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been submitted to the High Courts of Pakistan and which had come to Al's attention. Allegations recently received include the hanging of political prisoners by the hands upside down and severe beatings as well as insertion of chilli pods in sensitive parts of the body.
The Prime Minister said the government would deal firmly with any excesses brought to his attention, and stressed his firm belief in the rule of law. He emphasized that all action taken in Pakistan was in accordance with the law and constitution. AI remains deeply concerned however at what appears to be a serious erosion of human rights in Pakistan despite the assurances of the Prime Minister.
The Philippines
The country continued to be governed under martial law which was imposed in September 1972. In December 1974, President Ferdinand Marcos announced for the first time statistics about political imprisonment under martial law. He said he had ordered the release of 622 of the 1,165 people so detained at the time. Some observers have pointed out that the 622 people released included a proportion who were actually prisoners awaiting trial on criminal charges. Moreover, the number of people detained under martial law is estimated to be far larger. An American missionary, Reverend Paul Wilson, expelled from the Philipines after being arrested and detained in June 1967, estimated the total number of detainees at 1,600. Another American, Professor John Swomely, estimated the overall figure to be 15,000 people detained in prisons throughout the Philippines.
One reason for the wide variation in estimates was because of difficulties in classifying the many prisoners held in detention centers. Some are held for suspected criminal offences for long periods awaiting trial, many are detained because of their political or religious beliefs, and others are imprisoned because of alleged involvement in activity against the government. The total number of prisoners of conscience detained after the presidential amnesty of December 1974 is probably about 1,000.
In a report by the Roman Catholic Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, based on a nation-wide survey on the role of the Church under martial law, grave concern was expressed for violations of basic human rights. The report said that "there are frequent reports of physical torture from all regions of the country". Apparently the methods of torture employed were not restricted to physical brutality. Addictive drugs were used to alter the mentality of prisoners, who were also subjected to "rehabilitation" by psychologists and psychiatrists. Another church report quoted the military commandant of Camp Crame, a much-criticized detention center, as saying: "call it what you may, call it brain-washing or whatnot, but simply we have to change the attitude of these persons, and that is not a simple job to do". In August 1974, Amnesty International Secretary General Martin Ennals, in a letter to President Marcos, called for an investigation into incidents involving torture allegations.
Detailed allegations of torture were made by a political detainee at Camp Olivas near Manila, Father Edicio de la Torre, who described how he was beaten after arrest in December 1974, as well as brutal treatment administered to fellow
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