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in which he reported that he and his companions had been set at liberty towards the end of December. The Research Department is still seeking definite proof that all the adopted Burundi prisoners have now been released.
Meanwhile, in a disturbing new development, Burundi introduced the death sentence for cannibalism in January 1975, replacing a law under which cannibal- istic practices were punishable by a maximum term of 3 years' imprisonment.
Cameroun
While Amnesty International groups continued to work on seven investigation cases and two adoptions in Cameroun during the year 1974-75, a major attempt was made during December 1974 to encourage the granting of a general amnesty for convicted political prisoners and untried detainees in the country. AI hoped that such an amnesty would, if granted, cover a number of categories of prison- ers, including the 74 alleged members and supporters of the banned Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC), who received prison sentences ranging from 5 years to life at an important political trial which culminated in January 1971.
In a letter to President Ahmadou Ahidjo, supported by postcard appeals from Al members throughout the world, Secretary General Martin Ennals called for an amnesty for the convicted UPC prisoners and for untried political prisoners held at "administrative internment camps" at Tcholliré, Yoko, Yaoundé, Douala, Maroua and elsewhere. The appeal for an amnesty received some support in the Camerounian press, and in May 1975, news reached the Research Department that up to 50 prisoners had been freed in an amnesty, including Monsignor Ndongmo, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Nkongsamba, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1971.
Central African Republic
Following the arrest in January 1974 of the Secretary General of the Union Générale des Travailleurs Centrafricains Jean-Richard Sandos and his deputy J.B. Malikanga, Amnesty International groups adopted both men. Mr Sandos was released in August 1974 but subsequently re-arrested in January 1975. Group work continues on both the cases.
Chad
Amnesty International group work on 38 adoption cases, mostly persons arrested between July 1972 and March 1973 and held without charge or trial, continued during 1974-75. In August 1974, 106 prisoners were released in an amnesty announced by President N'garta Tombalbaye. Among those freed were three AI adoption cases, one of whom had been the subject of a postcard cam- paign in November 1973.
In spite of this amnesty, the human rights situation in Chad continued to deteriorate throughout the last months of 1974. In September reports began reaching the outside world that Chadians of all walks of life were being forced by the government to undergo the Yondo initiation rites of President Tombalbaye's ethnic group, the Sara. Although Chad embassy officials in France denied it, reports stated that as many as 50 Chadian Christians may have died during the rites.