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prisoners. Severe torture included the application of electric shock to the genitals of prisoners, Father Edicio said. Father Edicio and another Roman Catholic priest, Father Manuel Lohoz, went on hunger strike in protest against the torture and the indefinite detention of political prisoners at Camp Olivas.
On 2 January, the Secretary of National Defence, Juan Ponce Enrile, announced an official inquiry into these and other allegations of ill-treatment and torture, after an appeal to the government by the Archbishop of Manila. In a letter to President Marcos, AI urged that the inquiry be truly independent, allowing for all parties to be heard fairly and guaranteeing full protection from reprisals to those who testified. The President was urged to make the full report public.
Defence Secretary Enrile was later reported to have admitted privately to the Archbishop of Manila that incidents of torture against martial law detainees had indeed occurred. According to a press report of 17 January, Mr Enrile also said that some colonels and other high officials had been court martialled. It was further reported that the Military Commission of Inquiry had found evidence that torture was used against some martial law detainees and had recommended that stern measures be taken against the personnel responsible.
Throughout the year, the Roman Catholic Church of the Philippines had taken a consistently firm stand against the injustices of martial law. In a state- ment issued in November 1974, Archbishop Jaime Sim of Manila expressed deep concern over the indefinite detention "for security reasons" of prisoners. He described such detention as unjust. "We cannot jail a man indefinitely and still call ourselves Christian," he said. He asked the President to issue a clear definition of subversion, because "right now it is a catch-all term that includes almost anything". He spoke of the "creeping climate of fear and uncertainty that is threatening the country".
Among the prisoners released in the last year was José Diokno, a former senator, who was a leading political critic of President Marcos and had been detained for two years without trial. He was released in September 1974 with four other prisoners in an "act of executive clemency" on the occasion of the President's 57th birthday. Mr Diokno and one of the other prisoners had been adopted by AI.
On 14 May, AI-adoptee Benigno Aquino ended a 40-day hunger strike in protest against political imprisonment under martial law. Mr Aquino was formely the most prominent opposition senator and was widely considered as a strong candidate for the Presidency.
Sikkim
On 23 April 1975, the Lok Sabha (parliament) of India voted for the inclusion of Sikkim into the union of Indian States. The move, which changed the status of the Sikkimese monarchy from protectorate in 1973 to an associated state and eventually into the 22nd constitutional state of India, met with strong opposition from the Chogyal (ruler) Palden Thondup Namgyal and those loyal to him.
On the basis of reports that the Chogyal and Princess Yapshi-Pheunkang were under house arrest, Amnesty International Secretary General Martin Ennals wrote to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India seeking assurances that full freedom of movement would be restored to members of the royal family and that adequate