, and The authorities have not divulged Tamer Kayas' sentence is the one com- George Anyona's place of detention but Professor Kakar was denied any access to a lawyer during the period of his monly given after conviction in such he is believed to be in Shimo-la-Tewa cases. prison in Mombasa, where conditions detention or at his trial which was held No family visits were allowed He is believed to be serving his sentence are said to be harsh. in camera. in Istanbul, but AI does not know in He was held incommunicado for at until after the trial. He and two other university lecturers which prison. least the first 12 months of his detention Please send courteous letters appealing and is reported to be in permanent soli- were charged with counter-revolutionary President Kenan Evren/ offences; he was accused also of forming for his release to: tary confinement, forced to sleep on the Cankaya/Ankara/Turkey. cell floor with only blankets and a mat an unlawful association. (The two lec-

If you prefer, you may send your appeals to the embassies of these governments in your country 4 NOVEMBER 1983

The recent acquittal of a prisoner who had been under sentence of death for 33 years (see below) has rekindled debate in Japan on the death penalty and concern has been expressed in the country that innocent people may be hanged. An Al mission visited Japan earlier this year and its report calls for the abolition of the death penalty and points out that this could be facilitated by the fact that Japan's penal code Is being revised. The death penalty in Japan

AI has called for an immediate halt parliament, lawyers and religious leaders. to executions in Japan and criticized Urging total abolition of the death the country's justice officials for penalty, the report says the revision of refusing to disclose which prisoners Japan's penal code, now underway, pro- on death row had been hanged or vides an opportunity for this. were still alive. However, officials told Al's delegates The organization's mission that that the new code would probably retain visited Japan in February and March the death penalty for eight offences, 1983 tried to verify details on 54 including murder, the crime for which it has mainly been imposed in recent years. prisoners believed to be under sen- The death penalty, which was abol- tence of death, but Justice Ministry ished in Japan for 346 years from 810 to officials would not confirm the list 1156 A.D. during the Heian period, is because all executions in Japan are now in force for 17 offences including carried out in secret. leading an insurrection and killing some- Official policy is to release periodic one in a duel. statistics on executions but not to state The number of executions known to whether a particular prisoner is still alive. have been carried out has declined over Prisoners who are deemed "unstable" the last hundred years from 200 a year in are not notified of their execution date the 1880s to fewer than 20 a year since and in some cases families have learned 1971. Only one execution a year took of the execution only after it has taken place in 1979, 1980 and 1981, the last place, Al's delegates were told. dates for which official statistics are The mission's report, The Death available. Penalty in Japan, published on 3 Octo- In recommending abolition of the ber, says there is growing concern in the death penalty for all crimes, Al's teport country that innocent people may be Sakae Mends reads about his acquittal points out that there is no scientific evi- hanged. after 33 years under sentence of death. dence that execution deters crime more effectively than any other punishment. In July this year, Sakae Mends, one trousers—was no longer considered valid of the prisoners cited in the report, was The death penalty, it says, can be inflicted and that a confession attributed to him arbitrarily, is unnecessary in an enlightened found innocent at a retrial after spending may have been fabricated. 33 years awaiting execution on murder penal policy and is brutalizing to all those His retrial began on 30 September involved in the processEl charges (see September Newsletter). 1981 and is continuing. Retrials are now taking place in two other Yukio Saito, also in his sixties, has cases: been under sentence of death for murder Shigeyoshi Taniguchi, who will be 64 and arson since October 1957. He had next month, has been under sentence of originally confessed to killings committed death for more than 31 years—he was 19 in 1955, but retracted his confession when he was arrested for murder in 1950 before being indicted and maintained his and was sentenced in January 1952. innocence throughout his trial. In June 1979 the Takamatsu District Requests by him for retrial were rejected Court accepted his second application until the Sendai District Court decided for retrial, ruling that one of the few in his favour in December 1979. The pieces of material evidence against him State appealed against this but in January —spots of blood allegedly found on his this year the Sendai High Court upheld 11•• • =1.111 the District Court's ruling. Yukio Saito's conviction was based mainly on his retracted confession and on expert evidence about bloodstains allegedly found on his clothes. In its A photograph taken in 1960 of the December 1979 ruling, however, the execution chamber in Osaka Deten- Sendai court cast doubt on the confession tion Centre. and accepted other contrary expert evi- Executions in Japan are carried out dence on the question of the bloodstains. in secret and no public announcement is made at the time. The only infor- The A/ mission, the first it has sent to mation made available is in the form Japan, was led by Dr L.M. Singhvi, senior advocate of the Supreme Court of of statistics issued periodically by the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry says India and President of India's Supreme this secrecy protects the families of Court Bar Association. It was in Japan prisoners from the shame of having it from 21 February to 2 March 1983 for known that their relative has been Shigeyoshi Taniguchi (left) and Yukio talks on the death penalty with senior executed. Saito on their way to retrial hearings. Justice Ministry officials, members of

NOVEMBER 1983 5 Iraq: Politicalexecutions and deathsunder torture Al has appealed for an end to organization says the procedures fair trials and should be aban- political executions in Iraq and and findings of any such inquiry doned. has called on the government to should be made public. conduct a thorough investiga- The recommendations were The report urges President tion into reported deaths under sent 'to the government after the Saddam Husein to issue a per- torture. Al mission had had talks with sonal statement prohibiting tor- The organization has the Iraqi officials between 22 and 28 ture under all circumstances and names of 520 political prisoners January. It met government min- to introduce safeguards to pro- reported to have been executed isters, the Attorney General and tect prisoners. since 1978 and it has asked the the President of the country's Iraqi authorities to examine 23 It also calls for an immediate Revolutionary Court. cases of people reported to have halt to executions for non-violent In a 16-page reply included in died under torture since 1976. political offences as a first step the report, the Government of In a report published on 19 towards total abolition, and says Iraq says there have been no pol- October, following an Al mission special courts set up in Iraq to try itical executions and that the to Iraq in January this year, the political cases do not guarantee torture allegations are false.

tigate the cases of 114 people who are Torture and reported to have been arrested by Iraqi security forces between 1979 and 1982 ill-treatment and whose legal status and whereabouts Al has frequently sent the Iraqi auth- remain unknown to their families. orities the names of torture victims over the years and provided details Although the Iraqi Government has of what happened to them and which repeatedly stressed that torture is pro- official agencies were responsible for hibited by Iraqi law, Al remains con- torturing them. cerned because the authorities have taken no definite steps against torture, The government has seldom replied apart from issuing a general order to —and then only to dismiss the allega- the security forces that proper pro- tions as untrue. cedures should be followed and a During Al's January 1983 mission, its warning that their powers should not delegates were told that complaints of be abused. torture and ill-treatment had been inves- AP - AI considers that there should be tigated and guilty officials punished—but Ali Hama Salih, aged 12 . . . his body is more than a mere legal prohibition of AI has received no evidence of this. reported to have been handed to his torture. There should be rules about In its reply, the Iraqi Government family badly marked by torture after he access to prisoners; and regulations offers to investigate the individual allega- had been detained for interrogation by about interrogation methods; super- tions of torture documented in Al's 1981 security forces in February 1981. vision of interrogators and prison report Iraq: Evidence of torture, if the warders; medical treatment and Adnan Abd al-Jabbar, a young man victims, interviewed in exile by Al, are proper documentation; the conditions said to have been a "friend" of the identified and returned to Iraq. for admissability in evidence of state- Communist Party, is reported to have Al welcomes the government's stated ments made by prisoners under inter- died in a Baghdad hospital on 1 October willingness to investigate torture allega- 1978 after being tortured in custody. He rogation; investigation of complaints tions but may not divulge the names of is said to have been beaten with trun- of torture; and prosecution of the the 14 victims whose cases featured in its cheons, hung upside down and to have culprits. 1981 report on Iraq: the victims asked for had a wire inserted into his anus. their names to be withheld for fear of Al asked the government about his case in reprisals against their families and Al February 1979. remains bound to respect their requests. Special courts Ali Hama Salih, a 12-year-old Iraqi However, Al's latest report names Kurd from the village of Ja'aferan in AI is gravely concerned about the use of other victims whose cases it has in the Sulaimaniya Province, was arrested on special courts in Iraq—such as the Revol- past brought to the Iraqi authorities' 25 February and detained for interroga- utionary Court—which function differ- notice without any response and the tion at Karadagh security headquarters. ently from ordinary criminal courts and organization again urges the government On 5 March his body is reported to have whose procedures do not provide the to investigate them and make the findings been returned to his family badly marked legal safeguards required by both Iraqi public. They include: by torture. Al asked the government law and the International Covenant on Reber Mulla Husain, an Iraqi Kurd of about this case in November 1981. Civil and Political Rights. about 19 who reportedly died under * • The President of the Revolutionary torture some four days after his arrest in Court imformed Al's delegates in Jan- April 1976. His body was returned to his The government's reply to Al's new uary this year that the court's judges were family in Zakho on 26 April—apparently report stresses that suspects are detained always members of the ruling Ba`th Party nine nails were imbedded in it, one of his in official police stations and are entitled and that the Revolutionary Court, unlike eyes has been gouged out and his penis to contact their relatives, appoint a law- ordinary courts, interprets the law accord- cut off. AI asked the government about yer and be seen by a doctor. ing to Ba`th Party principles. this case in February 1977. AI has urged the government to inves- Continued on page 6 6 NOVEMBER 1983 Spain Ethiopia Political prisoners Basque detainee says freed in amnesty Civil Guards tortured him One hundred and seventeen political prisoners were among a total of 1,163 A Basque mechanic in incommunicado escape and as a consequence of efforts prisoners released in September under detention was admitted to hospital with to restrain him. an amnesty marking the ninth anniversary serious injuries after a passerby had On 11 August he was discharged from of the 1974 revolution. They had been reported to a judge that he had heard hospital and taken by Civil Guards to arrested at various times since 1974 and cries coming from the headquarters of Martutene prison. By then he had made represented a wide range of actual or the Civil Guard in San Sebastian at the a judicial declaration that he had been suspected opponents of the Provisional end of July this year. tortured. He reportedly alleged in his Military Government. At the time of going to press the statement that he had been beaten on the Some of those freed had been arrested mechanic, 25-year-old Joaquin Olano head with a telephone book, hit on the because of their high status under the Balda, from Lasarte, was being held in body and given electric shocks, and that previous government. These included: the infirmary of San Sebastian's Martutene water and plastic bags were used to nearly Rebecca Asrate, her sister Teruworq and prison. His lawyers had not been notified asphyxiate him. He alleged that he was her brothers Mulugetta, Wendwossen of any charge against him. also beaten up by Civil Guards in the and Kassa Asrate (their father Ras Joaquin Olano was arrested on 29 van during the transfer to prison from (Prince) Asrate Kassa had been summar- July. The National Court, using its hospital. ily executed in 1974); Sara Mesfin and powers under the anti-terrorist law, gave His lawyer has stated that he saw new her sisters Rahel and Hirut Mesfin (their permission for him to be held incom- marks on his back. A further confidential father, Ras Mesfin Sileshi, had also been municado without legal assistance for 10 medical examination reportedly confirms executed in 1974); and Mehret Mekonnen, days. this. daughter of the late Prince Mekonnen. During the night of 29-30 July a Still in custpdy, Joaquin Olano was They were adopted by AI as prisoners of passerby reported to the duty judge of readmitted to hospital on 14 August for conscience. San Sebastian that he had heard cries examinations and tests following attacks coming from the Civil Guard head- of dizAness. He was returned to Martutene Emperor's relatives quarters in the city. on 18 August and held in the prison The only remaining prisoners known The judge ordered Joaquin Olano to infirmary. He is reported to be in good to have been held since 1974 are 10 close be medically examined in the station— physical condition. relatives of the late Emperor Haile afterwards he was admitted to the Red At the time of going to press lawyers Selassie: his 69-year-old daughter Cross hospital. acting for him said the National Court Tenagneworq Haile Selassie; four grand-

The report on the first medical exam- had not yet notified them of any charge daughters (Seble Desta — AI's prisoner ination is still confidential—but the against him. of the month in August 1983—and her report of a doctor at the Red Cross It is probable that he will eventually sisters Aida, Hirut and Sofia Desta); a Hospital says that he was suffering from be transferred by the Civil Guards to daughter-in-law (Sara Gizaw); three concussion, cuts on the head, multiple Madrid, to face possible charges. The grandsons—Wossen Seged, Michael and grazes and bruises (ecchymoses) on the Provincial Court is investigating his Bede Mariam Mekonnen (Sara Gizaw's back, abdomen and arms. declaration that he was ill-treated. children); and Zuriashworq Gebre He was denied access to either a lawyer • On 6 September Al expressed concern Igziabeher (widow of Ras Asrate Kassa). or a doctor of his choice while in the about his treatment and requested the in- They are held in Alem Bekagne ("End hospital and Civil Guards are alleged to tervention of the Minister of the Interior to of the World") prison in Addis Ababa have been stationed in his room at all ensure his safety during any transfer. The and are among a number of prisoners in times. Minister of Justice was asked for informa- Ethiopia adopted by AI as prisoners of On 30 July a police statement said he tion regarding the judicial investigation conscience. had been injured after an attempt to of his declaration of ill-treatmentO The authorities have given no expla- nation for their continued detention without charge or trial—all former government officials arrested in 1974 were freed in an amnesty a year ago. Political executions in Iraq Al has sent a message to the Ethiopian Continued from previous page Head of State, Mengistu Haile Mariam, welcoming the amnesty and appealing to Trials in the special courts are summary members of the Ba`th Party is not a legit- him for the release of other prisoners of and often held in camera. There are imate cause for Al's concern. conscience CI stringent restrictions on the right to On 12 June 1980 Al published a list of defence and there is no right of appeal to the names of 257 Iraqis reported to have a higher court. been executed over a two-year period between 1978-1979. The names included More than 2,000 those of individuals charged with high freed in Uganda Death penalty treason, political activity in the armed President Milton Obote ordered the forces, political or military involvement release of 2,100 prisoners to mark the In a memorandum to the government of in the Kurdish opposition, bribery and 21st anniversary of Uganda's indepen- May 1983 Al expressed disquiet because economic espionage, membership of, or dence on 9 October. They reportedly "Iraq still provides the death penalty for association with, illegal political parties included political detainees held at Luzira a wide range of criminal and political and other illegal political activities. Upper Prison, including some former offences" and because "hundreds of These people were reported to have members of ex-President Idi Amin's people are executed every year, mostly been tried either by the Revolutionary security forces who were captured in for political offences". Court in Baghdad, by a military court, 1979, and convicted criminals. In its reply, the government questions by the Special Court of Kirkuk or by Al has asked the authorities for further Al's allegations and says that there have other special courts. There are other ref- details about the releases. It had earlier been no executions in Iraq for political erences to death sentences passed in Iraq appealed to President Obote for a major reasons—it says the imposition of the before and after 1980 in Al's annual human rights initiative to mark the inde- death penalty for political activities by reports El pendence anniversary NOVEMBER 1983 7 USA Arabic Newsletter j L -:+41 'Plea bargain' concern 1,4.11 in murder case 39" J-?-1 The apparent abuse by the prosecution agreed to testify against Eddie Carthan, in a Mississippi court of the US plea bar- in return for which the prosecuting auth- gaining process in a murder case last year orities lessened the charge for the killing. was a cause of "particular concern", Al However, during the trial, it became clear has informed the US Attorney General. that his testimony did not establish Eddie The organization said that the circum- Carthan's guilt. stances in which plea bargains were The trial was adjourned to allow the arranged in this case may have encour- prosecution to offer to the second man aged false testimony and may be evidence who had confessed to the killing reduced of "prosecutional discrimination" against charges in return for testifying against the accused—a former black mayor—on the accused. political and racial grounds. The second witness, who had previously Under the plea bargaining system in refused to implicate Eddie Carthan, tes- the USA, the prosecution and accused tified that the former mayor had paid may come to agreement on how the him money to kill the victim. His evidence accused will plead in court. :ontained a number of inconsistencies In the case under consideration such a and Eddie Carthan was acquitted by the plea bargain was agreed between the jury. Al has launched an Arabic edition of prosecution and witnesses who had con- Al's observer found that the generous first issue was plea bargains offered to these witnesses its Newsletter—the fessed to the murder in question. published in October (see above). In July this year Al sent the US by the prosecution in return for testifying against the accused were, in the circum- The Arabic edition will be available Attorney General the report of its observer monthly on subscription from the at the trial of Eddie Carthan in Lexington, stances, an "inducement to false testimony" and could "jeopardize the right International Secretariat in London Mississippi, in October 1982 on a charge (address on back page), at £.5 a year. of murder. of the accused to a fair trial". He further found that the other charges 'Hired killers' charge against Eddie Carthan, two of which were also based on the testimony of allegedCentral African A former mayor of Tchula, Mississippi, principal offenders in return for generous he was accused of having hired two men plea bargains, indicated a pattern of Republic releases to murder a political opponent who was selective prosecution, discriminatory sen- tencing and harassment of the accused. The release of 72 prisoners was announced shot dead during a robbery. in the Central African Republic on 1 Eddie Carthan, the first black mayor September to mark the second anniversary to be elected in the area for more than a Possible discrimination told the Attorney General that it of the present military government's century, denied the charge (which, on Al accession to power. conviction, carried a possible death sen- was "particularly concerned with the Sixty-four of those freed were political tence) and alleged that he was the victim prosecution's apparent abuse of the plea prisoners, according to initial reports; of a conspiracy by his predominantly bargaining process which may have Abel Goumba and Patrice encouraged false testimony and which they included white political opponents. Endjimoungou, both adopted by Al as At the time of trial he was already may be evidence of prosecutional discrimination against Eddie Carthan on prisoners of conscience (see June 1983 serving two prison sentences on other Newsletter). charges which had led to his enforced political and racial grounds". The organization asked the Attorney Al has so far been able to confirm the resignation as mayor in 1981. release of 40 political prisoners, including Although Eddie Carthan was acquitted General to review the outstanding cases involving the former mayor. No reply 36 untried detainees held for almost 18 on the murder charge, the AI observer months after their arrest in connection criticized several features of the prosecu- has been received. Eddie Carthan is still in prison as a result of conviction on with an attempted coup in March 1982. tion's methods. The only evidence against However, a considerable number of him at the trial was the testimony of two bank fraud charges. The three-year sentence he received for this was reduced to people remain in prison for political convicted prisoners who had confessed reasons—Al is concerned particularly that they had carried out the killing. just under nine months by a Federal judge in October 1983D about 20 who are being held without trial. At first, only one of the witnesses Fifteen of those detained without trial in Ngaragba prison in Bangui have been accused of complicity in the coup attempt —but Al believes that some of them at least are imprisoned solely because of Human rights prize for Al their membership of the banned opposition Mouvement de liberation du peuple A/ has been awarded the Council of Chairperson of the four-member board responsible for providing medi- centrafrican (MLPC), Central Africar Europe's Human Rights Prize for its People's Liberation Movement. medical work. cal advice to the International Execu- tive Committee. They include the MLPC Vice-President, The prize, awarded in July by the Hugues Dobozendi, and two other mem- Council's Committee of Ministers, The Council said the prize—a medal and certificate—had been awarded to bers who have held ministerial posts in was presented to Al by the Council's Theodore Baga-Yambo and Al's medical section for the "unique the past: Secretary General, Franz Karasek, on Dieudonne Padoundji Yadjoua. 28 September. It was accepted on efforts it has undertaken in an endeav- is appealing for the release of these our to prevent torture by securing evi- Al behalf of Al by Franca Sciuto, an prisoners of conscience who have been Italian lawyer and member of Al's dence of the use of such methods and held since March 1982; it is also urging International Executive Committee, to restore the health of the victims of the government to bring others arrested and Dr Jorgen Kelstrup, of Denmark, torture". at the same time to trial or release themD

8 NOVEMBER 1983 Summary executions in Chad

Government troops in Chad have sum- ment en masse for suspected disloyalty The corpse of Yacoub Bawoyeu marily executed more than 160 civilians are unaccounted for. Al has appealed to Langue, Police Commissioner of LC in the past 15 months, many of them in President Habre to say where prisoners was found at N'djamena on 15 August towns and villages far from battle zones. are being held and has asked the author- 1983 bearing marks of torture. He is Many of these non-combatants were ities to allow international inspection of believed to have been arrested by govern- killed in apparent government reprisals their treatment and conditions. ment forces on 30 July. after attacks by anti-government forces. Many officials have been summarily Other victims were local officials whose Eye-witness reports executed apparently because of previous loyalty to President Hissene Habré came Al has received reports by eye-witnesses associations or family connections, under suspicion. who say they saw reprisal killings by according to consistent reports received After President Habre took control of government troops in the Doba region by Al. Such killings are continuing, the central government in Chad's civil of southern Chad. After sporadic oppo- according to its latest information. war in June 1982, his troops tortured sition attacks on cotton depots, troops The whereabouts of more than 2,500 and killed civilians in a number of areas moved into some 15 surrounding villages prisoners of war both sides say they have in the south of the country, according to in April 1983, beating people and killing taken are unknown. Al has appealed to detailed reports reaching Al. an estimated 40 victims apparently chosen the leaders of both sides in the civil war Killings, torture and arbitrary arrests at random. to clarify their fate. have continued this year, often in areas Dozens of similar arbitrary killings by • Responding to Al's news release, the outside the military conflict. government forces have occurred in the Chad Government denied the allegations In a news release on 10 October, Al southern region of Moundou between against its troops in a statement on 11 said it had received unconfirmed reports September and December 1982. October. The Minister of Information, that anti-government forces under ex- In September 1982 Karhyom Ningayo, Mahamat Soumailia, said the reports President Goukouni OueddeT had also local administrator of Moundou, was were based on the testimony of people of killed prisoners. Neither side has issued reported to have been shot dead in front "bad faith". He said Al was welcome to lists of prisoners. of his family by government soldiers after visit the country to carry out on-the-spot Many people arrested by the govern- his car had been stopped at a road-block. investigations 0

UK: 'Diplock courts' concern Continued from page 1 Saudi executed to independent defence counsel; trials to imprisonment on the sole basis of are open to the public and are reported confessions which, having been obtained —1 7 years in the news media; and there are full by oppressive methods, are not reliable. after conviction rights of appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal to higher courts does not over- Appeal and to the House of Lords. There come this deficiency since the appeal is a significant rate of acquittals. courts consider more the trial courts' A Saudi national has been beheaded in Furthermore, allegations that con- application of the law than their assess- the western city of Ta'if-17 years fessions were obtained as a result of ment of the evidence. after his 1966 conviction for murder. physical ill-treatment had virtually In its submission to Sir George Baker, Hussein bin Hassan al-Maleki's stopped since Al's 1978 report on that Al also raised the case of Michael execution, on 19 August 1983, had subject and the subsequent confirmation Culbert, which it believes illustrates its been delayed until the heirs of the of the organization's findings by a concerns. murdered man had reached the age of government-appointed committee of Michael Culbert, a social worker from majority and had agreed on execution inquiry. Belfast, was arrested in 1978 and con- as the form of "retribution" for the However, Al is concerned about vari- victed in 1979 of murdering a policeman crime. ous issues connected with the fact that and membership of the Irish Republican Army. After his arrest he was inter- Under Islamic law, the relatives of throughout the history of these courts a murder victim may demand qisas the great majority of those convicted rogated for long periods but not physi- cally ill-treated. He was alleged to have (retribution) in the form of execution were convicted solely on the basis of or financial settlement, or they may con fessions. made a verbal (unsigned) confession, and this was the only evidence produced decide to waive their claims altogether. The police and army have wide powers against him. He denied having made such Al has sent a telex message to the to arrest people and detain them on sus- a confession and maintained that at the Saudi Arabian Minister of the Interior, picion for up to seven days. During the time of the alleged confession he was Prince Naif bin 'Abd al-'Aziz, express- first two days people who have been completely disorientated as a result of ing concern about the execution and arrested are held incommunicado without continuous interrogation, lack of sleep reiterating its opposition to the death access to lawyers or relatives. The laws and being made to stand for long periods penalty in all cases. and police regulations permit the use of during interrogation. (The police denied strong psychological pressure on suspects Al has also learned that two other that he had been forced to stand.) Saudis, Rad'an Ibn Muhammad Ibn to induce them to confess. Even con- At his trial by a special court some 18 fessions obtained in this way may be Rad'an and Haza` Ibn Hamad al- months later in October 1979, the only Graini, were beheaded in the capital, admitted into evidence by the Diplock issue was the admissibility of his alleged courts, although they would be excluded Riyadh, on 26 August after being verbal confession. convicted of murderEl as "oppressive" by established standards The court held that the confession was in other courts in the United Kingdom. admissible, convicted him of murder and By comparison with trials in ordinary membership of the Irish Republican courts in the United Kingdom, the fact Army, and sentenced him to life AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLICA- that there is no jury, but only a judge, imprisonment. TIONS, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ, United Kingdom. Printed in Great Britain by reduces the safeguards against such con- Al, believing the case to raise funda- Shadowdean Limited, Unit B, Roan Estate, fessions being given too much weight . mental issues of principle, sent an observer Mortimer Road, Mitcham, Surrey. Available These factors lead to the risk that to his appeal hearing in January 1982. on subscription at £.5 (US$12.50) per calendar people may be convicted and sentenced His appeal was turned down E year. ISSN 0308 6887 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER SUPPLEMENT NOVEMBER 1983 amnesty '0T international supplement

The efforts of governments to manipulate public opinion by covering up torture and killings in their own countries while making political propaganda about such abuses elsewhere are attacked the by Al in its latest annual report. In the preface to the Amnesty International Report 7983, organization says governments have used "deception, distortion and disinformation on human rights questions". They have jailed human rights activists, stifled information and used different standards in reacting to violations in different countries, it says. It stresses the need for accurate unbiased information and "a single, universal standard for the protection of rights everywhere". This supplement summarizes the report, which was published on 26 October. Amnesty International Report 1983

In a wide-ranging summary of human rights violations and the MUT= MPISCq. movement's efforts to mobilize inter- GREGOINOSOLAI national opinion against them, Al's latest annual report details political imprisonment, torture and executions in 117 countries and territories around the world. The 351-page report, covering the calendar year 1982, documents thousands of cases of prisoners held only for their beliefs or origins, or detained without trial or after inadequate trials, or subjected to cruel or inhuman treatment. It describes political killings by governments, the "disappearance" of suspected government opponents, and related violations of the human rights commitments which governments have pledged to The photograph shows relatives of "disappeared" Guatemalans queueing up to inquire uphold. about their whereabouts at the front gate of a military camp in Huehuetenango during In keeping with Al's opposition to the 1982. Official security units were responsible for the vast majority of the thousands of death penalty in all cases, the report extrajudicial killings and "disappearances" reported in Guatemala during the year. documents known executions, noting countries' human rights records. Such compared". that 1,609 prisoners are known to have In addition, comparisons could be been put to death in 42 countries in 1982 comparisons would be meaningless, it emphasizes, because information is often misused for political ends, and would —but that the real total was certainly distract attention from the basic principle higher. difficult to unearth and because "forms that all people have the same rights and The report makes no comparisons of of repression cannot be measured and all violations must be challenged, wher- ever they occur. The report reflects the growth of AI, ers of conscience or were being inves- The preface points out that the lack of a voluntary movement now number- tigated for possible adoption. Much an entry for any particular country can- ing more than 500,000 members and of the movement's work, however, not be interpreted to mean that there supporters in over 160 countries. was for many more people who were were no human rights violations there. These people campaign for the release not necessarily prisoners of conscience The movement's information and resources of prisoners of conscience—men and but whose rights were violated or were not sufficient to enable it to include women imprisoned only for their threatened. It issued over 300 "Urgent entries on all countries. Action" appeals in efforts to protect beliefs or origins—as well as for an The annual report's 117 entries are people from torture, detention with- end to torture and the death penalty grouped by region. While most of the out trial or other abuses. and for fair trials for all political cases documented are of political prison- It is wholly financed by its members prisoners. ers, the figures on the death penalty refer At the beginning of 1983, a total of and the public, accepting no govern- to all kinds of prisoners, reflecting Al's ment money for its work. 5,557 people were adopted as prison- campaign for total abolition. 2 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER SUPPLEMENT NOVEMBER 1983 Africa The Americas Political imprisonment was widespread in Africa in 1982, used under Kidnapping and "disappearances" varying political systems. of suspected government Suspected government opponents opponents, torture, political killings were held without trial in many by governments, arbitrary arrest, countries. Torture or other ill- and prolonged detention without treatment of prisoners were reported. trial were among the chief abuses of Other violations of human rights in human rights reported in the the region included "disappear- Americas. ances", extrajudicial executions, Thousands of people were tortured and killed in and the use of the death penalty. El Salvador and Guate- mala, against a background of inter- Prisoners of conscience were held in nal political and military conflict. many countries. In Benin, they included Many other people remained students and teachers held without trial unaccounted for after "disappearing". since 1979, and in Kenya, university lecturers alleged by the government to be In El Salvador, government forces and subversive. In the paramilitary "death squads" continued Central African Immaculte Mukamugema, Rwanda . . . Republic, relatives of suspected govern- to carry out political killings with ment opponents, including young who spent much of 1982 in a completely impunity. Al reported on human rights children, were detained for several unlit cell (cachot noir) at Ruhengeri violations in March 1982, on the basis of months. Black journalists and other non- prison in the northwest of the country; as information from civilians in refugee a result she became seriously ill. Arrested camps outside the country. This infor- violent critics of apartheid were among prisoners of conscience detained or in about April 1980, she was convicted mation accorded with data from a wide by Rwanda's State Security Court in restricted under banning orders in variety of other sources, indicating that South November 1981 on charges of distribut- all branches of the security forces were Africa. The Ethiopian Government ing seditious documents and has been involved in systematic and widespread released a number of long-term political adopted by Al as a prisoner of conscience. torture, abduction and killings of men, prisoners but relatives of the late women and children, and that these Emperor Haile Selassie remained in Prison conditions amounting to cruel abuses were an established government prison. They have been held since 1974. and degrading treatment persisted in program. many of the 40 sub-Saharan countries In Guatemala, official security units covered in the report, although in were responsible for the vast majority of Rwanda some improvements were made the thousands of extrajudicial killings and following Al appeals, and in The Gambia, "disappearances" reported in 1982. In the use of leg-irons was banned after addition, the first judicial executions complaints from the organization. since 1975 were carried out in September Court-imposed death penalties were 1982 under new legislation which failed carried out in at least 19 African countries to meet international standards for fair during the year. There were at least 101 trial. such executions in South Africa. Three In Honduras, reports of "disappear- public executions took place in Gabon. ances", arbitrary arrest, torture and The first executions since independence extrajudicial executions increased. were carried out in Zimbabwe. Political Al was concerned about the sending opponents of the government were back of political refugees to El Salvador and Guatemala from Zamile Mjuza, South Africa . . . a trade executed by Firing squad in Angola and Mexico and the Mozambique. USA. unionist and official of the MACWUSA Emergency legislation was widely used (Motor Assemblers and Component Extrajudicial executions by govern- to ban or repress the exercise of funda- Workers Union of South Africa) branch ments or their agents were reported in a mental human rights. In Paraguay, a at a factory in Port Elizabeth, he was number of countries, although informa- state of siege has been in operation almost tion on individual killings was often hard served with a two-year banning order in continuously since 1954. In Nicaragua, late March 1982, together with other to verify, particularly in countries where far-reaching public order laws were MACWUSA officials. He lost his job as anti-government forces were also sus- applied under a state of emergency a result. His banning was lifted in 1983. pected of political killings. declared on 15 March 1982. He had been detained in early June 1981 From Uganda came reports of the Unfair trials, detention without trial, and held without charge or trial and in "disappearance" of civilians arrested by torture and political killings by govern- solitary confinement under Section 6 of the army. Several were feared killed. ment agencies were again reported from the Terrorism Act until his unconditional "Disappearances" were also reported Argentina. Questions about the fate of release on 19 February 1982. He was from Kenya and Namibia. The Govern- thousands who "disappeared" in previ- reportedly ill-treated while in detention. ments of Ethiopia and Guinea again ous years remained unsolved. failed to account adequately for political In Cuba, Al's concerns about political Long-term detention without trial was prisoners who "disappeared" in custody imprisonment included prisoners who also reported from Angola, Madagascar, in earlier years. were still held despite having completed Somalia and Sudan. In Namibia, more In several countries, there were politi- sentences of up to 20 years. than 100 people abducted from Angola cal trials which failed to meet interna- In Bolivia, an amnesty for political in 1978 continued to be held by South tionally accepted standards of fairness. exiles was announced after the military African authorities. government resigned in September 1982. Examples were in Gabon and Zaire, Torture was reported from several where people were imprisoned for trying The new government took action to investigate killings and "disappearances" countries, including Angola, Cameroon to form political organizations opposed under previous governments. and Congo. In Namibia, Niger, South to the ruling parties. In Malawi, a former An amnesty for political prisoners and Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, political justice minister and his wife were put on prisoners were reported to have died in the lifting of a state of siege were trial for treason before a traditional court announced in custody as a result of torture or harsh which denied them the right to legal Colombia in November treatment. 1982. However, there was evidence of representation. military and police involvement in SUPPLEMENT NOVEMBER 1983 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER 3 apparent extrajudicial executions of Prisoners of conscience were held in dozens of Colombians in 1982. many countries, including Bangladesh, Torture was reported from a large Brunei, China, Pakistan, South Korea, number of countries, including Argentina, Viet Nam and Taiwan. In Taiwan several Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Haiti, Guate- prisoners of conscience have been held mala, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, for more than 30 years. Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay In China several prisoners of con- and Venezuela. science were put on trial, including young In Peru, anti-terrorist legislation was workers who had edited unofficial jour- used to jail non-violent political, labour nals and elderly Roman Catholic priests and peasant leaders as well as people who who were previously imprisoned for over might have been involved in violence. 20 years for their beliefs. No official Detention without trial or judicial information was disclosed about their procedures which failed to meet interna- trials. tional standards of fairness took place in The authorities in the Republic of Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Korea (South Korea) continued to

Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, t 0,F imprison people for the peaceful GOO' Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. pr expression of their beliefs. Al was also Executions were carried out in concerned about reports of torture. Barbados, Chile, Guatemala, Jamaica Elsewhere in the region, in Malaysia and the United States, and reported from and to a lesser extent in Singapore, con- Cuba. In the USA, more than 1,100 siderable numbers of prisoners of con- prisoners were under sentence of death science were released from detention. A at the end of 1982. urged the release of all prisoners of conscience remaining in detention. The death penalty continued to be widely used in Asia. Death sentences were Asia Edwin Tulalian, the Philippines . . . he was one of eight people arrested on 26 known to have been handed down in The arrest and long-term imprison- Afghanistan, China, India, Malaysia, February 1982, when they were reportedly Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka (although ment of prisoners of conscience discussing a forthcoming trade union remained major concerns in Asian election. He is reported to have been tor- there have been no executions there since South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand countries in 1982. Other violations tured after arrest by members of the 1977), of fundamental human rights included Naval Intelligence Service Force. In and Viet Nam. unfair trials, torture and the .use of October 1982 he and 18 others were the death penalty. Increasingly, Al charged with subversion; his trial is con- was concerned by extrajudicial tinuing. He is currently being detained at Europe the Philippines Constabulary/Integrated executions—political killings by Human rights violations in Europe National Police Jail at Camp Bagong governments—in the region. included the imprisonment of people Diwa, Bicutan. Al took up his case for Detention without charge or trial for the non-violent expression of continued to take place in many investigation in November 1982 as it believes that he may have been arrested their beliefs, torture, and other cruel, because of his work in organizing trade inhuman or degrading treatment of union and industrial activity at his prisoners. workplace. Executions were reported from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, countries, including Bangladesh, Poland, Turkey, the Soviet Union Brunei, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, and Yugoslavia. Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore and Viet A/ was concerned about the imprison- Nam. In Viet Nam and Laos, thousands of people remained imprisoned ment of conscientious objectors to mili- without trial in re-education camps tary service in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the German Democratic more than seven years after first Republic (GDR), France, Greece, being detained. In Brunei, eight Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and the prisoners of conscience have been Soviet Union. held without charge or trial since the early 1960s. In January 1982 Al published a report on Pakistan which said thousands of people had been arrested solely for expressing their opinions and several hundred people, including some political prisoners, had been executed. The government had effectively annulled the 1973 To Huy Co, Viet Nam . . . arrested in Constitution aad its guarantees of fun- Hanoi in October 1982 and held since damental rights and ended the indepen- then without charge or trial. His arrest dence of the judiciary. The report also came after he had founded a "free litera- documented widespread use of torture. ture" movement and had been circulating In September 1982 AI published a uncensored and unauthorized manuscripts report of its mission to the Philippines, Recep Marasli, Turkey . . . a publisher of banned foreign works. He had previ- documenting political imprisonment and and editor aged 27, he is serving three ously been detained for more than six torture. It also highlighted "disappear- separate sentences totalling 19 years' years in a series of re-education camps for ances" carried out by intelligence and imprisonment for publishing works on alleged counter-revolutionary activity, security units of the armed forces as well the Kurds. The first of the sentences was after he had urged an end to the Viet as by paramilitary groups operating with imposed in July 1982—four years for Nam war and had openly criticized the official sanction. Many of the victims publishing a book on Kurdish issues in policies of the then North Vietnamese were peasants or others living in rural the form of an open letter to Kemal Government. areas. Ataturk. 4 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER SUPPLEMENT NOVEMBER 1983

In the GDR the organization worked death under torture increased. A/ was for the release of imprisoned would-be Middle East also concerned about political trials and emigrants, Marxist dissenters, conscien- the renewal of official calls for the tious objectors and people arrested for "physical liquidation of enemies of the expressing sympathy with the Polish and revolution". trade union Solidarity. Abuses in Iraq included the arrest of In Poland, Al welcomed the end of North Africa prisoners of conscience, "disappear- internment with the suspension of martial ances", torture and deaths in custody. A law on 30 December 1982, but called for Violations of human rights in the large number of executions were the release of a large number of prisoners Middle East and North Africa reported, including executions for politi- of conscience charged or sentenced for included large numbers of executions cal offences after trials lacking basic the non-violent exercise of their human in some countries, political killings legal safeguards. rights during the year. by governments, the "disappear- In Israel and the Occupied Territories, Al was concerned about the detention Throughout the year Al continued to ance" of prisoners seized or arrested receive reports that prisoners charged with no legal rights of thousands of with political offences had been tortured by government forces, trials in people captured after the Israeli invasion in Turkey, and that some had died as a which standards fell short of inter- of Lebanon on 6 June 1982, and allega- result. nationally accepted norms, the hold- tions that detainees had been ill-treated. There was a marked increase in allega- of prisoners of conscience, and After the killing of hundreds of tions of torture and ill-treatment of detention without trial. Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in the prisoners in Italy during the first half of Prisoners of conscience—men Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in West 1982. Reports of torture were also and women imprisoned only for the Beirut in 1982, Al urged the United received from Spain. non-violent expression of their Nations to establish an impartial, inde- Disturbing reports of harsh prison beliefs or for their origins—were pendent and international inquiry into conditions amounting to cruel, inhuman known to be held in Bahrain, Egypt, the atrocity. It called on the Israeli Gov- ernment to act rapidly to clarify the Iran, Israel and the Occupied Terri- circumstances of the killings and to tories, Libya, Morocco and the cooperate in any international investiga- Western Sahara, Oman, Syria, tion. In a letter sent to Lebanese Presi- Tunisia and the People's Democratic dent Amin Gemayel in December 1982, Republic of Yemen (PDRY). Al welcomed the Lebanese Govern- Reports of torture or ill-treatment of inent's initiative in ordering an inquiry prisoners came from many countries in and stressed that for the inquiry to be the region including Bahrain, Egypt, effective it should be open to public Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Tunisia. scrutiny. Reports of executions were also received In Syria, after violent clashes between from Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, security forces and Muslim Brotherhood Syria, the United Arab Emirates and the fighters in the town of Hama, thousands PDRY. of inhabitants were reported to have been In Iran, 624 executions were recorded killed by government forces as they in 1982 but this reflected only officially regained control of the town in February Al regards it and March 1982. Unofficial estimates Rolf-Dieter Schiller, 34, a lorry driver, and announced executions, and as a minimum figure. Information put the number of dead at over 10,000 his wife, Heiderose, 31, a typist, were ar- obtained during the year confirmed that but Al was unable to confirm those esti- rested in the German Democratic Republic torture had become routine practice in at mates or to investigate the precise on 6 December 1982 and each sentenced to least some Iranian prisons. Whipping and circumstances of these killings. four years six months' imprisonment for amputations of limbs continued to be The Syrian authorities did not respond "treasonable passing on of information" officially sanctioned punishments for to repeated requests for a full investiga- Al does not (Article 99 of the penal code). certain crimes. tion of reported massacres by Syrian know the precise reason for the bringing In Libya, allegations of torture and security forces in recent years. of this charge against them—but they are known to have been applying for permission to emigrate since December 1980 and it is supposed that they were accused of contacting a foreign organization in connection with their wish to leave the country. Both are reported to suffer from kidney disorders. They have two daughters now living with grandparents. or degrading treatment of prisoners were received from Albania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Al expressed concern to the authorities in the United Kingdom about aspects of trials by the non-jury "Diplock Courts" in Northern Ireland which jeopardized defendants' right to a fair trial. The organization worked on behalf of approximately 450 prisoners in the Soviet Union known or thought likely to be prisoners of conscience. More than half of the new cases taken up by the organization in 1982 were of religious believers. Smashed buildings in the Syrian town of Hama . . . the photograph, showing part of Al received further information on the the suburb of Kilaniyya, was taken after the authorities had announced that their forces internment of dissenters held in psychi- had crushed an uprising in Hama in February 1982. Al has received reports that atric hospitals for political rather than security force troops summarily executed a number of Kilaniyya residents during the authentic medical reasons. fighting.