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Day (10 December 1974) was for 102 prisoners. The second amnesty, for 270 prisoners, was granted to mark the Iranian New Year, beginning 21 March
975. It is not known whether any Al-adopted prisoners were released as a result of these amnesties.
Al groups are working on 10 adoption cases and 89 investigation cases of Iranian prisoners. The total number of political prisoners has been reported at times throughout the year to be anything from 25,000 to 100,000 but AI is not able to make any reliable estimate.
Iraq
The Kurdish war has dominated events in Iraq this past year and brought a considerable increase in repressive measures against Kurdish civilians, supporters and others believed to oppose the government. On 22 November 1974 Amnesty International Secretary General Martin Ennals wrote to President Hassan Al Bakr and other members of the Iraqi government, expressing concern at the large numbers of arrests for political or religious reasons, summary executions and the torture of prisoners which in some cases had resulted in death. Mr Ennals noted the apparent lack of legal guarantees- reflected in summary trials by military courts-the absence of the right of defence and the right of appeal. He appealed for the release of all political prisoners and called for a review of the govern- ment's policy with regard to the death penalty.
Among those arrested for political reasons were a group of 200-250 people associated with freemasonry prior to the 1958 revolution (after which freemasonry was banned). Almost all were elderly, professional people (doctors, lawyers, senior civil servants, etc.) whose names appeared on a list of invitees to a Masonic dinner in 1949. This list had recently been found in a deed box belonging to an Englishman who had left the country in 1958.
Some were arrested in February 1974 and of these one elderly man, Darwish al Haydari, died in prison, allegedly as a result of ill-treatment. Others were arrested in October 1974. They were charged with "cooperating with reactionary forces", an offence for which a law passed in October imposes the death sentence. They were tried by a revolutionary court in October or November, after which many were released. An unknown number were, how- ever, sentenced to terms of imprisonment and it was reported that five were executed, but this has not been confirmed.
There has been an alarming number of executions over the past year. AI has received the names of 91 people, including two women, who have been executed since April 1974. They include Kurds and Kurdish sympathizers, religious leaders, right and leftwing opponents and critics of the government, members of illegal organizations and of the Iraqi armed forces. Five Sh'ite religious leaders were sentenced to death in November, accused of membership of an illegal organization called The Islamic Mission. Al appealed, unsuccessfully, to the Iraqi government to commute the sentences.
The number of offences punishable by death was increased in 1975 to include espionage (specifically, cooperating with reactionary forces, making an appeal to a foreigner or a foreign organization) and those who endanger the national economy (specifically, breaking the economic blockade of the
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