AI Index: NWS 11/37/93

Distr: SC/PO

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Amnesty International

International Secretariat

1 Easton Street

London WC1X 8DJ

United Kingdom

TO: PRESS OFFICERS

FROM: PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS

DATE: 21 APRIL 1993

WEEKLY UPDATE SERVICE 37/93

Contained in this weekly update is an external item on Spain.

NEWS INITIATIVES

UN CAT REPORT

The dates of reporting to the UN Committee Against Torture are as follows: China is now due to report on 22 April, and Spain on 23 April. A weekly update item on Spain is enclosed in this document.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELEASES

Bangladesh - 28 April

Document on serious human rights violations in Bangladesh, accompanied by a news release.

Tadzhikistan - 5 May

Publication and news release on killings in the context of civil war - with striking similarities to Bosnia-Herzegovina. The news release was sent out to you on Friday.

Indigenous People - 12 May

News release planned to accompany Focus article on Human rights violations against indigenous people worldwide. Indigenous people will be one of the main themes of our work on the World Conference.

Guatemala - 19 May

A document or publication with a news release on a full range of recent human rights violations (in the past year or so) in Guatemala.

Egypt - 26 May

A document or publication and news release on all our concerns in Egypt. These include very high numbers of prisoners and torture.

TARGETED AND LIMITED NEWS RELEASES

Somalia - 30 April

A 10-page document with AI's recommendations on human rights connected with UN talks and urging Somali political groups to stop human rights abuses, and a weekly update item are currently being written. They will be sent out to you by fax/e-mail/telex early next week as the document is being released on Friday 30 April. The IS press office is not sending this out to media, though you may wish to - either way, there may be media enquiries about it, so the weekly update will help deal with them.

Brazil - 7 May, 1600 hrs gmt

PLEASE NOTE - The document has been sent out in this week's Weekly Mailing dated simply May 1993. Please make sure that anyone who is likely to see it in your section knows that it is embargoed for 7 May.

Document on prison massacre, including new forensic information. Weekly update item to go with it will be sent out early next week. Sections are also being asked to carry out campaign work in connection with this document.

Malawi - 20 May

Document on human rights violations and the referendum and weekly update item to go with it, which will be sent to international media by the IS Press Office.

Unconfirmed news initiatives

News releases or embargoed weekly update items are being considered on the following subjects:

Nagorno-Karabakh (to go with section-level action, late May)

Aceh, Indonesia (14 July)

Section Initiatives

French Section - European Press Officers' Meeting

The second European Press Officers' meeting will take place in Paris this year. The date of this meeting is now fixed for 15 and 16 May as the majority of you asked for. It will be focused on two themes: Audiovisual work (production and TV experiences) and how to improve it; and the UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna.

European World Conference Press Briefing in June

The British Section Press Office has been talking to the EC project office and the Francophone Belgium Press Officer about holding a European press briefing in Brussels for MEPs and for journalists who will be covering the World Conference. The date will probably be Tuesday, June 8th in the morning. The aim will be to look at the EC's role as a whole in terms of its internal shortcomings (Asylum issues, etc), external policies - aid/development, etc, and also to look at Europe's role within the UN.

Although the idea has been suggested by the British Section, is it hoped that all European Section Press Officers will be interested in being involved. For further information please contact either Daphne Davies, in the British Section Press Office or Johannes in the EC project office.

Weekly Update NWS 11/37/93

2. EUR 41/WU 01/93 EXTERNAL

21 April 1993

SPAIN: UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE CONSIDERS SPANISH GOVERNMENT'S REPORT

On 23 April 1993, the United Nations (UN) Committee Against Torture will be examining a report submitted by the Government of Spain, intended to provide information on new measures and developments on the implementation of the UN Convention against Torture in the country. An earlier report from Spain was examined in Geneva on 13 November 1990.

Amnesty International has released a report detailing allegations of the use of torture and ill-treatment against people in custody in Spain over many years.

The allegations of torture and ill-treatment that Amnesty International has received concern all the agencies of law enforcement in the country. They came from people arrested on suspicion of ordinary criminal offences, as well as those suspected of membership of or collaboration with armed groups and terrorist groups.

The human rights organization's new report details the most common types of torture and ill-treatment, such as kicks, punches and beatings with batons and other implements. Detainees are frequently hooded for long periods. Others have reportedly suffered mock executions, electric shocks, partial asphyxiation with plastic bags and sexual abuse. Brief details of recent cases of torture and ill-treatment are given, but further details of these cases are in four appendices relating to the individual cases:

- Allegations of torture and ill-treatment following detention of suspected members and collaborators of ETA "Bizkaia" commando. Extracts from: Amnesty International Concerns in Europe: November 1991 - April 1992 (AI Index: EUR 01/03/92); Amnesty International

Concerns in Europe: May 1992 - October 1992 (AI Index: EUR 01/04/92).

- The alleged ill-treatment of Mohamed Hegazy and Raed Shibli in Ibiza. Extracts from: Amnesty International Concerns in Europe: May 1991 - October 1991(AI Index: EUR 01/02/91); Amnesty International Concerns in Europe: May 1992 - October 1992(AI Index: EUR 01/04/92).

- The alleged ill-treatment by police of foreign visitors in Benidorm. Extract from: Amnesty International Concerns in Europe: May 1992 - October 1992 (AI Index: EUR 01/04/92).

-The alleged ill-treatment of Antonio Copete González by Civil Guards in Mallorca. Extract from: Amnesty International Concerns in Europe: May 1992 - October 1992 (AI Index: EUR 01/04/92).

The report also explains key elements of arrest and detention procedures and, in particular, expresses Amnesty International's concern over the suspension of certain procedural rights and safeguards allowed by existing Spanish law. Amnesty International believes these violate international principles for the protection of people in detention or imprisonment.

The courts in Spain routinely initiate judicial inquiries into formal allegations of torture and ill-treatment, but these have been characterized by slowness and the frequent failure to bring officers to justice in even the most serious cases. This has occurred even where there is ample supporting evidence for the complaint.

In the few cases where officers are sentenced they almost never serve a sentence and are routinely pardoned and sometimes even promoted. In some cases officers convicted of torture or ill-treatment of detainees have been allowed to continue in positions of authority and have committed the same offence again.

Amnesty International's report is called Spain: Torture and Ill-treatment: Summary of Amnesty International's Concerns,(AI Index: EUR 41/01/93). Copies of the document are available in French, Spanish and English.