amnesty SEPTEMBER 1983 Volume XIII Number 9

international newsletterIndonesian army manualpermits torturein East Timor

Reunited atter 7Y2 years . . .

Secret instructions permitting the use of torture havebeen issued to Indonesian troops operating in EastTimor.

An 82-page military manual captured fromIndonesian forces by the East Timor resistancemovement, Fretilin—and independently authenti-cated by A/—tells soldiers not to photographprisoners being stripped naked and tortured withelectric shocks.The manual is divided into eight sections, seven of whichare marked "secret", including a chapter on interrogationprocedures. It says no local witnesses should be present ifforce is used—"to avoid arousing the antipathy of thepeople".

According to this manual, whose existence was disclosedby AI on 20 July, if such photographs are taken, theyshould not be allowed to fall into the hands of "irrespon-sible members of society".

In a letter to President Suharto of Indonesia on 20 July,AI pointed out that all governments are bound by inter-national human rights standards that prohibit torture inall circumstances. "Rather than comply with these stan-dards", the letter stated, "these military instructions,while describing the use of force and threats during inter-rogation as something generally to be avoided, explicitlyallow for the possibility of torture and provide guidelinesto prevent its exposure."

AI has received persistent reports of torture, includingby electric shocks, by Indonesian forces in East Timorsince they invaded the territory in December 1975. Theorganization has also expressed fears for suspected Fretilinsupporters who have "disappeared" after detention.Many are believed to have been executed after being tor-tured under interrogation.

After receiving a copy of the manual, seized by Fretilinfighters in December 1982 and brought to Europe lastmonth, AI took steps to establish the document's authen-ticity; it is satisfied that the manual is genuine.

The organization has now asked President Suharto toissue immediate instructions to all forces under his com-mand prohibiting the torture of prisoners under allcircumstances.

Al has received no reply to its letter to PresidentSuharto.

Continued on page 6

Also in this issue: • Japanese acquitted atter33 years under death sentence, page 2 • im-prisonment in GDR, page 4 • Uruguay's shuttledprisoners, page 7 • Sri Lanka army killings,page 8

A

Lima, Peru: Former prisoner of conscience RosemaryRiveros hugs her daughter Tamara, who had been missingfor seven years.

Tamara was 18 months old when her mother, a Boliviancitizen living in Buenos Aires, was abducted by militarypersonnel in December 1975. Rosemary Riveros was torturedand held for several months before her detention wasacknowledged by the authorities. She was held withoutcharge or trial until May 1981, when she was released oncondition that she went into exile.

Five years earlier, in June 1976, she had lost contact withher daughter when the friend looking after Tamara was alsoabducted by the security forces and "disappeared".

Since then Tamara's whereabouts were unknown to thefamily—until June this year when she was located in BuenosAires, where she had been selling paraffin on the streets.

It has now emerged that police had ordered a poor familyto take in Tamara after the 1976 abduction. Tamara waseventually traced by the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, theArgentine women's group which campaigns particularly onbehalf of "disappeared" children.

Rosemary Riveros now lives in Switzerland.

2 SEPTEMBER 1983

PolandMartial law endedMartial law in Poland was lifted on 22July, the country's national day. A decreegranting a partial amnesty to politicalprisoners was passed by the Polish par-liament on 21 July.

The amnesty applied to all women andto men who had not completed their 21styear at the time they committed theoffence. It also applied to all people sen-tenced to up to three years' imprison-ment. Those serving sentences of overthree years were to have their sentenceshalved.

The Ministry of Justice reported thatby 4 August 378 political prisoners hadbeen freed under the amnesty.

On 22 July it was reported that a seniorjustice ministry official had said thatabout 800 people under investigation orsentenced for political offences wouldfall under the terms of the amnesty, butthat 60 convicted prisoners actually serv-ing sentences would not be freed. Offi-cials have also confirmed that theamnesty does not apply to seven leadingSolidarity officials and five members ofKOR who are currently awaiting trial.

People awaiting trial for politicaloffences punishable by up to three years'imprisonment will be included in the

amnesty. In certain cases the SupremeCourt may discontinue proceedings ifthe possible sentence is over three yearsor it may suspend any sentence of overthree years.

The decree also grants an amnesty tounderground political activists whoreport to the authorities before 31October 1983.

The amnesty involves only a condi-tional remission of sentence. If a personcommits a similar offence before 31December 1985, the proceedings againsthim or her that were discontinued will beresumed, or, in the case of convictedpeople, they will serve the remainder oftheir sentence in addition to the newpenalty.

In a letter to the Polish Head of State,General Wojciech Jaruzelski, of 4August, Al welcomed the release ofmany people held for political offences,but urged that the amnesty be extendedso as to ensure the unconditional releaseof all prisoners of conscience. It said alsoit was cOncerned about amendments tothe Criminal Code which broadened thescope for the penalization of non-violentpolitical activists0

JapanAcquittal after33 years undersentence of death A Japanese prisoner who had been under sentence of death for 33 years has been acquitted after a retrial and set free.

Sakae Menda, now 57, was convictedof murder in 1950, although he hadclaimed that police forced him to make afalse confession and that he was else-where at the time of the murder.

He applied for retrial six times beforean application was granted.

On 15 July this year the retrial courtfreed him after accepting his alibi claim,questioning the validity of experts' opin-ion on bloodstains found on the allegedmurder weapon and deciding that SakaeMenda's confession had not been credibleas some of its details contradictedmaterial facts.

Retrials are reported to have beengranted recently in two other cases ofprisoners convicted of murder in the1950s and sentenced to death.

Al knows of some 50 people undersentence of death in Japan and hasrepeatedly appealed to the governmentto commute such sentences and to abol-ish the death penalty: according to thelatest available official statistics, oneexecution a year was carried out in 1979,1980 and 19810

MauritaniaAppeal for amnestyAl appealed to Mauritania's militaryrulers to declare an amnesty for all pol-itical prisoners on 10 July, the fifth anni-versary of the military assumption ofpower. It has received no reply andunderstands that none of the prisonershas been freed.

Among those in detention are formergovernment officials, journalists andother professional people arrested inMarch 1982, apparently on suspicion ofholding political views opposed to theauthorities.

Most were tortured, according toinformation received by Al. The methodsalleged to have been used included beingbeaten, stripped, hung upside down bytheir feet and burned with hot coals.

Al has detailed information about 23cases; it has received estimates puttingthe total number of political prisonersarrested from 1979 onwards at around100.

Among those on whose behalf Alappealed were economist AbderrahmaneOuld Daddah, held without trial fornearly four years; Khalil OuldEnnahoui, former Director of the officialdaily newspaper, The People;Mohammeden Ould Ichiddou, a magis-trate; and former government ministersDahane Ould Ahmed Mahmoud and

Mohamed Yehdih Ould Breidellehl.Most of those arrested between 1979

and 1982 have been held without chargeor trial, many of them in poor conditionsin the capital, Nouakchott. Some havebeen banished and held under housearrest in remote villages.

Until recently, the former head ofstate, Moustapha Mohamed Ould Saleck,and four other prisoners had reportedlybeen held underground in solitary con-finement for almost a year in completelydark cells so small that the prisonerscould neither stand up nor lie down.Ould Saleck is currently said to be inextremely poor health0

Change of address

Al's International Secretariat is movingto new premises on 24 September. Thenew address is: 1 Easton Street / LondonWC1X 8DJ / United Kingdom.

Prisoner Releases and CasesThe International Secretariat learnedin July of the release of 129 prisonersunder adoption or investigation; ittook up 171 cases.

Pakistan releaseIrshad Rao, the editor and publisherwhose case featured in A/'s latest reporton human rights violations in Pakistan,was released from prison on 2 July 1983.

He had been arrested in January 1981and in October that year was sentencedby a military court to one year'simprisonment and 10 lashes for "printingobjectionable literature and creatingunrest among the masses". After theexpiry of his sentence, he was held inpreventive detention.

His deteriorating health necessitatedhospital treatment on several occasionsand Al issued several urgent actions onhis behalf.

Sao Tome POCs freedFive political prisoners—the only onesknown to be held in Sao Tome—arereported to have been released on 12July 1983, the eighth anniversary of thecountry's independence from Portugal..

All five were arrested in 1977 andaccused of complicity in plots to over-throw the government or to kill the headof state. They were serving prison sen-tences of between 16 and 22 years.

Al has welcomed the release of the fiveprisoners, three of whom had beenadopted as prisoners of conscience—including Albertino Neto, prisoner ofthe month in October 19820

SEPTEMBER 1983 3

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

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

origin or language. None has used or advocated violence. Their continuing deten-

tion 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.

Seventeen prisoners, GabonAll 17 are serving prison terms ofup to 15 years hard labour eachafter conviction on charges relat-ing to their alleged membershipof an illegal political organization.

On 27 November 1981 seven officials orformer officials of the government werearrested in connection with leaflets whichhad circulated in the capital, Libreville,the previous week. The leaflets criticizedthe government and called for an amend-ment to the constitution. They weresigned by a previously unknown group,the Mouvement de redressement national(MORENA), Movement for NationalRecovery.

On 1 December hundreds of peopledemonstrated non-violently in Librevilleon behalf of the detainees. Over 100were detained.

More arrests followed in March 1982after the appearance of MORENA leaf-lets during the visit to Gabon of PopeJohn Paul II.

In November 1982, 37 allegedMORENA sympathizers were tried oncharges of threatening state security andcriticizing the President. Twenty-nine ofthem were convicted and sentenced topunishments ranging up to 20 years'hard labour—these sentences were laterreduced by five years each.

An AI observer who was presentthroughout the trial reported that theproceedings did not conform to inter-nationally recognized norms.

Seventeen of those sentenced are stillin prison. All are reported to have beenbeaten and subjected to other cruel,inhuman and degrading treatment duringtheir pre-trial detention.

The 17 prisoners are: Jean-MarieAubame; Louis-Marie Aubame; LucBengono-Nsi; Paulin BoutambaMouloungui; Jean-Marc Ekoh; SamuelElla Ndong; Jules Mba; MoubambaNziengui; Luc Mve 011omo; Jean-PierreNguema-Mitoghe; Jerome BinaNguimbi; Thomas Didime Nze; Jean-Pierre Nzoghe-Nguema; Jean-BaptisteObiang Etoughe; Michel Ovono; SimonOyono Aba'a; Paul Calvin Tomo.

Please send courteous letters (in Frenchif possible) appealing for their release to:Son Excellence El Hadj Omar Bongo /Président de la Republique / LaPrésidence / Libreville / Republique duGabon.

WEI Jingsheng, ChinaA member of the "democracymovement" in the People'sRepublic of China, he has been insolitary confinement for fouryears.

Wei Jingsheng, a 33-year-old electricianat Beijing (Peking) Zoo and editor of anunofficial journal, was sentenced to 15years' imprisonment and a further threeyears' deprivation of civil rights in Octo-ber 1979 after being convicted by aBeijing court of "counter-revolutionary"offences.

Before his arrest on 29 March 1979, hehad been active in the "democracymovement" which started in late 1978.He was the main editor of an unofficialjournal, Exploration, which publishedarticles critical of many aspects of politi-cal life in China.

In December 1978 he publishe4 anessay in which he argued that Chinaneeded not only a modernization of theeconomy but also a political moderniz-ation: democracy.

At his trial on 16 October 1979 he wascharged with "counter-revolutionaryagitation and propaganda" as a result ofhis writings and publishing activities,and with "passing military secrets to aforeigner". This latter charge refers toinformation about the Sino-Vietnameseconflict which Wei Jingsheng wasaccused of having given to a foreignerduring the conflict. According to unoffi-cial sources in Beijing, the informationcould not reasonably be consideredsecret, having already appeared inReference News, an official documentwidely circulated in China.

Since his trial nearly four years ago,Wei Jingsheng has been held in solitaryconfinement in Beijing Prison No. 1. Heis reported to be confined to his cell in ablock where prisoners sentenced to deathare held. He is said to be allowed out forexercise only once a month and to beprevented from meeting other prisonersor receiving visits from his family.

Al believes he is in prison for exercis-ing his fundamental rights to freedom ofexpression and association.

Please send courteous letters appeal-ing for his release to: His ExcellencyZhao Ziyang/Premier/Prime Minister'sOffice / Beijing / People's Republic ofChina.

Mohammed KAMOUNI, MoroccoA 38-year-old engineer, he is serv-ing a 20-year prison term foradvocating a socialist republic inMorocco.

Mohammed Kamouni, an electricalengineer in the coal industry, was arrestedby security police in Jerada on 23November 1974 and held for eightmonths in incommunicado police deten-tion. During this time he is reported tohave been tortured.

In January 1977 he and 170 otherswere tried in Casablanca by the CriminalCourt of Appeal on charges of belong-ing to illegal, left-wing organizationsand of plotting against the internal secur-ity of the state. Sentences handed downby the court in February 1977 rangedfrom five years' to life imprisonment.Mohammed Kamouni received a sentenceof 20 years' imprisonment. He and hisco-defendents have been adopted by AIas prisoners of conscience.

The court was shown left-wing litera-ture to support the charges—but no evi-dence of violence or violent intent isreported to have been produced.

The defendants were not allowed tospeak in their own defence or tell thecourt how long they had already spent incustody or to complain about their ill-treatment. Their lawyers were notallowed to communicate with their clientsduring the hearing and were preventedfrom intervening during cross-examination.

The defendants protested at the con-duct of the trial and went on hunger-strike for 14 days. All received an addi-tional concurrent sentence of two years'imprisonment for contempt of court.

Mohammed Kamouni has been heldsince March 1977 at the Central Prisonin Kenitra, where his condition givescause for concern. He suffers from.rheumatism and kidney disorders and isreported to have a painful disease of theskin on the soles of his feet—possibly aresult of the beatings received earlier inpolice detention.

Please send courteous letters (in Frenchif possible) appealing for the release ofMohammed Kamouni and all otherprisoners of conscience in Morocco to:His Majesty King Hassan II / Rabat /Morocco.

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

4 SEPTEMBER 1983

Amnesty international is concerned about the arrest and imprisonment of large numbers of people inthe German Democratic Republic (GDR) for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression.It considers that the Imprisonment of these people violates Article 19 of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights, which sets out the right to freedom of expression and the right to seek, receive andimpart information and ideas of all kinds regardless of frontiers.

German Democratic RepublicRestrictions on freedom of expression

A plumber from Dresden dis-cusses his desire to emigrate with afriend visiting from abroad. Latertwo articles describing his caseappear in foreign journals and heis imprisoned for "treasonablepassing on of information" . . .(Article 99 of the GDR penalcode)

After submitting 10 unsuccess-ful applications to emigrate, acouple demonstrate non-violentlyin Berlin, carrying a banner thatincludes the words "let us go; wewill never come back" (see photo-graphs)—they are imprisoned for"impeding public and socialactivity" . . . (Article 214)

A gardener from Saalfeld whohas been seeking permission toemigrate for three years writes tothe country's head of state andsends a copy of his letter to aforeign human rights organization—as a result he is imprisoned for"treasonable activity as an agent". . . (Article 100)

A man from Dresden exchangescorrespondence about his wish toemigrate with a member of aforeign human rights group—he isimprisoned for "taking up illegalcontacts" . . . (Article 219)

An engineer records and circu-lates to friends some songs by adissenting Marxist song-writer—so he is sentenced to imprison-ment by the Karl-Marx RegionalCourt for "incitement hostile tothe state" . . . (Article 106)

Another man, from Berlin, asksthe authorities to take away hiscitizenship and when they refusesends a postcard to the Minister ofthe Interior and Parliamentariansevery week repeating his request—he is imprisoned for "public vilifi-cation" . . . (Article 220)

In the German Democratic Republicit is the law itself which permits suchviolations of international humanrights standards. The examples citedabove relate to six articles of thepenal code which directly restrict theright to freedom of expression andprovide the authorities with a power-ful tool with which to imprison peoplefor disseminating information orexpressing views regarded as inimicalto or critical of the established politi-cal order.

The lawThese articles prescribe imprisonmentfor people who, among other things, sendinformation to foreign organizationswhich, although not classified as secret,is "to the disadvantage of the interests"of the GDR; who "discredit" the GDR's"social conditions" or its "ties of friend-ship and alliance"; or who distribute"writings, objects or symbols" which areliable "to disturb the socialist way of lifeor bring the state or public order intocontempt".

These terms are vague and lend them-selves to subjective interpretation. State-ments, for example, to the effect thattroops from the Soviet Union invadedCzechoslovakia in 1968 (instead of beingsummoned) or that human rights areviolated in the GDR have been construedas "discrediting" and resulted in pros-ecution under Article 106.

Information deemed "to the disadvan-tage of the interests of the GDR" result-ing in prosecution under Article 99 hasincluded copies of applications to emi-grate, descriptions of the authorities'reactions to these applications, as well asinformation about political prisoners inthe GDR.

The laws do not require that the opin-ions expressed or the information dis-seminated contained factual errors. Theofficial commentary to the penal codegoes as far as to say, with reference toArticle 99, that the information may be"of a factually true nature".

The broad and vague wording of the sixarticles severely restricts the possibilitiesfor defence. Many lawyers inform theirclients that they cannot defend themagainst a particular offence as chargedbut are only able to help in such ways aspleading for a shorter sentence on groundsof previous good conduct or regularattendance at work . AI has yet to learnof a case of a prisoner brought to trialunder one of these articles being acquitted.

SecrecyConsiderable secrecy surrounds politi-cal imprisonment in the GDR. Onceprisoners have been arrested they arestrictly forbidden to mention details ofthe charges brought against them to visi-tors or in letters.

All trials of people charged under thesesix articles known to AI have taken place

with members of the public, even closerelatives of the accused, being excluded.After the trial, the prisoner is handed acopy of the judgement to read, but,unlike prisoners convicted on non-politicalcharges, is not allowed to keep it.

If the family or friends of the prisonerpass what information they have out ofthe country, they themselves risk pros-ecution under these articles. AI haslearned of a number of instances of fam-ilies of prisoners being harassed andthreatened with arrest after publicity forthe case in foreign media, on suspicionof having provided the information.

Emigration casesIn most cases known to AI these

articles have been applied to people seek-ing permission to emigrate. Since theratification by the GDR of internationalhuman rights agreements which includethe right to leave one's country, growingnumbers of would-be emigrants haveapplied to the authorities for permissionto emigrate, instead of trying to flee thecountry, an activity punishable by up toeight years' imprisonment under Article213 of the penal code ("illegal crossingof the border").

Many cite these international humanrights agreements in their applications.Permission is frequently refused by theauthorities and many of those who havepersisted in their efforts to obtain it havebeen prosecuted under one or more ofthese six articles of the penal code.

SEPTEMBER 1983 5

The family that wanted to leave ..

" -

•"'"TTOVIIRni •

The Gerdes family demonstrate in support of their right to emigrate (left) . . . and are arrested by the police (right).Hans-Jurgen Gerdes (circled), his wife Angelika and.their two children carried out their demonstration in the Alexanderplatz inBerlin on 2 December 1977. The text of the banner they carried was "There are only four of us and we want to go over there; letus go; we shall never come back". Before the demonstration they had applied 10 times to the GDR authorities for permission toleave the country. The husband and wife were sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment under Article 214 of the GDR penal code.

'Everyone is free to leave his country'Gunter Wienhold, a Dresden engineernow in his thirties, was sentenced to 15months' imprisonment after he hadattended a May Day demonstration in1980 carrying a placard which bore a texttaken from the official GDR Law Gazette.

The text was based on Article 12 of theInternational Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights: "Everyone is free toleave his country".

DemonstrationHe was convicted under Section 1 of Article 214 of the GDR penal code of "impeding the activity of public bodies".

He described the circumstances leadingup to his arrest as follows:

"I had for some years wished to leavethe GDR with my family and for thisreason submitted an application to emi-grate in October 1976. After six weeks, Iwas requested to call at the local govern-

International CovenantThe GDR has ratified the interna-tional Covenant on Civil and Pol-itical Rights, Article 19 of whichsets out the right to freedom ofexpression, including the free-dom "to seek, receive and passon information and ideas of allkinds regardless of frontiers";Article 14 sets out the right of allaccused persons to a "fair andpublic hearing".

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

ment offices, where I was informed thatthe reasons I had given for wishing toemigrate were insufficient for permissionto be granted.

"After this refusal, we wrote to therelevant government authorities manytimes inquiring how matters stood andurging them to consider whether therejection was correct. We had no inten-tion of having any kind of confrontation,but after our requests had remainedunanswered for three and a half years, Iconsidered how, in some other appropri-ate way, to get the authorities tore-examine the matter.

"I decided it would be best done by aplacard action. I wrote on a roll of wall-paper a text which I had taken straightout of the Gesetzblatt (Law Gazette),namely the International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights, Article 12 ofwhich states, 'Everyone is free to leavethe country'. In order to relate it to myfamily and myself I added, 'We too'.

"On 1 May 1980, I went to the MayDay demonstration in Dresden andwhen I was directly in front of the plat-form on which the party and state func-tionaries were seated, I unrolled the wall-paper and was about to roll it up againwhen I was pulled aside by a young manin a tracksuit and taken to the StateSecurity detention centre in Dresden,where I was charged under Article 214.

'Obstruction'"The interrogator explained why this charge was being brought roughly as fol-

lows: I had already submitted an appli-

cation to emigrate which had beenrejected, and with every additional initi-ative aimed at getting the authorities tore-examine the case I was obstructing thework of public bodies because they hadalready told me that the application hadbeen turned down. By pursuing the mat-ter I had put them under pressure and thisaccounted for the charge under Article214.

"I asked them whether the text mightpossibly be considered to be politicalincitement. This, however, was denied;they said the text was taken straightfrom the Gesetzblatt and did not consti-tute a slander of the state."

He was released in July 1981 and isnow in the Federal Republic of Germany.

'Anti-socialist' viewsThe scope of the freedom of expres-

sion guaranteed by the GDR Consti-tution does not extend to the expres-sion and dissemination of "anti-socialist" views. The stated aim of thepenal code is to serve the further,

development of socialism and to pro-tect the socialist order of state andsociety."Anti-socialist agitation and propa-ganda" is viewed in the commentaryto the constitution as "directlyopposed to the freedom which work-ing people have won in socialism" andto be punished as a crime, togetherwith any expression of opinion of an"insulting and slanderous nature".

6 SEPTEMBER 1983

CanadaGovt. agrees to inquiry

IndonesiaArmy manualpermits torture

AI has urged the Canadian Governmentto investigate reports that prisoners wereill-treated after a prison riot last year,and the government has agreed to hold afull investigation.

Al made its recommendation in June1983 after sending a fact-finding missionto check on reports that prisoners wereill-treated at Archambault Prison,Québec, in July 1982. The mission del-egates—a lawyer from Al's InternationalSecretariat and Dr Helene Jaffe, ofFrance—visited Quebec in April this year.

They gathered enough evidence toconclude that the Canadian Governmentwas obliged under its internationalhuman rights commitments, to hold anindependent and impartial investigation.

The investigation will be carried outby the Correctional Investigator of

Six students from the Islamic Universityof Gaza were sentenced by a militarycourt in Jenin in the West Bank on 8 June1983 to six months' imprisonment plus18 months' suspended.

They were charged on three countsunder Military Orders 101 and 378: withdistributing 700 copies of a political pub-lication, An Nada, in the West Bankwithout a permit; with incitement—oneof the articles and a cartoon were allegedto have constituted incitement to struggleagainst the State of Israel; and with carry-ing out other activities against publicorder.

The last charge resulted from thestudents visiting patients in hospital inJenin who were suspected of having beenpoisoned, and of publicly identifyingwith their plight. This took place duringwidespread demonstrations by WestBank residents over a large number ofsuspected poisonings from 21 March to2 April 1983.

In Al's view, the article and cartoon inquestion do not call for the use of viol-ence. Furthermore, Military Orders 101and 378 are so vaguely worded as to lend

An Al mission visited El Salvador from1 to 7 July 1983 to gather informationabout human rights violations of concernto the organization in the country.

The three-member delegation includeda Spanish lawyer, a forensic pathologistfrom the USA and a member of Al'sInternational Secretariat.

Canada at the request of the SolicitorGeneral, the government told AI in itsreply in July 1983. The inquiry willinclude interviews with prisoners, theirfamilies, lawyers, visitors and prisonstaff, the government said.

In a statement on 10 August Al wel-comed the Canadian decision and said itlooked forward to receiving the resultsof the government investigation beforepublishing its own report later in the year.• Canada, like all United Nations mem-bers, has agreed to ban torture and other"cruel, inhuman and degrading treat-ment". Under Article 9 of the UnitedNations Declaration on Torture, a gov-ernment should proceed to an impartialinvestigation of any credible allegationsof torture, even in the absence of a for-mal complaint E

themselves to broad interpretation by thecourts, facilitating the conviction ofpeople for the non-violent exercise of theirrights to freedom of expression, informa-tion and association, as guaranteed byArticles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declar-ation of Human Rights. AI has called onthe Israeli authorities to release all sixstudents 0

Refusal to serveAl is investigating five more cases ofIsrael Defence Force reservists imprisonedin July 1983 for refusing to serve inLebanon on grounds of conscience.They are: Lieutenant Tommy Sadeh,Sergeant-Major Eitan Bronstein,Corporal Roni Amit, Private ShukiKook, and Sergeant-Major AndreDraznin.

Since July 1982 Al has worked onbehalf of 36 Israelis, both reservists andregulars, who have been sentenced toperiods of imprisonment ranging from14 to 56 days for refusing for reasons ofconscience to serve in Lebanon or theWest Bank 0

The delegation met officials of theSalvadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairsand the governmental Human RightsCommission, and also held talks withvarious independent human rights moni-toring organizations in the country.

A report of the mission's findings willbe submitted to Al's InternationalExecutive Committee El

Continued from page I

In Jakarta, a government spokesman,Rear-Admiral Erwin Mangaweang, isreported to have told reporters, "No, itdoes not exist. We have never issuedsuch a manual for East Timor." Therewas a general manual or handbook issuedto all Indonesian military units, he said,but he declined to give details of what itcontained.

Force and threatsThe military manual, issued toIndonesian forces in 1982, is boundin a folder marked "KODIM 1628/06BAKAU TIMTIM" and "BAURAH1629/06", Indonesian for the DistrictMilitary Command, Baucau, EastTimor and the Cancan Region.

Sub-section V.13, titled "The Useof Force and Threats", in the chapteron interrogation procedures, states intranslation from the original Indo-nesian: "It is hoped that interrogationwith the use of force will not beimplemented except in those situationswhere the person examined tells thetruth with difficulty (is evasive).

"However, if use of force isrequired there should not be a memberof the local population present . . . towitness it so that the antipathy of thepeople is not aroused.

"Avoid taking photographs show-ing torture (taken of someone beinggiven electric shocks, being strippednaked and so on). Remember thatsuch photographs should not beprinted freely outside or in Denpasar(the Regional Command Headquar-ters in Bali) and found by irrespon-sible members of society."

In addition to reporting the officialIndonesian denial, the Jakarta corre-spondent of the Far East EconomicReview sought other reactions in thecapital. He reported: "An unnamedarmed forces source has said that it ispossible that the local military commandhad such a document 'but impossiblethat it would be taken into the field', anoblique remark which is being taken bysome as an indication that there may infact have been a special counter-insurgency manual specially for EastTimor." ID

DEATH PENALTYAl has learned of 79 peoplebeing sentenced to death in12 countries and of 82 execu-tions in 10 countries duringJuly 1983.

Israel and OffArab students jailed

Al mission visits El Salvador

SEPTEMBER 1983 7

amnesty international

- campaign for the abolition of torture

Uruguay: Ailing prisoners spenddecade in military barracksTen years ago nine political prisonerswere removed from Uruguay's highsecurity military prison, Penal de Liber-tad, and taken separately to military bar-racks throughout the country. For thepast decade they have been shuttled fromone barracks to another, detained incruel, inhuman and degrading conditionswhich have included:

torture and deprivation of sleep;almost continuous isolation;incarceration in small windowless cells

—one was a disused underground watertank; others have been specially con-structed of concrete and are too low toallow an average-height prisoner tostand up;

grossly inadequate medical attentionand insufficient food for prisoners suf-fering from serious physical and psycho-logical illnesses.

Although the nine prisoners have notbeen adopted by Al as prisoners of con-science, it has repeatedly denounced theconditions in which they are kept andappealed to the authorities for an end tothe ill-treatment.

Some of the prisoners have beenmoved as many as 17 times. No priorwarning is given and relatives often haveto travel from one barracks to anotherto discover a prisoner's whereabouts.

The prisoners are held under constantguard in windowless cells reported tomeasure 2m by 1.5m in area.

One of the nine who is reported to havebeen held in one of the specially con-structed low-ceiling concrete cells at theFourth Infantry Barracks in the town ofCoIonia is Jorge Manera Lluveras, 55,

The nine prisoners were leading mem-

bers of the urban guerrilla organiz-

ation, Movimiento de LiberachinNacional (Tupamaros), National

Liberation Movement.The authorities say they are being

kept isolated in military barracks

because they are "highly dangerous".

However, Penal de Libertad, the

prison they were removed from, is a

high security establishment and no

attempted escapes or attacks on

guards have ever been reported there.

The names of the nine are: Henry

Engler Golovchenko, Eleuterio

Fernindez Huidobro, Jorge Amilcar

Manera Lluveras, Julio Angel

Marenales Sáenz, José Alberto Mujica

Cordano, Mauricio Rosencof

Silbermann, Raid Sendic Antonaccio,

Adolfo Wassen Alaniz, Jorge Zabalza

Waksman.

Rail! Sendic Antonaccio (below) is

reported to have been tortured again

in June 1983 at a military barracks in

the Department of Lavalleja.

A lawyer, aged 58, he was shot inthe jaw on arrestin September 1972—the wound was

reportedly neverproperly treated.Since 1974 he hashad an inguinal -

hernia after being

hit in the lower stomach with arifle butt. He isreported to have been tortured in a

number of military barracks.

In October 1981 the United Nations

Human Rights Committee stated that

there had been violations of several

articles of the International Covenant

an engineer.Over a two-week period he was allowed

only a few minutes' sleet) a day, until hecollapsed from exhaustion and lay uncon-scious for two days. He has glaucoma, isgradually losing his sight and has seriouskidney trouble.

The "water tank" cell is in the bar-racks of the General Pablo Galarza regi-ment in Durazno: Raid Sendic (see pic-ture) is one of those reported to havebeen detained there.

A cell in the barracks of the ThirdEngineers' Battalion in Paso de los Torosis said to have a metal roof which aggra-vates conditions inside during hot orcold spells.

Eleuterio Fernimdez Huidobro, 47, abank employee, is reported to have beenseen there earlier this year with signs oftorture on his face and arms. He, too,suffers from vision problems.

Frequent allegations have been receivedthat prisoners have not been given enoughfood. Furthermore, they are said oftento be denied reading or writing materialsand left in their tiny cells for long periodswith nothing to do.

Al fears that their treatment over thepast 10 years may have resulted in perma-nent damage to their health. Complaintsreceived by Al mention respiratoryproblems; avitaminosis, due to inad-equate food and lack of sunlight; seriousimpairment of vision and reflexes; incon-tinence; intestinal disorders; dehydration;and severe psychological disturbances.

Al believes that the medical attention

on Civil and Political Rights in his

case, including articles prohibiting

torture and inhuman treatment. The

committee urged the Uruguayan

Government to ensure strict observ-

ance of the covenant's provisions; it

called for Rafil Sendic to be given

necessary medical care promptly and

said he should have a new trial with

all due guarantees.He has been sentenced in the first

instance to 30 years' imprisonment

plus 15 years' preventive detention.Although he has been imprisoned for

11 years so far, his sentence has still

not been passed on to the appeal

court, a mandatory process under the

Military Penal Code. Five of the other

prisoners are in a similar legal situ-

ation—the other three have received

final sentences of 30 years' imprison-

ment plus up to 15 years' preventive

detention.

received by the prisoners is grossly inad-equate—in some barracks the only medi-cines they receive are those their familiesmanage to get through to them.

Other prisoners among the nine aboutwhom Al has received reports of poorhealth include:

Adolfo Wassen Alaniz, 40, is sufferingfrom a malignant tumour of the cervicalvertebrae. After receiving surgery inMarch 1982 at a military hospital he wasreportedly transferred to an undergroundcell at a military barracks in centralUruguay. Earlier this year he was againreportedly taken to hospital in a gravecondition—but was returned to his cellonly days later.

Jorge Zabalza Waksman, 39, anotary, has a chronic lung condition,with frequent coughing attacks that keephim from sleeping.

Mauricio Rosencof Silbermann, 50, awriter and dramatist, suffers from psy-chological problems and, since mid-1982,has had lung and circulatory problems.

Henry Engler Golovchenko, 38, a for-mer medical student, is seriously psycho-logically disturbed as a result of his isola-tion and treatment in detention.

Please write courteous letters appealingfor an end to the ill-treatment of the nineprisoners named in this article and theirimmediate return to a regular prison.Address your letters to: Su ExcelenciaTte. General (R) Gregorio Alvarez /Presidente de la Repüblica / Casa deGobierno / Plaza Independencia /Montevideo / Uruguay1=1

8 SEPTEMBER 1983

Sri Lanka: Tamils shot dead by soldiers53 others killed in Colombo prison

Widespread violence in Sri Lanka in late July resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, nearly all ofthem Tamils. It was sparked off by the killing of 13 soldiers on 23 July, by Tamil extremists.

The bodies of three Tamil civilians shot dead by soldiers in Sandilipay on 24 July

Members of Sri Lanka's armedforces shot and killed at least 20unarmed Tamil civilians in the northof the country on 24 and 25 July. InColombo a total of 53 Tamil prison-ers were killed during violence atWelikada Prison on 25 and 27 July.

The shootings by the soldiers wereapparently reprisals for the killingof 13 soldiers on 23 July. Tamilcivilians are reported to have beenselected at random and killed in coldblood.

The victims included eight people whowere shot dead after being taken out of abus at Manipai and an 83-year-old retiredteacher and his son-in-law who werekilled in their house in Thirunelvely,Jaffna.

News of the killings reached AI verysoon afterwards and on 26 July it sent atelex message to Sri Lanka's PresidentJ.R. Jayewardene urging him to takeimmediate steps to prevent further suchkillings by the armed forces.

It also called on the government toestablish an independent investigationinto reports of killings in Manipai,Thirunelvely, Pandaterrippu, Kondaviland Channakai, and to bring to justicethose responsible.

AI has since received first-handaccounts of killings in these places.

In its messages, AI said it recognizedthe serious problems of internal securityfaced by the government and its duty torestore order. However, AI stressed thatsuch killings by the army constituted abreach of the right to life proclaimed inArticle 6 of the International Covenanton Civil and Political Rights.

Until the first week of August the SriLanka Government maintained that ithad no knowledge of the northern kill-ings—but on 6 August it issued a state-ment that 20 civilians had been killed inthe Jaffna district by the armed forces"on a rampage" in late July. (Reports inthe international news media put thenumber of dead at over 51.)

On 8 August the London Guardiannewspaper published a reported interviewwith President Jayewardene of the 7August in which he said that he had beeninformed of the killings only "a coupleof days ago".

In its message to President Jayewardeneof 26 July, AI also expressed concern atreports that a large number of Tamilprisoners had been killed in WelikadaPrison the previous day. It urged thegovernment to establish an independentinvestigation and to take immediatemeasures to prevent more prisonersbeing killed.

The government had stated that several

hundred Welikada prisoners had attacked"suspected Tamil guerrillas" and killed35 of them. It announced that a magis-terial inquiry had been set up immediately.

AI has the names of 35 Tamil prisonerswho died. •

On 27 July Tamil inmates of WelikadaPrison were again attacked and another18 were killed. One of the victims was DrSomasunderam Rajasunderam, whosecase was featured in July's Newsletter.

On 28 July Al again called on Presi-dent Jayewardene's government to pro-tect prisoners' lives.

Full details of the prison killings fromindependent sources are not yet available.Welikada Prison's Chief Warder report-edly told a magisterial inquiry into the 27July killings that the prison's authoritieshad possessed "information there mightbe a second attack" but that Tamilprisoners "could not be moved in time. . to save them".

Lawyers for surviving Tamil prisonershave claimed they were not allowed tobring evidence at the magisterial proceed-ings which would have implied complicityin the violence by some prison staff.

At the time of going to press AI hadnot received a full report on the findingsof the magisterial inquiries.

Al has called on the government to setup full independent and public inquiriesinto the Welikada Prison killings and topublish the findings in full.

On 30 July the government bannedthree left-wing opposition parties—theJanata Vimukhti Peramuna (JVP), theNawa Sama Samaja party andthe Communist Party for having com-mitted or being likely to commit acts"prejudicial to public safety, to law andorder and to maintenance of essentialservices".

Official reports implied that there wasevidence of their involvement in civil dis-

turbances after 23 July but no such evi-dence had been produced by the time ofgoing to press.

Arrests of members of the bannedparties and other politicians followedthe 30 July announcement. Al has thenames of 19 of them who were held underthe country's Emergency Regulationsand have reportedly been denied accessto lawyers or relatives.

The organization has urged the govern-ment to release all those arrested, at leaston bail pending further investigations;to publish their names, where they arebeing held and details of the legal provi-sions under which they are detained—and to ensure their safety while indetention El

The Sri Lanka Government has sentAl a statement commenting on TheReport of an Amnesty InternationalMission to Sri Lanka, 31 January - 9February 1982, published on 6 July 1983(see July Newsletter).

The government statement denies ingeneral terms that the human rights viol-ations described in Al's report tookplace. It does not indicate the govern-ment's willingness to investigate thereport's findings or to consider itsrecommendations.

Al does not consider that the report'sfindings have been answered by the state-ment, a detailed response to which willshortly be available from the Interna-tional Secretariat.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLICA-TIONS, 10 Southampton Street, LondonWC2E 7HF, United Kingdom. Printed inGreat Britain by Shadowdean limited, UnitB, Roan Estate, Mortimer Road, Mitcham,Surrey. Available on subscription at £.5(US$12.50) per calendar year. ISSN 0308 6887