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Hans Ehrenstrale wrote to President Alfonso Lopez Michelsen in March 1975,
sking for an investigation into the alleged torture and murder of peasant leaders h Cauca province, reportedly by military forces in conjunction with vigilante groups. Local sources in Cauca later informed AI that more than 30 detained peasants were freed in direct response to the AI initiative.
Cuba
Amnesty International groups have continued to work throughout the current year on behalf of nine long-term adopted prisoners in Cuba. The occupation and circumstances of these prisoners vary widely. They include journalists, former revolutionaries, trade unionists, priests and physicians. The sentences passed on them range from 15 to 30 years. A common feature of their situation is their refusal to take part in government rehabilitation programs, which require the participant to adhere to the political beliefs current in Cuba.
This rehabilitation program, known as the Progressive Plan, was introduced at the end of the 1960s, not only to enable prisoners to make a satisfactory transition back into civilian life, but also as a means of educating alleged opponents of the government in the guiding principles of the new Cuban society.
Although it is indisputable that most political prisoners have joined this plan, it appears that those long-term prisoners who have refused are in a serious situation. They are held in different prisons without access to the graduated privileges available to the Progressive Plan prisoners. In some cases they have already served more than 15 years of their sentences.
It is extremely difficult to estimate the number of political prisoners held in Cuba and, indeed, an estimate of numbers seems to depend on the interpretation of a political prisoner within the context of the new and evolving Cuban penal system. However, in 1967, Prime Minister Fidel Castro estimated that there were 20,000 political prisoners, and recently, in reply to a question at a news conference during the visit of United States Senator George McGovern, he said that the number of political prisoners had decreased over the years by 75-80%. He added that this was a domestic problem which would not be solved under external pressure.
As a consequence of a decision by Al's International Executive Committee, an intensive research program has been undertaken. This has yielded valuable contacts and considerable research material.
In May-June 1974, an AI delegate, Inger Fahlander, Head of Latin America Research, visited Cuba for 10 days. The object of the mission was to explain the aims, methods and work of AI in a worldwide context. Miss Fahlander did so in personal interviews with, among others, the Minister of Justice, the Federation of Cuban Women, the Foreign Office and organs of press and radio.
Following the mission and as a result of further conversations between Secretary General Martin Ennals and a Cuban legal delegation to the Conference of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, in Algiers, in April 1975, a letter was addressed to the Minister of Justice asking for information as to the present status of 18 listed prisoners. According to the information in Al's possession, this group is predominantly composed of students, peasants and manual workers who were sentenced by tribunals to around 10 years
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