Tens of thousands of people, including prisoners of conscience, have been detained since the 1960s under various forms of arbitrary detention, according to former detainees. Thousands appear to have been tortured and detained in harsh conditions. The death penalty appears to be widely used. This document summarizes cases of “disappearance” and imprisonment of prisoners of conscience, as well as reports of torture and ill-treatment in detention, and information concerning the use of the death penalty. It also outlines the political, social and economic context in which formal safeguards for human rights appear to have been systematically disregarded.
