Amnesty's 'shocking chronicle' of world repression

HUMAN rights are violated in a Majority of countries all over the world, and all political or ideological blocks are involved, according to Amnesty International's annual report, published this week.
The report, which covers human rights violations in more than two-thirds of the member States of the United Nations, is the most extensive in Amnesty's 16-year history.
"This report is a shocking chronicle of repression all over the world and of the abuse of governmental power," said Mr David Simpson, Director of Amnesty's British section, this week.
He added: "A genuine concern for human rights today means facing an ugly fact: the list of offenders is vast and it includes an uncomfortable number of countries long considered `free."
In the African countries ruled by a white minority, says the report, "the torture of political detainees is now official policy.
"Last year at least I R political prisoners died in South Africa while in security police custody, while in Uganda, Ethiopia and Equitorial Guinea torture, massacres of civilians and the government-sanctioned murder of political opponents proceeded unchecked. "
In Latin America there had been "little discernible improvement" in the human rights situation, and the report points out that refugees in several Latin American countries had been "singled out for intimidation, harassment, deten tion, abduction and assassination," Only a few countries such as Costa Rica, Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba continued to provide good facilities for refugees. In Asia, the release of tens of thousands of prisoners of conscience in India contrasted sharply with the continued detention of between 55,000 and 100,000 prisoners in Indonesia — many of whom had been held for more than 12 years. Political repression also continued in China, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Nor was Europe free from human rights violations, During the year Amnesty adopted some 230 prisoners of conscience in the Soviet Union and took up the cases of people imprisoned in Czechoslovakia, Poland and the German Democratic Republic.
Amnesty has also taken action against the death penalty in France, Ireland, Bulgaria and the Soviet Union.
In the Middle East the Amnesty report concludes that "internaliaolitical unrest and heightened ideological rivalries between Arab governments have led to widespread arrests and increased use of the death penally." The report includes an impressive list of Amnesty's activities during the past year. The organisation took up 2,285 new cases of individual prisoners 1,657 of whom were later released. More than 200 actions were taken on behalf of those tortured, and relief to prisoners and their families totalling £125,000 was distributed.
"Our membership has grown in proportion to the enormity of the task we confront today," said Mr Martin Ennals, Amnesty's general secretary. Amnesty groups in 31 countries had increased by more than 270 in the past year and Amnesty now had more than 168,000 members in 107 countries.
Amnesty has organised a conference in Stockholm on the death penalty, starting tomorrow. It will be chaired by Mr Garfield Todd and attended by more than 150 delegates. A world-wide petition calling for the release of all prisoners of conscience and signed by more than 900,000 people has been presented to the United Nations on behalf of Amnesty.