On 24 July 1991 a sweeping amnesty law came into force which Amnesty International fears could block investigations into past human rights abuses. Among the crimes covered by the law are killings, torture and unlawful arrests committed by police and military personnel, and failures by judges to...

Libya, Philippines, AI visits Tunisia, Guatemala, Focus: Europe: birth of AI, Sudan, Yugoslavia, Colombia, USSR, Kuwait, Nepal, Ethiopia, Israel, Argentina ; Cases: Salman ‘Abdallah – Syria, Tamdin Sithar – China, Goodluck Mhango – Malawi,

In April 1991 Soviet troops and Azerbaydzhani special police units began what was officially described as an operation to check compliance with passport regulations and confiscate illegally-held weapons in areas of the Republic of Azerbaydzhan which have been the scene of inter-ethnic violence....

This document details Amnesty International’s concern about the killings in late 1990 of members of the Truka and Atikum indigenous communities in Pernambuco State and about evidence suggesting official complicity or even involvement in these crimes. The killings fit a pattern of assaults and...

The case of the torture of Manirul Murshed, a Bangladeshi asylum-seeker forcibly returned from Sweden on 10 October 1990, is described in this report. On arrival at Dhaka Airport, he was arrested by airport police and during the 13 hours of his detention he was allegedly repeatedly beaten, whipped...

Kenya: Letter from the Reverend Lawford Imunde (freed); China: Liu Qing, update; Guatemala: Investigation into death of Nahaman Carmona Lopez; Turkey: Erhan Tuskan released; Israel: ‘Abd al-Ra’uf Ghabin; Ethiopia: Mulugetta Mosissa released; Sudan: Dr Ushari Ahmed Mahmoud released; Malawi: Orton...

This paper summarizes Amnesty International’s concerns about the arrest, detention and, in some cases, forcible return to Myanmar of Burmese asylum- seekers in Thailand. Several instances of ill-treatment of detained Burmese refugees are quoted, including one incident which resulted in the death of...

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This paper contains reports of torture and killing of tribal inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts by security forces during 1989 and 1990 during the government of President Ershad. The violations took place in the context of conflict between the security forces and the Shanti Bahini, an armed...

Executions remain at a high level in Taiwan: in 1990 a record 78 people were executed, compared to 69 in 1989. The Government of Taiwan justifies the retention of the death penalty on the grounds that it is necessary to combat violent crime (which has increased alarmingly). Amnesty International...

This document describes Amnesty International’s (AI) concern that thousands of political prisoners in Afghanistan sentenced since 1978, including prisoners of conscience, have not received a fair trial; hundreds more remain in detention awaiting trial. The report examines development of special...

This document reports recent violent attacks, death threats and other forms of intimidation against individuals who have criticized the President of Argentina or who are members of organizations advocating respect for human rights. The cases cited here are: threats against Hebe de Bonafini and...