AI Index: NWS 11/11/92

Distr: SC/PO

No. of words: 2090

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Amnesty International

International Secretariat

1 Easton Street

London WC1X 8DJ

United Kingdom

TO: PRESS OFFICERS

FROM: PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS

DATE: 18 MARCH 1992

WEEKLY UPDATE SERVICE 11/92

Contained in this weekly update are external items on Sierra Leone, Malawi

and Hungary, and an internal item about the AI Handbook.

1. NEWS INITIATIVES - INTERNAL

Please note - because of absences in the IS press office at a time when we

are short-staffed anyway, we expect that there will be no news releases

embargoed for the following weeks: 3 June, 17 June and 24 June 1992.

Yugoslavia - 19 March 1992

Targeted news release/weekly update to accompany new document on torture

and deliberate and arbitrary killings. The IS press office will be sending

this out only to a very limited list of media contacts and expect you will

want to do the same.

CSCE - 23 March 1992 (Europe and North America only) (New information)

News release has been sent out to accompany Finnish Section press

conference on the day before the start of the Helsinki meeting of the

Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. The IS press office will

be mailing this news release only to European contacts, and Frank Johansson

(Finnish Section press officer) will be making it available for the

conference. Please note that this news release is the result of detailed

discussions about our intergovernmental work. It was very difficult to get

approval from everyone and one consequence is that it is not very newsy. I

am sorry, but that has meant that the obvious news angle, about meetings

behind closed doors, was not allowed to be the main focus. Please bear this

in mind when translating, etc. for your media.

India - 25 March 1992

An international news release and questions and answers to go with a

publication for the campaign against rape, torture and deaths in custody.

The news release and Q & A have both been sent to you.

As well as the news release and document, the IS press office will be

sending out the text of the Focus article on India, due to appear in

April's International Newsletter, to most media contacts.

INDIA CAMPAIGN - BRIEFING

As mentioned in previous weekly updates, we will be holding a media

briefing for foreign correspondents for the launch of the India campaign.

The briefing will be held 2 p.m. London time 24 March at the Foreign Press

Association, with correspondents from India, other Asian and major

international media invited. Speaking for AI will be Secretary General Ian

Martin, Head of Asia research Derek Evans and India researcher Yvonne

Terlingen. There is a possibility that one of the victims highlighted in

the report and electronic news release will also attend. There is currently

an election campaign under way in the UK, which will likely reduce the

number of foreign correspondents able to attend the launch, but if you

would like us to contact any correspondents for your national media please

let us know.

INDIA CAMPAIGN - EMBARGO

We are sending a letter to all press officers reviewing the steps that we

have all taken to protect embargoes and suggesting further steps re: news

agencies. Before you receive that letter, though, we would like to remind

all press officers of the importance of holding the embargo for this, our

first major campaign on India.

Along with the international briefing, many sections have planned

special media and campaigning events for the launch of the campaign which

would be jeopardized by an embargo break.

The impact of embargo breaks on major campaign launches was felt most

acutely in Manila, where an embargo break one day before the launch

seriously damaged the media work (this is discussed in detail in the letter

on its way to press officers).

Therefore, we ask all press officers to ensure that no journalists

receive the India report and news release more than two days in advance of

the embargo date. We would also ask that any national news agencies receive

the material no more that 24 hours in advance. Thank you for your

cooperation in this.

Togo - 8 April 1992

A document and targeted news release about impunity are scheduled for 8

April 1992, to coincide with the anniversary of a massacre on 10 April

1991.

Sudan - 15 April

A document is expected to be ready for 1 April weekly mailing. It will be

accompanied by a news item, either a news release or a weekly update which

the IS press office will be sending out to press contacts in Africa and the

Middle East.

Turkey (New information)

The planned news release on Turkey has been postponed. More details later.

China (Tibet) - 20 May 1992

A document and news release to go with a small-scale campaign.

POSSIBLE NEWS INITIATIVES, STILL TO BE CONFIRMED

South Africa - date now possibly 13 May

The research team is planning a document, but as yet cannot give a definite

date. It will have an international news release and probably a questions

and answers - the date has still not been fixed, although it is now

possibly 13 May.

Pakistan - possibly 28 May

A document and targeted news release on arrests in Sind. The date is still

provisional, depending on whether the document can be finalised to tie in

with printing schedules.

Israel/Lebanon - possibly 29 April

News release to accompany first detailed report on treatment and conditions

of detainees in Khiam prison, south Lebanon.

Weekly Update NWS 11/11/92

2. AFR 51/WU 01/92 EXTERNAL

18 March 1992

SIERRA LEONE: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL VISIT TO SIERRA LEONE

Two Amnesty International representatives will be visiting Sierra Leone

from 21 to 28 March 1992 to seek information about human rights matters

relevant to Amnesty International's mandate. They will meet a range of

individuals and organizations and hope also to have discussions with

government officials during the course of their visit.

The Amnesty International representatives are Wesley Gryk, a lawyer

and citizen of the United States, and Sarah Pennington, a staff member of

the International Secretariat of Amnesty International and a United Kingdom

national.

In accordance with Amnesty International's normal policy and

procedures, its representatives are not authorized to make any public

statement about the content of their discussions in Sierra Leone. On their

return will report to the International Executive Committee of Amnesty

International.

Anyone requiring more information about Amnesty International's work

in Sierra Leone should contact the Press Office at Amnesty International's

International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ, telephone (44)

(71) 413 5810.

Weekly Update NWS 11/11/92

3. AFR 36/WU 02/92 EXTERNAL

18 March 1992

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FEARS FOR MALAWI BISHOPS' SAFETY

Amnesty International is calling on the Malawi Government to guarantee the

safety of seven Roman Catholic bishops who issued a pastoral letter

criticizing its human rights record. The organization is also

investigating reports that students were killed when police opened fire on

a demonstration in Zomba in support of the bishops' letter.

The Lenten pastoral letter, signed by Archbishop James Chiona and the

six other Roman Catholic bishops, was read out in churches throughout

Malawi on Sunday 8 March 1992. The letter criticized abuses in the

administration of justice and severe restrictions on freedom of expression.

On 10 March, the bishops were taken to police headquarters in

Blantyre for questioning and held for eight hours. They were then confined

to the Archbishop's House in Blantyre, where they remained until 13 March.

During their interrogation the bishops were repeatedly accused of sedition

and the government then publicly declared the pastoral letter to be a

seditious publication. Possession of the document is thus a criminal

offence. Amnesty International is investigating reports that some people

have been arrested for possession of the document.

The government response to the pastoral letter has been expressed in

inflammatory language. An editorial in the official Malawi News, entitled

"No Mercy", describes the authors of the pastoral letter as "Mafia-style

crooks", who were aiming to "import IRA [Irish Republican Army] terrorism

into this country". Amnesty International fears that such statements will

be taken by members of the paramilitary Malawi Young Pioneers or the ruling

Malawi Congress Party as a licence to commit acts of violence against the

bishops or other individual Roman Catholics. The persecution of the

Jehovah's Witnesses church in the 1960s and 1970s was conducted with a

similar combination of inflammatory official statements and local attacks

in which Jehovah's Witnesses were killed and their property burned.

Persistent reports received by Amnesty International suggest that on

11 March senior government officials met to discuss whether the bishops

should be killed as a punishment for issuing the letter. Although this

cannot be confirmed with certainty, such reports are credible. Prominent

government opponents have been killed in "death squad" attacks, including

Mkwapatira Mhango, an exiled journalist who died in 1989 along with his

wives and children, when his house in Zambia was firebombed. In 1983 three

government ministers and a member of parliament were killed after they had

criticized John Tembo, the present Minister of State in the President's

Office - their death was officially described as a road accident, but they

were last seen alive in custody at Mikuyu Prison.

Latest reports received by Amnesty International indicate that on the

morning of 16 March 1992 police opened fire on students at Chancellor

College in Zomba who were demonstrating in support of the Roman Catholic

bishops. Unconfirmed reports suggest that some students may have died as a

result. The government is reported to have closed the college, which is

part of the University of Malawi.

Although the government has tried to present the pastoral letter as a

sectarian action by the Roman Catholic Church, the Presbyterian Church of

Scotland, of which Life-President Dr H Kamuzu Banda is a prominent member,

has publicly supported the Roman Catholic bishops. Amnesty International

is investigating reports of the arrest of a Presbyterian pastor in Zomba.

Amnesty International is also concerned about the detention without

charge of advocates of a multi-party system, including Sydney Kwelepeta, a

government official, and journalist Simon Mhone, who were arrested in

December 1991. An international trade union official, Chakufwa Chihana,

who is a prominent critic of the existing single-party system, was detained

for six hours on 1 March as he was leaving the country for a meeting in

Zambia. In his absence police have issued a warrant for his arrest.

Amnesty International has called on the authorities not to arrest him when

he returns, probably later this week.

Weekly Update NWS 11/11/92

4. EUR 27/WU 01/92 EXTERNAL

18 March 1992

HUNGARY: AI URGES THE HUNGARIAN AUTHORITIES TO INVESTIGATE REPORTS OF

ILL-TREATMENT OF DETAINED FOREIGN NATIONALS

Amnesty International has written to the Hungarian Government urging it to

investigate reports of ill-treatment of foreign nationals detained in the

Kerepestarcsa detention camp near Budapest. It has also asked for

assurances that all asylum seekers in Hungary will be granted access to a

fair and satisfactory asylum procedure.

In recent months the Hungarian authorities have deported a number of

foreign nationals and are reportedly considering the deportation of many

more. Some reports indicate that there may be as many as 40,000 foreign

nationals living in the country without all the necessary permits, a

significant proportion of whom may be liable to deportation. Some of them

have been detained by police and are held in the Kerepestarcsa detention

camp.

Amnesty International is concerned about reports of ill-treatment of

detainees in the Kerepestarcsa camp. The organization possesses statements

from people who have witnessed and experienced incidents of ill-treatment.

In one case a Chinese man was reportedly hit about the face and head and as

a result lost consciousness, after which he was kicked. Following pressure

from fellow inmates he was taken to hospital. Amnesty International has no

information about his subsequent condition or whereabouts. Beatings are

reported to have occurred often in the camp; for example, when inmates

demonstrated against what they considered to be unacceptably poor hygiene

and other conditions in December 1991. Amnesty International is also

concerned about allegations that tear-gas has been used in confined spaces.

The organization expressed concern about reports that the government

intends to deport foreign nationals in large numbers, because some of those

subject to deportation are from countries where there are serious and

widespread human rights violations and they may be at risk if returned.

Amnesty International considers it essential that any person who claims to

be at risk is granted access to a fair and satisfactory asylum procedure.

Weekly Update NWS 11/11/92

5. ORG 20/WU 01/92 INTERNAL

18 March 1992

AI HANDBOOK ORDER FORM UPDATE

Please inform all Publications Managers

Please note that the new Amnesty International Handbook will now cost £3.00

per copy (with no discount) and not £2.00 as stated in the order form dated

6 January 1992. This is due to increased production costs. If you wish to

amend your order please do so by informing Talat Omer, at the IS, before

Friday 27 March 1992.

AI Index: NWS 11/11/92 add

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No. of words: 940

---------------------------

Amnesty International

International Secretariat

1 Easton Street

London WC1X 8DJ

United Kingdom

TO: PRESS OFFICERS

FROM: PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS

DATE: 19 MARCH 1992

ADDITION TO WEEKLY UPDATE SERVICE 11/92

Contained in this addition to the weekly update are external items on

Syria, and an internal item with a for response statement on the continuing

occupation of the French Section.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weekly Update NWS 11/11/92 add

1. MDE 24/WU 03/92 EXTERNAL

19 March 1992

SYRIA: HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS SENTENCED TO PRISON TERMS

Amnesty International has urged President Hafez al-Assad to order the

immediate and unconditional release of 20 human rights activists if they

have been sentenced solely for the non-violent expression of their

conscientiously held beliefs. The 20 were tried by the State Security Court

between 29 February and 17 March on charges which reportedly included

dissemination of false information and the withholding of information and

were sentenced to prison terms ranging between 3 and 9 years.

The 20, including a lawyer, Aktham Nu'aysa, were reportedly arrested in

December 1991 and January 1992 by members of al-Mukhabarat al-'Askariyya,

Military Intelligence, and held incommunicado in Fara' al-Tahqiq al-'Askari

(Military Interrogation Branch) in Damascus. Some of them were allegedly

severely tortured. In January Amnesty International appealed to the Syrian

authorities to investigate the allegations of torture and sought assurances

that all the detainees were being treated humanely, and given access to

family members, lawyers and doctors.

Amnesty International told the Syrian Minister of Justice that it wished to

send representatives to observe the trial but authorization for this was

not granted by the government. The organization also sought details of the

trial proceedings and the exact charges against the defendants but none

were forthcoming.

In its message to President Hafez al-Assad, Amnesty International also

expressed concern about the fairness of the trial,and said that at the very

least the defendants should be allowed an adequate opportunity to have

their cases fully reviewed and to appeal against their convictions and

sentences to a higher court, in accordance with their fundamental right to

a fair trial.

Under the state of emergency, which has been in force in Syria for nearly

30 years, the security forces, including al-Mukhabarat al-'Askariyya, enjoy

wide powers to arrest and detain indefinitely anyone suspected of

"endangering security and public order". In practice, these powers have

been grossly abused, resulting in thousands of arbitrary arrests. Those

arrested have been held in some cases for over 20 years without being

charged or tried. Thousands of political prisoners, including prisoners of

conscience, are currently held in Syria. Amnesty International also remains

concerned about reports of systematic and widespread torture or ill-

treatment in Syrian prisons and detention centres.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Weekly Update NWS 11/11/92 add

2. ORG 41/WU 01/92 INTERNAL FOR RESPONSE

19 March 1992

OCCUPATION OF FRENCH SECTION

This item consists of INTERNAL background information and a for response

statement that can be used to reply to queries.

INTERNAL

Background: French section premises continue to be occupied by a group of

about 40 Turks who forcibly entered the section on Monday morning. The

occupiers are asking for a place in the section in which they can hold a

hunger-strike in protest against the conditions of detention of 1l Turks

detained in prisons in Paris, Nice and Grasse. Although some staff at the

section were manhandled when the group entered the section on Monday there

has been no other such incident since then. However, the section is not

able to function normally and has only a skeleton staff operating.

AI's policy is not to negotiate with people occupying its premises and

to cease all work related to demands made by them. This is in line with our

policy of independence and impartiality. This has been made clear to the

those occupying the French section.

They in turn have made it clear that their action is motivated by

publicity. It is not in our interests to assist them in this because it

would only encourage more occupations. Thus the "for response" below

deliberately does not name the group and refers to their demands in the

vaguest way. Please bear this in mind in responding to any queries you may

get. Most especially do not in any way publicize this issue and please

keep to the "for response" material.

Please be especially alert to possible occupation attempts in your

section while the present occupation continues.

FOR RESPONSE

On 16 March some 40 people, apparently Turkish nationals, burst into the

premises of Amnesty International's French section and occupied part of the

ground floor against the section's wishes.

They asked to be provided with a place in which to hold a hunger-strike in

protest against the conditions of detention of 1l Turkish members or

supporters of an extreme left-wing Turkish group; the 11 are held in

various prisons in France.

The French section has remained in touch with them since the beginning of

the occupation in order to reiterate to them Amnesty International's policy

on such occupations of its premises. Amnesty International never

undertakes any action under pressure; on the contrary it always insists on

maintaining its independence and impartiality, which forbid it to negotiate

under such circumstances.

Furthermore, any information on conditions of detention at any prison may

only be examined by Amnesty International's International Secretariat in

London. Only the International Secretariat can determine, in accordance

with its normal procedures, whether or not the organization can intervene

in one or other aspects of the detention; and this would only be within the

strict limits of Amnesty International's mandate. Under Amnesty

International's rules, the French section may not in any circumstances

deal with the case of a person imprisoned in France.

AI Index: NWS 11/11/92 ADD2

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Amnesty International

International Secretariat

1 Easton Street

London WC1X 8DJ

United Kingdom

TO: PRESS OFFICERS

FROM: PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS

DATE: 20 MARCH 1992

ADDITION 2 TO WEEKLY UPDATE SERVICE 11/92

Contained in this addition to the weekly update is an external item on

Turkey, a letter from Ian Martin sent to Indian press, plus an addendum to

the external item on Hungary sent out on Wednesday 18 March.

1. EUR 44/WU 01/92 EXTERNAL

20 March 1992

TURKEY: WIDESPREAD ARRESTS ON EVE OF KURDISH NEW YEAR PROVOKE FEAR OF

TORTURE FOR DETAINEES IN SOUTHEAST TURKEY

Amnesty International has appealed to the Turkish Government to protect

Kurdish political detainees from torture in police stations and

gendarmeries throughout southeast Turkey, in response to reports of large

waves of arrests in Batman, Siirt and Mardin provinces.

These security operations are apparently pre-emptive measures

anticipating `Nevroz', the Kurdish new year which begins on 21 March.

Celebrations and demonstrations connected with this festival have often in

the past been banned by the Turkish authorities on the grounds that they

constitute separatist propaganda. This year there has also been intense

speculation in the Turkish press that guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers'

Party (PKK) may start a spring offensive on that date, and that this may

trigger a popular uprising. Emergency legislation in the 10 mainly Kurdish

provinces of the southeast was renewed by the Turkish parliament on 17

March.

Under the emergency legislation detainees may be held for up to 30

days. Detention in Turkish police stations and gendarmeries is almost

invariably incommunicado. The extremely long detention period and lack of

access to family or lawyers create the conditions which permit detainees to

be tortured with impunity. Although in November 1991 the new coalition

government under Süleyman Demirel made promises to halt torture by

shortening the detention period and ensuring proper access to legal

counsel, no practical or legislative steps have been taken since that date.

Amnesty International has continued to receive numerous personal accounts,

often supported by medical evidence, indicating that torture continues to

be a serious and widespread problem throughout the country.

The experience of Sükrü Yilmaz, detained on 4 March in the Sagosele

district of Besiri, Batman province is typical of the treatment a detainee

suspected of political offences may expect during interrogation. He said,

"I was blindfolded at the local gendarmerie station and taken to their

interrogation centre in Batman. While I was there I was tortured

horribly...they spread out my arms and tied them to an iron pipe. Then they

lifted me upwards. I hung there as if crucified. While I was hung there,

they attached an electrical generator to my little toe and to my penis.

They poured water over me and started to give electricity. At the same

time, another person was attempting to insert a truncheon or a bottle into

my anus, and made me bleed. Another was squeezing my testicles. I could not

stand the pain and fainted. When I came to they were pouring cold water

over me."

Sükrü Yilmaz also reported that before being taken to the Besiri

Prosecutor on 14 March he was taken to Besiri Health Centre where he was

given a certificate stating that he had no injuries. On 17 March Sükrü

Yilmaz was examined by three independent doctors who reported that he had

injuries in the genital region, widespread bruising in both arms consistent

with trauma from a blunt object, serious swelling in the left hand, forearm

and upper arm, bruising and slight swelling on the soles of both feet.

A formal complaint was made concerning Sükrü Yilmaz's torture by the

President of Batman Bar Association and four other lawyers acting on his

behalf. His health condition deteriorated following his release and he is

now receiving treatment at Diyarbakir State Hospital.

Burhan Serikli, aged 18, who had been detained with Sükrü Yilmaz,

died in custody on 8 March. Batman Public Prosecutor stated that the

conclusions of the autopsy were that Burhan Serikli had "hanged himself by

his blindfold" and that no further inquiries would be made into the

incident.

Amnesty International has appealed to the Prime Minister to ensure,

as a matter of urgency, that security forces strictly observe the terms of

the United Nations Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons

under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment in the exercise of their duties

in the provinces under emergency legislation.

Weekly Update NWS 11/11/92 ADD2

2. ASA 20/WU 01/92 EXTERNAL

20 March 1992

INTERNAL

The following is a letter written by Ian Martin concerning the India

Campaign. It has been sent to media in India and is very much geared for

Indian press, so it is more for your information than for action.

___________________________________________________________________________

EXTERNAL

Ref: ASA/SG/st

3 March 1992

Dear Sir/Madam,

As Secretary General of Amnesty International I am writing to you and

to other people in Indian public life because of a pattern of persistent

abuse in the administration of justice in India: the torture, including

rape, and deaths of prisoners in custody. We have raised this with

successive governments in India and I want you to know why we have decided

now to take a worldwide initiative to urge that such abuses are prevented

in future.

Numerous people in India, including judges, lawyers, writers and civil

libertarians, as well as many police and other officials have forthrightly

expressed their concern about these practices. Many have made great efforts

to halt them, to demand accountability or to provide redress. They have had

success in individual cases but the overall picture has changed little.

Custodial violence is not an issue in India alone of course: such

cases can be found in countries in every continent and Amnesty

International is working universally to end them. India is an open country

with a vigorous press and a strong judiciary which has delivered some

highly creative judgements to protect fundamental rights. Yet even these

and other Indian institutions with substantive powers to safeguard the

rights of India's citizens have failed to provide effective protection to

the hundreds, if not thousands of Indian citizens who have died after

torture and ill-treatment. The victims have been ordinary men and women,

even children, some of them picked up on the flimsiest of criminal charges,

and have come from nearly every state during the past decade. At least 415

of them have, since 1985, been deprived, in custody, of the most basic

human right of all: the right to life.

Time and again government officials have refused to acknowledge that

the problem exists. No administration has shown the political will to bring

about change. We believe the government must act urgently to create an

effective institutional framework to prevent torture and related abuses.

Officials charged with carrying this out must be given full assistance at

every level of government. I am writing to urge you to act to bring about

this crucial change.

This is why I am sending you a copy of the enclosed report, India:

Torture, rape and deaths in custody. It is due to be published on 25 March.

We are making every effort to ensure that the report itself gets into the

hands of the very people, like yourself, who are best placed to give it

serious consideration and to act upon it.

Another reason for sending this to you direct is that, as in the past,

this Amnesty International report may be misrepresented in both the foreign

and the Indian news media. It may be described as anti-Indian. It is not.

It criticizes practices that are unconstitutional in India itself.

Nevertheless some may dismiss the report out of hand or suggest that

Amnesty International's motives are hostile to India. The facts in the

report, and its detailed recommendations, may then be lost sight of. All

the more reason for my urging you to give it your serious attention.

Some people may say that Amnesty International is interfering in the

internal affairs of India. The fact is that human rights are as much a

global as a national concern. India recognized this in 1979 when it became

a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In

doing so, India undertook legal obligations to the international community

to observe and protect human rights. Not only did India make a Unilateral

Declaration against Torture saying that it would comply with the UN

Declaration against Torture, it even initiated the 1977 resolution of the

UN General Assembly that introduced the Declaration.

Amnesty International itself is an expression of the idea that human

rights are an international concern. We are an independent organization

funded by voluntary contributions from our members in over 150 countries in

all regions. We do not accept funds from governments. Our work is strictly

limited to the human rights field. We work for the release of prisoners of

conscience who have not used or advocated violence; for fair trials for all

political prisoners; and against torture, the death penalty, extrajudicial

executions and "disappearances". We also condemn and oppose torture,

deliberate and arbitrary killings and hostage-taking by armed political

opposition groups; and we have done so publicly regarding groups committing

such abuses in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam. We do not take any

position regarding aid donors making the provision of aid conditional on

human rights performance.

In carrying out our mandate, we are politically impartial. We have

monitored the protection of human rights in India since the late 1960s and

have reported human rights violations under each administration regardless

of political persuasion. With this report we are not only addressing

ourselves to government authorities at the central level, but equally to

all state governments, a number of whom are led by political parties

opposed to the ruling party at the centre.

On a global basis, we are also committed to impartiality in our work

and the application of a universal standard to all governments. Our latest

annual report covered over 140 countries. One Indian press

report alleged that we are part of an anti-India propaganda campaign in

Britain and the USA, aided by Pakistan. In fact, for many years we have

urged the UK government to independently investigate a range of human

rights issues, including "shoot-to-kill" allegations in Northern Ireland,

and we have recently submitted information about the UK to the UN Committee

Against Torture. We have criticized the USA for its extensive use of the

death penalty which we believe to be "arbitrary and racially biased" and

which includes the execution of juvenile offenders. Another recent Indian

press article said that we "had nothing to say about human rights

violations in Pakistan and China". In fact, last year we published a report

on torture and deaths in custody in Pakistan and worked to stop violations

against religious minorities there. Human rights violations in China cover

virtually the full range of concerns in our mandate and we regularly report

on prisoners of conscience, torture and the high rate of executions there.

In raising the question of human rights protection in India we are

motivated by the desire to help end the violations and promote those human

values and standards which are universally recognized as applying to all

people at all times. It is now widely recognized that all human rights are

indivisible and interdependent. It is sometimes argued that development,

the right to food, housing and other economic rights are more important

than freedom of expression, the right not to be arbitrarily detained or

even the right not to be tortured. We reject this view. We regard civil and

political rights on the one hand, and economic, social and cultural rights

on the other, as of equal importance.

To safeguard the independence and impartiality of our work, Amnesty

International members in any one section must work only on cases and

campaigns in countries other than their own. The Indian section of Amnesty

International has therefore had no involvement whatever in the report I am

sending you. Our report was compiled by our Research Department here at the

International Secretariat of Amnesty International. We have carefully

cross-checked the information in the report, drawing on information

provided by Indian government officials, on official inquiries and on

reports in Indian newspapers. We have relied as far as possible on court

records, sworn statements and other first hand information from witnesses

themselves.

During the last three years members of Amnesty International have

written to government officials in New Delhi and in the various states to

ask specific questions about the people listed in the report to have died

in custody after torture or ill-treatment. They have asked whether

investigations have been carried out and whether anyone has been brought to

justice for the crimes apparently committed. But they have received no

substantive replies. Nor has Amnesty International been allowed to carry

out research in India to investigate these or other human rights concerns

or discuss them in any substance with any Indian government for more than a

decade: the last time we were allowed to do so was in 1978.

In the coming months, many members of our organization will be writing

to the government and also to you and thousands of others in India. May I

ask you to read the report and share its contents with others. We hope you

will consider what action you think would be appropriate to end the abuses

it documents and take whatever steps are within your ability to help

accomplish that. We have drawn up a 10-point program for the abolition of

torture in India, a copy of which is enclosed. If you agree that the

implementation of such a program would indeed make an effective

contribution to the prevention of human rights violations in India, we

request you to use your influence to bring that about.

We would greatly welcome your views about the report and how the

international community, including our organization, can contribute to the

protection of human rights in India.

I will be grateful to receive your response,

Yours sincerely

Ian Martin

Secretary General

Weekly Update NWS 11/11/92 ADD2

3. EUR 27/WU 01/92 ADDENDUM EXTERNAL

20 March 1992

INTERNAL

THE FOLLOWING TEXT SHOULD BE ADDED TO THE HUNGARY WEEKLY UPDATE AI INDEX

ABOVE. IT IS NOT A NEW PARAGRAPH BUT FOLLOWS IMMEDIATELY AFTER LAST

SENTENCE.

___________________________________________________________________________

EXTERNAL

In addition there are reports that Romanian nationals and others crossing

into Hungary from Romania have been summarily returned to Romania and

asylum-seekers among them may not have been given an opportunity to have

access to such a procedure. A recent reported agreement between the

Austrian, Hungarian and Romanian governments for the return of "illegal"

foreign nationals between the three states gives ground for added concern.

So far as Amnesty International is aware, it does not provide any

guarantees that asylum-seekers who are returned to one of the three

countries will be granted effective and durable protection from

subsequently being returned to a country where they risk serious human

rights violations.