AI Index: NWS 11/34/91

Distr: SC/PO

No. of words: 2740

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Amnesty International

International Secretariat

1 Easton Street

London WC1X 8DJ

United Kingdom

TO: PRESS OFFICERS

FROM: PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS

DATE: 13 SEPTEMBER 1991

WEEKLY UPDATE SERVICE 34/91

Contained in this weekly update are external items on India, Mongolia, Fiji

and the CSCE meeting in Moscow and an internal item on ICM.

EMBARGOES

Section press officers were sent a letter in July asking for feedback about

embargoes, in the light of several big embargo breaks recently. Could you

please get your response back to us as soon as possible, as we will soon be

moving on to the next stage in the discussion.

In the meantime, we have asked press officers to try to ensure that their

press and media contacts do not get the China news release and document

until one day before the embargo date, 26 September 1991.

URGENT REQUESTS

We would ask section press officers sending URGENT faxes or telexes,

particularly news releases sent for comment or approval, to the IS press

office to clearly mark urgent on their messages, so that the press office

can be contacted immediately when they arrive. Otherwise, there can be a

delay of several hours between a fax being sent and it reaching the press

office.

1. NEWS INITIATIVES - INTERNAL

ICM - 29 August to 7 September

Contained in this Weekly Update is an internal item giving advice on

handling media inquiries about the mandate changes. Earlier this week you

were sent a news release and two sets of questions and answers about ICM

decisions. If anything is still not clear, please contact the IS press

office.

Mexico - 18 September

Mexico - Torture with Impunity AMR 41/04/91

The news release and questions and answers were sent out to you in last

week's Weekly Update, NWS 11/33/91. Please note the embargo date of 18

September 1991.

China - 26 September

The news release, AI Index ASA 17/56/91, has been sent out to you today.

The questions and answers sheet for the last two China reports (May 1990,

ASA 17/26/90 and ASA 17/28/90) contains much of the information needed for

interviews on our concerns generally. A short questions and answers dealing

with our specific concerns on administrative detention and on the recent

meetings where other governments have raised human rights issues will be

sent shortly.

USA - 9 October

USA - The Death Penalty and Juvenile Offenders AMR 51/23/91

International news release to accompany the external document.

African Charter - 21 October

An advice to editors on AI's activities to mark the fifth anniversary of

the African Charter on Human and People's Rights coming into force will be

sent to sections next week. The advice to editors will not be embargoed,

although it is intended to encourage specialist media to write about the

charter on or around 21 October, African Human and People's Rights Day. The

IS will be sending the advice to editors to media in Africa and specialist

media in London, and section press officers are encouraged to contact their

African specialist media as well.

Egypt - 23 October

Egypt - Ten years of torture MDE 12/18/91

News release to go with an external document on torture, including strong

individual cases and photo material.

Weekly Update NWS 11/34/91

2. ASA 20/WU 04/91 EXTERNAL

10 September 1991

INTERNAL

This information was sent to Indian media by the IS earlier this week.

EXTERNAL

INDIA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DENIES REPRESENTATIVE KILLED IN ASSAM

A negotiator who was involved in the exchange of prisoners for

hostages taken by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) was killed in

the state Sunday (8 September) together with a hostage whose release he was

trying to secure. The ULFA advocates separatism for Assam and has

increasingly resorted to violence, including the taking of hostages.

The negotiator, Bipul Mahanta, had apparently identified himself as an

Amnesty International representative, although he was not, in fact,

representing the organization in the negotiations and is not a member of

the human rights organization. Amnesty International does not, as a matter

of policy, participate in exchanges of prisoners or hostage negotiations,

in this or any other case.

Amnesty International said it condemns human rights abuses committed

by governments and opposition groups alike - including the taking of

hostages - a position that was underscored at its recent biennial council

meeting in Japan.

The organization said it deeply deplored the killing of the negotiator

and hostage and the threat to the remaining hostages. "We oppose the

torture and killings of prisoners held by anyone -- whether these acts are

carried out either by governments or armed groups," Amnesty International

said.

"We condemn the torture and killing of prisoners regardless of any

reasons that may be given to justify them," the organization said.

Bipul Mahanta was apparently killed at his home. The body of T.S.

Raju, one of eight hostages held by the ULFA, was found near a railway

crossing in Sibsagar District.

In Assam, Amnesty International has been concerned about persistent

reports of serious human rights violations, especially since the government

imposed direct rule in the state in November last year. At that time, the

entire state was declared to be "disturbed" under the Armed Forces (Special

Powers) Act and the army called in to help civilian authorities.

Amnesty International has received many reports of human rights abuses

in the area, especially during "Operation Bajrang", launched in late

November to arrest suspected members and sympathizers of armed opposition

groups, notably the ULFA.

There have been many detailed media reports of torture and rape of

people arrested during army operations. More than half of the 23 people

that Amnesty International knows to have died in custody in Assam in the

last five years have died during the army operations since November 1990.

One person died two days after being arrested in January and, although the

army claimed he died as a result of epilepsy, the post mortem report showed

he had 28 injuries on his body. Torture methods commonly reported in Assam

include electric shocks, hanging people upside down, and beatings.

Reports of the rape of women by army personnel have been particularly

frequent - even a 70-year-old woman is reported to have been raped by

soldiers. The allegations have been so serious and persistent that the

Assam High Court issued an order in March this year prohibiting the army

from taking any woman to their camps for interrogation, not even when in

police custody. More recently, in July, India's Supreme Court ordered the

army in the northeast specifically to take measures to protect women from

torture and harassment during army operations.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, under which nearly all these

arrests were reportedly made, gives wide powers to junior army officers to

make arrest without warrant and without regard to normal legal safeguards.

The rule that people who are arrested should be brought before a magistrate

within 24 hours of arrest has consistently been ignored. Recently, the

Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the Assam High Court that the army should

bring all arrested persons before a magistrate within that period.

The act also provides arbitrary powers to shoot to kill and anyone

acting under its provisions is immune from prosecution. No member of the

armed forces is known to have been brought to justice under Indian legal

provisions which prohibit confessions being extracted under torture.

These laws have even been described by the United Nations Human Rights

Committee as "disturbing" and "completely unacceptable".

Weekly Update NWS 11/34/91

3. ASA 18/WU 01/91 EXTERNAL

13 September 1991

FIJI: CHARGES AGAINST THREE JOURNALISTS DROPPED - SEVEN CIVIL RIGHTS

ACTIVISTS REMAIN ON TRIAL

Amnesty International welcomes the dropping of malicious publication

charges against three journalists in Fiji, but remains concerned about

sedition charges still facing seven civil rights activists who participated

in non-violent protests against the country's new constitution.

The human rights organization said it would consider the seven to be

prisoners of conscience if they were convicted and imprisoned since they

had been charged for the non-violent exercise of their rights to freedom of

expression and freedom of assembly and association (see Fiji: Civil Rights

Activists and Journalists Arrested, ASA 18/01/91)

The three journalists, Taniela Bolea, the publisher of Fiji's Daily

Post newspaper, Robert Wendt, the paper's chief sub-editor, and Subash

Verma, a reporter, had been charged under a broadly worded section of

Fiji's Public Order Act (1976) for a story printed on 26 October 1990 about

planned demonstrations against the country's new constitution. They were

accused of "knowingly publishing a false report" which could "create public

anxiety". Media reports said that the charges had been dropped "after

pressure from international groups". The decision to drop the charges

against the three was announced by the Director of Public Prosecutions on

15 August.

The seven civil rights activists were charged with sedition and

unlawful assembly for their involvement in a peaceful protest on 18 October

1990. Their protest was against the newly-promulgated constitution of Fiji,

which has been criticized in Fiji and abroad as racially biased against

Fijians of Indian origin. As part of the protest one or more copies of the

new constitution were burned. Government authorities called the burning

"despicable and treasonous". The Director of Public Prosecutions later

deemed it to be a seditious act intended "to raise discontent or

disaffection amongst the inhabitants of Fiji". The seven defendants were

formally charged on 1 November 1990 and then released on bail, but they

continue to face restrictions on their right to travel. The trial is still

in its preliminary stages and is expected to continue for several more

months. Defence lawyers are seeking to appeal a ruling by the Magistrates

Court that the case must be heard in that court rather than in the High

Court.

One of the seven charged, Dr Anirudh Singh, was abducted by members

of the Fiji Military Forces on 24 October 1990 and subjected to severe

torture for more than ten hours in a forest outside Suva, before being

abandoned by his captors. Five soldiers, including an army captain, were

later tried and found guilty of abducting Dr Singh and causing him grievous

harm. They were given suspended sentences, fined and released in November.

Weekly Update NWS 11/34/91

4. ASA 30/WU 01/91 EXTERNAL

13 September 1991

MONGOLIA: AI SENDS REPRESENTATIVE TO CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE

An Amnesty International representative will be attending the conference

being held in Mongolia's capital Ulan Bator to discuss the Republic of

Mongolia's new draft constitution.

In the organization's first visit to Mongolia, staff members of the

International Secretariat will also raise human rights issues detailed in a

10-page memorandum previously sent to the standing parliament of Mongolia,

known as the Small Hural.

The organization is concerned that the new draft constitution does not

abolish the death penalty and, while condemning torture, does not

explicitly forbid other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The new draft constitution also requires mandatory military service,

and does not provide for alternative civilian service for conscientious

objectors. Amnesty International believes that anyone imprisoned for their

conscientious objection to military service would be a prisoner of

conscience and urges all governments to provide a civilian alternative.

AI's representatives will be in Mongolia from 7 September 1991 and

will remain in the republic for up to 14 days.

Weekly Update NWS 11/34/91

5. ORG 50/WU 01/91 INTERNAL

13 September 1991

ICM: ADVICE ON HANDLING MEDIA INQUIRIES ABOUT MANDATE CHANGES

All press officers should have received the news release issued in

Yokohama and the two questions and answers sheets dealing with general

mandate issues (AI Index: ORG 50/15/91) and with homosexuality (AI Index:

ORG 50/16/91).

We suggest that you use the two questions and answers sheets to

answer any general media questions about the changes to the mandate,

particularly the positions on opposition groups and homosexuality. If you

receive any questions about specific cases, especially relating to hostage

taking or killings by opposition groups, please refer them to the IS press

office at this stage.

Within the next one to two weeks, we will be sending more detailed

information to clarify the implications of the mandate changes and help you

deal with media questions.

Press officers are reminded that the text of the resolutions adopted

at the ICM are internal documents, and should not be released to the media

or members of the public.

We would be interested in hearing from sections on the media coverage

of the ICM in their sections, particularly the mandate changes. Also, if

you have released news releases other than the one released in Yokohama,

could you please send us a copy for our records.

Weekly Update NWS 11/34/91

6. IOR 52/WU 01/91 EXTERNAL

13 September 1991

INTERNAL

This item gives details of Amnesty International's involvement in the CSCE

conference, being held in Moscow at the moment. AI information officer

Marjorie Farquharson is in Moscow - for more detailed information, contact

her on +70 95 237 2742. Her name and number can be given to journalists, on

the understanding that her main role is to pass on information about AI and

the CSCE generally, rather than on AI concerns in the USSR.

The latest information we have on AI concerns in the Soviet Union is

contained in Concerns in Europe November 1990 - April 1991 (AI Index EUR

01/01/91) and USSR - Prospects for the Abolition of the Death Penalty (AI

Index EUR 46/20/91). More detailed information on AI concerns at the CSCE

can be found in the external document The Conference on Security and

Cooperation in Europe - Directions for development of human rights in the

CSCE process (AI Index IOR 52/02/91).

EXTERNAL

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ATTENDS CSCE CONFERENCE IN MOSCOW

Amnesty International is lobbying governments of European and North

American countries attending the Conference on Security and Cooperation in

Europe (CSCE) being held in Moscow at the moment to ratify international

human rights agreements.

The top-level meeting is being attended by foreign ministers from 38

member states, including all European nations, Canada and the USA and the

newly recognised Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The

conference is the third held on the human dimension of the CSCE -- human

rights -- after previous conferences in Copenhagen in 1990 and Paris in

1989.

Amnesty International wants the member states to look again at CSCE

agreements which, AI believes, tend to undermine rather than add to

existing international standards for human rights.

Rather than introducing their own agreements on human rights, Amnesty

International wants members of the CSCE to ratify or accede to existing

agreements, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights (ICCPR). Eight members are not yet party to the ICCPR and 10 have

not as yet either ratified or acceded to the Convention against Torture.

Amnesty International is also calling on CSCE members to abolish the

death penalty and introduce safeguards relating to conscientious objection

and the protection of refugees.

No executions have been carried out in Western Europe since 1984 and

eight CSCE members have ratified or acceded to the first international

abolitionist protocol, the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. AI is

urging all CSCE states to move towards signing the Protocol. "Western

Europe can increasingly be considered a region virtually free of the death

penalty," said the organization. "The whole of the CSCE should become so".

In Copenhagen last year, the CSCE agreed that member states should

consider introducing alternatives to military service for conscientious

objectors. Amnesty International is concerned that the conference did not

recognise that people have a right to object to military service on grounds

of conscientiously held beliefs. The organization wants to see member

states affirming that right and introducing a civilian alternative.

Amnesty International is also concerned about refugee protection in

some CSCE member states. Seven are still not party to the 1951 UN

convention on refugees, the most fundamental international agreement, and

other countries have border and airport procedures that lack essential

safeguards. Several CSCE members are currently drawing up refugee

determination procedures; AI hopes that they and all CSCE members will base

their treatment of refugees on the principle of non-refoulement.

Amnesty International is also calling for greater access and openness

in CSCE dealings with non-governmental organizations, and for public

reporting and reviews of governments' records in implementing their

obligations as CSCE members.

As well as lobbying members of the CSCE, Amnesty International is

taking part in a series of parallel events going on around the conference.

On Monday 16 September, Amnesty International will present a public

seminar, When the State Kills ...: International Perspectives on Abolishing

the Death Penalty.

Speakers will be Galina Starovoytova, a member of the USSR and RSFSR

Supreme Soviets, Dr Roger Hood, director of the Centre for Criminological

Research at the University of Oxford, and US death penalty campaigner and

former AI Deputy Secretary General Larry Cox.