amnesty APRIL 1980 Volume X Number 4

international newsletterUnited Nations human rights groupto investigate political abductions

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A e.", LI.C1 i* Abed Ai ee A. *Mr ebbed. Car.. r. War ...et* Amkel • ImamPo,,,enser Vatimerecit* St.do. ,tho ctrs, rAwiar•

These 10 Chileans who have been missing for more than four years are amongover 30,000 individuals reported to have been abducted or assassinated forpolitical reasons in Latin America during the past 10 years. Massive numbers ofsuspected opposition figures have also vanished without trace in Afghanistan,Ethiopia, Kampuchea and Uganda, Al told the last session of the United NationsCommission on Human Rights.

The United Nations Commissionon Human Rights has establisheda five-member working group toinvestigate reports of"disappearances".

In a historic decision adopted inGeneva on 29 February the UN com-mission empowered a group of fiveexperts to demand an explanationfrom governments following a person'sreported abduction.

As a result of the decision, theUnited Nations has introduced for thefirst time in its history a procedurefor possible immediate action inhuman rights cases.

The working group, which has beenestablished for a one-year period,will consist of members of the UnitedNations Commission on Human Rights,acting as experts in their individualcapacity, selected by the Chairman ofthe Commission, Waleed SADI ofJordan.

UN human rights directorTheodoor VAN BOVEN told theCommission that the "burning andshocking" problem of "disappearances"could sometimes be eased by promptintervention on behalf of the victims.

He said that if the human rightsdivision were to tackle the problem of"disappearances", it would require anadditional £150,000, an extra nine full-time staff and a computer to deal withthe mass of information on "dis-appearance" cases.

His estimate of the resourcesrequired to put the decision into effectwas not challenged by any of the 43delegations comprising the Commission.In their final decision they requestedthe UN Secretary-General "to providethe Working Group with all necessaryassistance, in particular full-time staffand resources they require to performtheir functions in an effective andexpeditious manner".

The working group is empowered toreceive information on "disappearances"from governme nts, intergovernme ntalorganizations, humanitarian organiza-tions "and other reliable sources".

The Economic and Social Council

must now approve the Commission'sdecision, including the allocation ofresources to the human rights divisionto back up the Working Group.

AI made a lengthy presentation tothe Commission as relatives of missingArgentinians, wearing white scarves,sat in the public gallery and demon-strated outside the Palais des Nations,the Commission's Geneva headquarters.

No government had asked to speakfirst on this sensitive question and as aresult Ars representative MennoKAMMINGA delivered the openingpresentation.

"There can be little doubt that thetechnique of letting political opponentsdisappear has spread from one govern-ment to another," he said. "Govern-ments in several parts of the world havediscovered that this is a convenientway to rid themselves of politicalopponents. It simply requires a hand-ful of ruthless men to carry out theabduction and a handful of others tointerrogate, torture and possibly killthe victim in a hidden place," he added.

As soon as Mr Kamminga cited thetestimony of Oscar AlfredoGONZALEZ and Horacio CID DE LA

PAZ, who survived 15 months insecret detention camps in Argentina(March Newsletter), he was interruptedby Enrique ROS of the Argentiniandelegation.

Speaking on a point of order,Senor Ros said the testimony of thetwo men was "an irresponsiblefalsification". He said that Al was mak-ing a political attack on Argentina andshould be ruled out of order.

The Ethiopian and Uruguayandelegations supported Argentina.Ethiopia said that AI should not havebeen allowed to speak first in thedebate.

The Commission's Chairman repliedthat Ethiopia now had the floor and ifit wished to address itself to thequestion of "disappearances" it wasfree to do so. Ethiopia declined theopportunity, adding that AI was an"imperialist-financed organization".

In an important ruling the Chairman,however, refused to accept the pro-cedural objections and ruled that non-governmental organizations could onlyprovide meaningful information to theCommission if the names of countriesand cases were citedEl

2 APRIL 1980

Republic o f ChinaHundreds held under martial lawNews in Brief

FranceConscientious objector (CO)Dominique ROLS was re-arrestedimmediately after a French militarycourt gave him a three-month suspend-ed sentence for refusing armedmilitary service on 30 January. M. Rols,who went on a hunger-strike in protestagainst his re-arrest, is one of about20 conscientious objectors imprisonedin France after declaring their opposit-ion to the use of arms. Many moreare awaiting arrest. French authoritieshave rejected more than 160 applicat-ions for CO status on the grounds putforward by M. Rols since August1979, after accepting some 500 suchapplications from 1975 to 1978.Objectors to military service face upto two years' imprisonment if theyare refused exemption on religiousor philosophical grounds. AI appealedto French Defence Minister YvonBOURGES on 22 February to releaseM. Rols, who was still held at thattime at Fort Queleu Barracks, Metz.

TunisiaA Tunisian prisoner of conscienceadopted by AI, Mohamed SalehFLISS, was re-arrested in mid-February,six months after he was releasedunder a conditional presidentialamnesty. Unofficial reports said theamnesty had been cancelled and MrFliss was being held in Bourj-Er-RoumiPrison, Bizerte. Mr Fliss, a formerstudent, was first arrested in 1968. Hislatest conviction was in 1975 whenhe was sentenced to eight years formembership of an illegal organization.He had been living under administrativesurveillance in "restricted residence"in Bizerte following his release, andreported to the police each day.

IsraelIsraeli military authorities will soonbring in new regulations on administra-tive detention in the OccupiedTerritories, tightening control of aprocedure which allows people to beheld for long periods without charge ortrial. The period of detention under anorder will be limited to six months;orders will be issued only by themilitary governors of the West Bank orthe Gaza Strip and will be subject toreview by a military judge within 48hours. Appeals will be heard by thepresident of the military court, andorders will be reviewed every threemonths by a military judgeD

Suspected political dissidents are stillbeing convicted and imprisoned onTaiwan under martial law provisions inforce since the Chinese NationalistGovernment retreated there more than30 years ago.

A 16-page briefing on Taiwan,published on 20 March, indicates thatseveral hundred people are believed tobe held on political grounds, althoughTaiwanese exiles have offered muchhigher estimates in the past.

Political prisoners include indigenousTaiwanese suspected of advocatingindependence for the island, as well assuspected communists, victims ofpurges or rivalries within the rulingelite, and members of ethnic andreligious minorities.

Among the cases of politicalprisoners outlined in the briefing paperis that of PAI Ya-tsan, an indigenousTaiwanese who stood for office in1975. He was sentenced to lifeimprisonment after raising questionsabout government policy and callingfor an end to martial law and therelease of political prisoners.

The publication points out that"confessions" are extracted by the ill-treatment and torture of prisoners heldin solitary confinement, who then gobefore military courts, usually forclosed trials.

Among the forms of psychologicaland physical pressure which haveallegedly been used to obtain"confessions" are solitary confinement,round-the-clock interrogation, denialof sleep, extraction of nails, electric

PolandFarmer convictedJan KOZLOWSKI, an imprisoned 51-year-old farmer who edits an unofficialpaper that has criticized governmentpolicy, has been adopted by AI as aprisoner of conscience.

Mr Kozlowski is a founding memberof the Provisional Committee of theIndependent Farmers' Trade Union,editor of the unofficial paper Placowka(Outpost) published by theIndependent Peasants' Movement, anda member of the Centre for PeasantThought. On 1 February he wassentenced by a regional court to twoyears' imprisonment for "bodilyassault", a charge which Al believesto be groundless. He has appealed

shock and severe beatings.Al urges the authorities of the

Republic of China to implement thehuman rights guarantees in its con-stitution and to conduct trials openlyand in accordance with internationalnorms. It calls for an end to tortureand the death penalty, urges theauthorities to release all prisoners ofconscience and appeals on human-itarian grounds for the release of thosepolitical prisoners who have been heldfor 20 years or more.

• An Al mission visited Taiwan for10 days in February. It met governmentofficials, families of political prisonersand their lawyers. It also visited GreenIsland prison and talked to long-termpolitical prisoners held there.

The mission inquired into the casesof people arrested following a HumanRights Day rally in the provincial cityof Kaohsiung last December whichended in violence. Eight of the morethan 150 people arrested are due toface trial on "sedition" charges thatcarry the death penalty. The militarytrial was expected to open on 18 Marchand the authorities have announcedthat its proceedings would be open.Verdicts in such trials, however, arenormally not announced until at leasta month after the hearing.

Amnesty International Briefing onTaiwan (Republic of China): 16 pages, ispublished in English and Chinese byAmnesty International Publications, 10Southampton Street, London WC2E 7HF,England. Price: 40 pence, and is availablefrom Al's national sections or theInternational Secretariat.

against the sentence.Mr Kozlowski's arrest and recent

conviction arise from an incident inOctober 1979 when a stone was thrownthrough a window of his house. MrKozlowski, together with his neigh-bour, T. KOLANO, pursued theattacker until he was able to identifyhim and then reported the incidentto the local police station. He alsoreported that he had been warned ofsuch an attack by the State SecurityPolice. A week later Mr Kozlowskiand Mr Kolano were both arrested andcharged with "bodily assault".

Mr Kozlowski has frequently beensubjected to police harassment. InJanuary 1979 he was placed underobservation in a psychiatric hospitalafter writing to the regional CommunistParty committee accusing local author-ities of abuse of power0

APRIL 1980 3

Campaign for Prisoners of the MonthEach of the people whose story is told below is a prisoner of conscience. Eachhas been arrested because of his or her religious or political beliefs, colour, sex,ethnic origin or language. None has used or advocated violence. Their continuingdetention is a violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. International appeals can help to secure the release of these prisoners orto improve their detention conditions. In the interest of the prisoners, letters tothe authorities should be worded carefully and courteously. You should stress

that your concern for human rights is not in any way politically partisan. In nocircumstances should communications be sent to the prisoner.

tvpiPetr CIBULKA, CzechoslovakiaA 29-year-old worker whose health hassuffered under harsh prison conditionswas due for release in April after atwo-year term for "incitement" againstthe socialist system of the Republic,but must now serve a further sentenceunder a stricter prison regime.

Petr CIBULKA was arrested inApril 1978 with two other people fororganizing private sessions of musicand poetry by nonconformist artistsand distributing written texts allegedto be critical of the country's socialsystem. He was sentenced in November1978.

Despite worsening health MrCibulka has been foiced to do indust-rial work cutting artificial jewellery.He was reported to have been put insolitary confinement twice in early1979, sleeping on a stone floor andreceiving a minimum of food for 15-day periods. He is said to have beendisciplined later by being put in anunderground cell on half-rations andto have staged a hunger-strike afterbeing beaten repeatedly by common-law prisoners.

Charged with offending againstprison discipline, Mr Cibulka said ata court hearing that his hunger-strikewas in protest against his working con-ditions and physical attacks on him. Aprison warden gave evidence that hisbehaviour was satisfactory. The courtsentenced Mr Cibulka on 30 January1980 to six months, to be servedunder a stricter regime. The procurator,who had asked for a five-year sentence,appealed. On 12 March the court gaveMr Cibulka a further six months.

Since the trial, Al has been told thatMr Cibulka was unable to achieve pro-duction targets because of his healthand as a result was put in an under-ground cell on reduced rations. He isalso reported to have been beatenagain by common-law prisoners.

Please write courteously wordedletters appealing for the immediaterelease of Petr Cihulka. Write to:Dr Gustav Husak, President of TheCzechoslovak Socialist Republic,Praha-Hrad, CSSR.

Sion ASSIDON, MoroccoA 32-year-old student-teacher, sentenc-ed to a 15-year prison term after help-ing to put out a Marxist-Leninist paper,is one of many political prisoners inMorocco who are believed to bedeprived of adequate medical care forserious illnesses.

Sion ASSIDON, who had helpedto produce a paper called Saout alKadih (The Worker's Voice) whichpropagated Marxist-Leninist ideas, wasarrested in 1972. Accused of plottingto overthrow the government, he wastried in Casablanca in July 1973 in acase involving some 80 other people.

The defendants said at the trial thatthey had been tortured by police whilebeing held incommunicado, and MrAssidon identified a policeman in thecourtroom whom he accused of takingpart in the torture.

Mr Assidon is now held in the PrisonCentrale in Kénitra with more than100 other political prisoners and isreported to suffer from an ulcer andsciatica. There is serious concern overthe health of many of the prisoners asit is believed that they do not receiveadequate medical treatment.

In October 1979 Mr Assidon andanother prisoner, Najib Bribri, escapedfrom Avicennes Hospital in Rabat butwere recaptured after three days. Athird man, Rahal Jbiha, who had beenadopted by Al as a prisoner of con-science, died in the escape attempt whenhe fell from the rope used to climbdown from the fifth floor of thehospital. Mr Assidon and Mr Bribriwere sentenced to three-year terms forthe escape attempt. During their trialthey said they were beaten after beingcaptured. Mr Assidon is reported tohave suffered an injury to his ear-drum and two broken fingers.

Al has reason to believe he has beenimprisoned for expressing his politicalviews and has not used or advocatedviolence.

Please send courteously wordedletters appealing for the immediaterelease of Sion Assidon to: HisMajesty King Hassan II, Rabat,Morocco.

People's Revolutionary Partycases, Republic of KoreaSixteen people are still in prison inthe Republic of Korea after havingbeen convicted of political offences in1974 by an Emergency Court Martialin a case marked by torture of thedefendants and grave irregularities intheir trial.

The 16, including businessmen,teachers and shopkeepers, were among54 people convicted,of belonging toorganizations alleged by the authoritiesto have as their aim the forcible over-throw of the government and theestablishment of a communist regime.

Eight of the accused were hangedon 9 April 1975, despite assurancesgiven the previous day by the PublicProsecutor's Department that noexecutions would take place beforethe defendants were allowed to lodgeappeals.

An Al mission to the Republic ofKorea in 1975 reported that defend-ants had been tortured during interroga-tion and that there had been graveflaws in pre-trial and court procedure.

Many of the original 54 have beenreleased before the expiry of theirsentences. The 16 remaining prisonersare serving sentences of 15 and 20years and life imprisonment.

The 54 were charged under presiden-tial emergency decrees, the Anti-Communist Law and the NationalSecurity Law with membership of thePeople's Revolutionary Party and theNational Democratic Youth andStudents Federation.

The remaining prisoners are: CHOMan-ho, CHON Chang-il, CHONG Man-gin, HWAN Hyong-sung, KANG Chang-dok, KIM Chong-dae, LEE Chae-hyong,LEE Chang-bok, LEE Kang-chul, LEETae-hwan, NA Kyong-il, LEE Song-chae, KIM Han-dok, IM Koo-ho,CHUN Chae-won and YU Jin-gon.

Please send courteously wordedletters appealing for their immediaterelease to: His Excellency PresidentChoi Kyu-hah, The Blue House,Chongno-gu, Seoul, Republic ofKorea.

4 APRIL 1980

Since 1961, when it was founded, Al has published more than 50 reports. These range from an annualAmnesty International Report, now describing Ars work in some 100 countries, to short Briefing Papers,covering a single country. Thanks to the tremendous work of volunteers, these publications have oftenbeen translated into as many as 12 languages. Sales of the publications ensure that the information abouthuman rights violations reaches a wide audience and helps to raise funds to continue the research thatis so essential to Ar s continuing campaign. This month, to boost the distribution of AI reports and theNewsletter, we are encouraging our readers to make a special effort to make these publications availableto their friends and colleagues.

Building a human rights libraryFacts are the building blocks of Ars global campaign to expose andhalt political imprisonment, torture and executions.

As a supporter of the growing movement to protect human dignityaround the world you need to have the details about human rightsat your fingertips.

Tell people you support AI andmore and more you will find theyexpect you to know the details aboutthe fate of prisoners of conscience andthe background to human rightscrises that make headlines. Theyexpect Al to have found out the truthabout cases of torture and politicalmurder.

AI has earned this reputation bymaintaining the highest possible stand-ards of accuracy in its research. At atime when many human rights storiesare being influenced by political biasand propaganda, Al has made a pointof sticking to the facts and its policyof strict impartiality.

impartial records

The results of Ars research efforts arecarefully distilled in its reports. With acomplete set of Al publications youwill have a unique chronicle of theworldwide struggle for human rights,transcending the boundaries of race,nation and belief.

To introduce more people to AIreports we are making a set of sevenrecent publications available as astarter's "human rights library"collection.

If you do not have these reportsyourself, you will find them anexcellent data pack for talks on Al anda useful set upon which to build areference library that will help youkeep track of long-range human rightstrends in various countries.

If you are already familiar withthese reports, copy or cut out theinformation on the opposite page andencourage your friends, colleagues,school or local library to purchasethe collection and subscribe to Al.Or give the set to a friend or communityeducation centre as a gift.

Do you knowthe facts?

In what country are as many as15,000 people believed to havebeen abducted since 1976?

In what country have politicalprisoners been "retained" as"prison labourers" for yearsafter completing their sentences?

Who was the 84-year-old Christianwho died in a camp in the SovietUnion this year after serving atotal of 23 years as a prisoner ofconscience?

What was the exact outcome of theinquest into the death of SteveBiko, the Black Consciousnessleader who died in custody in1977?

In what country did the govern-ment unleash a program of massarrests and killings, officiallytermed "Red Terror"? How manypolitical prisoners are last reportedto be in detention there?

How many countries have abolishedthe death penalty for all offences?

Last year Al submitted informa-tion to the United Nations onviolations of human rights ineight countries. Which were they?

Vladimir Shelkov,founder of TheTrue WitnessPublishing House,died in prison thisyear after servingonly a few monthsof a fresh five-yearsentence.

Other answers:

Human rights groups inArgentina estimate that 15,000people have "disappeared" since1976.

Prisoners in China have been kepton as labourers after expiry oftheir sentences.

The Biko inquest found he died ofinjuries sustained in custody butdid not assign criminalresponsibility.

Thousands died in Ethiopia's"Red Terror"; 8,000 politicalprisoners were reported held inin early 1979.

At the beginning of 1980, 20countries had totally abolished thedeath penalty.

,41 submitted reports to the UnitedNations last year on Argentina,Chile, Ethiopia, Kampuchea,Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africaand Uganda.

The order form on the opposite page includes a regular subscription to the Amnesty International Newsletter and the Amnesty International Report.

APR I L 1980 5

Amnesty International ReportsEach year Al issues this detailed survey of its global

efforts to combat political imprisonment, torture and

executions. Each edition is an authoritative reference

work on some 100 countries. The set includes 1978 and

1979 reports.

How tosubscriberegularly

amnestyinternationalnewsletter

This 8-page news-letter gives up-to-date details onArs work. It iswritten withoutpolitical bias andis widely used byhuman rights acti-vists, journalists,lawyers andstudents.

arnnes"totec"'It

A

The Death PenaltyIn a study covering 134 countries Al gives the first

world account of executions, including details on 5,000

judicial death sentences and over half a million

political murders during the last decade.

Political Imprisonment in thePeople's Republic of ChinaAfter years of intensive research Al has compiled a

portrait of the system of interrogation and imprisonment

of political prisoners in China.

111

•

x00'11

VOLLIVAksoot% o giC,N

Torture in Greece: The FirstTorturers' TrialThis analysis of the trial of 32 Greek officers and

soldiers offers a rare and disturbing insight into the

inner clockwork of a torture state.

A Chronicle of Current EventsNo 52This latest issue of the unofficial journal of the human

rights movement in the Soviet Union includes news of

recent arrests, interrogations and conditions in the

prisons and camps.

Political Imprisonment inSouth AfricaBanned by the South African Government, this report

documents its repressive system, including detention

without trial, widespread torture and the death of

detainees in custody.

Ifielnan°An.'" iSraPOPC6

amnestyinternationalreport

This annualreport gives acountry-by-country surveyprepared by Arsresearch staff. Itis probably themost widely readand influential ofArs manyreports.

Amnesty International Newsletter

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6APRIL 1980

HaitiGovernment replies to AI appeals

The Haitian authorities have acknow-ledged the detention of eight peoplereported by AI in December 1979. Theyhave not supplied any information onfour others named by Al.

A letter of 9 January from M.Georges SALOMON, Secretary ofState at the Foreign Affairs Depart-ment, received by people who wrotein response to an Urgent Actionappeal, says two people on the Allist—Fritzner SIDNEY and ProsperSAINT-LOUIS—have been released as"the police investigation did notwarrant sufficient charges" againstthem. Both were held incommunicadofor more than four months and, accord-ing to reports reaching Al, werebeaten savagely.

The letter acknowledges thecontinued detention of six others:

Joseph JEANTY, charged on 25August with stealing a passport. Heis reported to have been heldincommunicado, possibly on suspicionof going to Miami to contact Haitianexiles.

Dieugrand FLEURIMOND, arrestedfor bringing a motorcycle back to Haiti"without complying with customsformalities", according to the letter,and charged on 4 December 1979. Arsinformation is that M. Fleurimond, apeasant, was arrested in February1979, 10 months before he was chargedon suspicion of contact with exiles inthe neighbouring Dominican Republic.

Fernand NOEL and LeonDEFOURNOIS, said by the letter tohave been charged on the same grounds as

M. Fleurimond. Reports reaching AI saythey may have been seized for allegedparticipation in an anti-governmentplot.

Ulrick DESIRE, former head ofcustoms in St. Marc, said by the letterto be accused of "plotting with aterrorist group in order to smuggle in'arms and explosives for subversivepurposes". AI believes that this "plot",in which M. Noel and M. Defournoismay also be implicated, is a device forimprisoning opponents of thegovernment.

Wilfrid NICOLAS, police corporal,said by the letter to be under investiga-tion for "serious breaches of regulationsand of strict military discipline".

The government letter says theauthorities have no information onarmy Sergeant Bienvenue THEODOREand building designer Gustave COLAS.According to reports received by Al,Sergeant Theodore was arrested afterhe was denounced by one of his menwhom he had rebuked for advocatingthat striking workers be shot. M. Colasis reported to have been detainedsince February 1979.

The Haitian letter makes no mentionof two people named by Al: MargaritaFENELON, a 16-year-old student, isreported to have been arrested in Port-au-Prince solely because of her father'spolitical activities. She has been adopt-ed by Al as a prisoner of conscience.Sylvio CLAUDE, leader of theChristian Social Democratic Party ofHaiti, was arrested in August 1979(February Newsletter)0

GDRRelease figuresOfficial figures have indicated that atotal of 21,928 prisoners were releasedbetween 10 October and 14December 1979 under an amnestymarking the 30th anniversary of theGerman Democratic Republic(November 1979 Newsletter).

Overall figures on the number ofpolitical prisoners affected are notavailable, but of nearly 80 prisonersadopted or under investigation by Alwho were eligible under the terms ofthe amnesty, more than 50 were freed.

Of the released prisoners whowere A/-adopted most wanted toemigrate but only four are known tohave been allowed to do so at thetime of writing. The others are report-ed to have been subjected to restrictivemeasures, including being forbiddento leave their homes between 10 pmand 6 am, or to leave the district inwhich they live without prior per-mission. Some are reported to havebeen assigned jobs which do notmatch their qualifications. Under theterms of the amnesty, if these peopleare re-arrested during the next threeyears they will have to serve theremainder of their sentences.

Among those released were 149foreigners, most of them presumablyfrom the Federal Republic of Germanyand West Berlin. They included peopleimprisoned for helping friends orrelatives to flee the GDR, but notcommercial escape organizers orpeople convicted of espionage.

Under the amnesty life sentenceson 130 prisoners were commuted to15 years. Prison sentences were waivedfor 1,272 people who had not yetstarted to serve them0

SingaporeLee Tse Tong freed from prison after 17 years

The Singapore Government hasreleased from prison former unionleader and member of parliament LEETse Tong, who was detained withoutcharge or trial for more than 17 years,but has confined him to a small off-shore island. A member of the left-wing Barisan Sosialis Party, Mr Leewas elected to the Singapore Assemblyin September 1963 but was arrested amonth later. He was held under theInternal Security Act, which providesfor indefinite detention of any personconsidered by the President to be athreat to the internal security ofSingapore.

The government has confined MrLee to Pulau Ubin, off the Singaporecoast. It says that he cannot be releasedunconditionally as he has refused togive assurances that he will not resumesubversive activities. Mr Lee has con-sistently refused to give such assuranceson the grounds that to do so wouldamount to an admission of guilt. Twoother long-term political detainees, DrLIM Hock Siew and Said ZAHARI,were exiled to off-shore islands in 1978.

Mr Lee's release came two weeksafter publication of the Report of anAmnesty International Mission toSingapore, which drew particular

attention to Mr Lee and three otherlong-term political prisoners. Theothers are Dr Lim Hock Siew, Mr HOPiao (continuously detained sinceFebruary 1963), and Dr POH Soo Kai(detained in 1963, released 10 yearslater, and re-arrested in 1976). Thereport says the length of time in de-tention without trial that these menhave endured is almost without parallelin the modern world.

Al has cabled Singapore PrimeMinister LEE Kuan Yew welcomingthe news of Lee Tse Tong's releaseand requesting that, in view of the factthat Mr Lee has been detained formore than 17 years without thegovernment's allegations against himbeing presented in open court, he bereleased unconditionally0

APRIL 1980 7

amnesty international

- campaign for the abolition of torture

A 27-year-old university student hasbeen held without charge or trialfor more than four years in Argentinaafter being tortured repeatedly.

Gustavo WESTERKAMP, aneconomics student at the University ofBuenos Aires, was seized by armedmen in civilian clothing as he left abarracks after a medical examinationfor military service on 21 October1975. He was blindfolded, beaten andforced into a waiting car.

Taken to the Federal SecurityOffices in Buenos Aires, seiiorWesterkamp was tortured there fortwo days while handcuffed and blind-folded. He was given electric shocksand beaten on the genitals withchains. His blindfold was sprayed withteargas, causing burns around his eyes.He was left lying on the floor, andthose who passed kicked him and spatand urinated on him.

During a transfer in September1976 from Villa Devoto Prison toSierra Chica near Olivarria, Sr.Westerkamp and other prisoners werebrutally beaten. He was forced to signa statement saying that the marks lefton him were the result of an accident.At Sierra Chica he was kept in anunheated cell with no glass in thewindow. In winter the temperaturefell to —100 C. All physical exercisewas forbidden. During a transfer toLa Plata Prison in September 1977he was beaten again. Sent back toSierra Chica in February 1978 he wastransferred to Rawson Prison in 1979and is still held there.

Sr. Westerkamp is held "at thedisposal of the National ExecutivePower", apparently for the peacefulexpression of left-wing views. Underthe Argentine constitution prisoners in

Gustavo Westerkamp

this category are allowed to opt forexile rather than face indefinitedetention. Sr. Westerkamp applied forthis option early in 1976 and a judgegranted it. The "right of option" wassuspended, however, after the militarycoup of March 1976. It has since beenrevived in a restricted form, but Sr.Westerkamp's subsequent applicationshave all been refused without explana-tion.

Please send courteously wordedletters appealing for the immediaterelease of Gustavo Westerkamp to:Exmo. Sr. Presidente de la ReptiblicaGeneral (R.E.) Jorge Rafael Videla,Casa Rosada, Buenos Aires C.F.,Argentina.

USSRUkrainian deniedmedical treatmentA 43-year-old former lieutenant inthe militia is critically ill in a correctivelabour colony in the Soviet Union.

Mykola SLOBODYAN, now believedto be in his fifth year of imprisonment,is serving an 11-year sentence forparticipating in a l",-ainian nationalistgroup known as Ho, 'in which soughtindependence for the Ukraine.

Mr Slobodyan is known to havesuffered for several years from a duo-denal ulcer. Although it is reported tohave bled on several occasions, he hasnot been given adequate treatment.Fellow prisoners in the Perm correctivelabour colony where Mr Slobodyan isdetained have staged several hunger-strikes in an effort, to secure propermedical treatment for him. Despitehis deteriorating health Mr Slobodyanis still being compelled to work and isreported to have been punished fre-quently for failing to fulfil productiontargets. On 1 September 1978 a KGBofficer is reported to have toldMr Slobodyan: "If you work with us,we will give you medical treatment."

Case investigated

Mr Slobodyan's imprisonmentresults from the efforts of Soviet policeto uncover various non-violent nation-alist groups organized in the WesternUkraine during the 1960s and 70s.When identified, their members havebeen given heavy sentences. Becauseof the lack of precise informationabout the Homin group's program Alisstill investigating Mr Slobodyan'scase.

Please write courteously wordedletters requesting that MykolaSlobodyan be given all necessarymedical treatment and urging hisrelease on humanitarian grounds.Write to: The Director, Perm RegionalAdministration of Internal Affairs,SSSR, RSFSR, g. Perm, IspolkomOblastnogo Soveta, UpravleniyeVnutrennikh Del, Nachalniku; and tothe Procurator-General of the USSR:SSSR, RSFSR, Moskva,Pushkinskayau1.15A, Prokuratura SSR, GeneralnomuProkuroru, R.A. Rudenko.

appealsAmnesty International opposes the torture of prisoners in all cases,wherever and whenever it is practised. Any act of torture or othercruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is a violation ofthe international human rights standards unanimously adopted by theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations. International appeals canhelp to alleviate the plight of prisoners being subjected to cruel treat-ment. Your letters should follow carefully the instructions givenbelow.

Student held four years inArgentinian prisons after torture

8 APRIL 1980

AfghanistanAI mission meets officialsand prisoners in KabulA two-memberAI delegation visited Afghanistan in February todiscuss protection of human rights in the country with the newgovernment and to confirm on the spot those human rights abusespreviously reported by A/.

After the delegates convey their findings to Ars InternationalExecutive Committee the organization will be making recommenda-tions to the government.

The recommendations will coverspecific steps to be taken if officialhuman rights assurances given to thedelegates are to be implemented fullyand effectively.

In a letter to President BabrakKARMAL on 26 February the organ-ization set out the assurances itsdelegates had received from him andother government officers. He saidprisoners now under arrest in con-nection with their political activitieswould be treated "in accordance withthe principles of law and legality" andthat no political prisoners would betortured or killed.

He also told the delegates thatno one would be imprisoned for theirbeliefs or for expressing an opinion,provided no violence was used.

Government ministers told thedelegates that if political prisonerswent on trial the hearings would beopen to the public and to AI observersand the President said that AI delegateswould be welcome to visit Afghanistanagain at any time.

He also said the government wasconsidering abolishing the deathpenalty "under favourable conditionsin the country" and that it was con-sidering issuing a statement in thecoming weeks, establishing theindependence of the judiciary.

In its letter to President KarmalAl pointed out that "it was parti-cularly important for our delegationto be assured by the Minister of Justicethat the government considered theprohibition of torture to be absoluteand that no person would be subject-ed to torture, even in situations of a'foreign threat' to the country."

Al has since asked the governmentfor full details on recent disturbancesin the country, the number of peoplearrested and the nature of the chargesagainst them.

The Al delegates, Professor MilmtazSOYSAL, a Turkish constitutionallawyer, and Yvonne TERLINGEN, aDutch lawyer and member of the

Council of Europetakes first stepto abolishdeath penaltiesA Council of Europe committee hasrecommended the abolition of thedeath penalty for peacetimeoffences in all the Council's 21member states.

The Legal Affairs Committee ofthe Council of Europe's Parlia-mentary Assembly arrived at thedecision on 10 March on the basis ofa report by Swedish member ofparliament Carl LIDBOM.

The Committee also recommend-ed that the European Convention onHuman Rights be amended so thatexecutions for peacetime offenceswould become a violation of humanrights.

It is the first time an inter-governmental body has recommend-ed the abolition of the deathpenalty in such unequivocal terms.

The death penalty is still legalin eight of the member states of theCouncil of Europe: Belgium,Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland,Liechtenstein, Turkey and the UnitedKingdom. However, in most of thesecountries no executions have takenplace for a long time.

The Legal Affairs Committee'srecommendation goes to theParliamentary Assembly in April.The Assembly has no power to takebinding decisions but can makerecommendations to governments0

Changes of Address

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organization's International Secretariat,visited Kabul from 11 to 17 February.

They met some of the thousandsof political prisoners released underthe general amnesty announced on 28December 1979 and interviewed,without the presence of officials, sixprisoners they chose to see of thoseheld in Pule Charchi prison. All sixhad held government posts prior tothe 27 December change ofgovernment.

During their mission the delegatesurged the government to publishnames and details of all 15,084political prisoners it said it hadreleased under the general amnesty.

The delegates presented thegovernment with 13 lists giving some450 names of those reported to havebeen imprisoned prior to 27 Decemberand are now awaiting full detailsfrom the government on their releaseor fate.

They also asked the governmentto investigate the whereabouts ofthose political prisoners not releasedunder the amnesty, making use of theexpertise of specialized humanitarianorganizations.

The government told the delegatesthat those political prisoners notreleased had all "disappeared" afterarrest and were presumed killedbefore 28 December. Relatives,however, believe some prisoners arestill alive and may be in detention.

The delegation did not visit prisonsor towns outside KabulE1

Prisoner Releases and CasesThe International Secretariat learnedin February of the release of 371prisoners under adoption or investiga-tion and took up 78 new cases.