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society has increased the imprisonment of peaceful dissenters and, consequently, created a large number of prisoners of conscience. The curb on trade union freedom, the "oath of democratic faith" imposed on teachers and civil servant whereby they swear never to have belonged to any of the now banned parties or organizations, the "administrative investigations" into teachers' political past, the curb on press freedom and the closure of journals are examples of government interventions in the national and political life that create prisoners of conscience - a group which, in Uruguay,represents a broad spectrum of the left. All dissent is interpreted as being part of an international Marxist conspiracy. President Juan Maria Bordaberry has even accused the United Nations of being a Marxist- dominated body.
The pattern of comparatively short detention, to which Al's traditional adoption method is unsuited, has largely remained. National sections, therefore, have been provided with information on “situations" of arrests among, for example, trade unionists, university teachers and students, and have been asked to take action on their behalf. The Research Department regularly provides national and international professional bodies with such information.
Detention procedures have remained highly unsatisfactory throughout the year, and AI has issued several news releases on waves of arrest during which maltreatment has occurred. The latest was in April 1975, when the secondary school teachers' union was closed and several teachers and active members of this union were arrested. The same statement reported on the detention incom- municado of a group of students, between 14 and 17 years of age, and on the inability of the families even to locate the place of detention of another group of prisoners.
Al groups are currently working for over 60 cases, among them a group of 25 belonging to a political group, Grupos de Accion Unificadora (GAU), which was legal until all political parties and groups left of center were banned at the end of 1973. The ostensible reason for their arrest was a bomb incident in which a student belonging to that group was killed. Although it has not even been satisfactorily established that the student himself knew of the bomb, the whole group is being tried under the concept of guilt by association.
Previously, the Communist Party, although banned, had not been a specific target, except for its top leadership. Its secretary general, Rodney Arismendi (who featured in the November 1974 Prisoners of the Month Campaign), was released in January 1975 in exchange for exile. His successor is in detention, as is the secretary general of the Communist Party youth branch. In the beginning of 1975, many members of the Communist Party were arrested, to be released later. Eduardo Viera, an elderly ex-deputy, was indicted for an alleged "attack on the morale of the armed forces" in April 1975.
The sensitivity to criticism of the military de facto rulers of the country is illustrated by the increasingly common charge of "attack on the morale of the armed forces", usually meaning criticism by the political opposition of the role of the armed forces and their policies. Several such cases are currently under adoption or investigation by Al groups.
Liber Seregni, the presidential candidate of the leftwing coalition Frente Amplio, was released, as was his colleague, Colonel Carlos Zufriategui, whereas
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