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Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, and in a further letter to Mr Denktash on 4 March 1975, AI Secretary General Martin Ennals raised the matter of the continued detention of many people in the Dome Hotel, Kyrenia. Also in March 1975, the Campaign for the Abolition of Torture published well-documented information about the torture by electrical shock of a Greek Cypriot sailor in September 1974 while he was being held, together with 400-500 other Greek Cypriot prisoners-of-war, in Turkey.
AI has no adopted prisoners in Cyprus. Although there are still large numbers of missing persons, it is not known how many of these may still be held in detention. The International Secretariat is, however, in contact with the Cypriot government through its High Commission in London.
Czechoslovakia
Since the end in 1972 of the much publicized trials of the Dubcek supporters, information on political imprisonment in Czechoslovakia has been difficult to obtain. Most trials take place at district and regional courts and, with few exceptions, receive no publicity. Amnesty International groups are currently working on 16 adoption cases and four investigation cases. In October 1974 Secretary General Martin Ennals protested to the Czechoslovak authorities against the deterioration of prison conditions.
In January, Mr. Ennals cabled Dr Gustav Husak, First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, urging that members of the Kurdish Student Movement in Prague should not be deported to Iraq. In view of the widespread arrests, torture and even execution of Kurds, their lives could be in jeopardy. No deportations to Iraq took place, but Fadil Rash, secretary of the movement, who had been arrested, was expelled from Czechoslovakia to East Berlin.
Two campaigns were launched by AI during the year. In November 1974 national sections sought the release of two prominent supproters of the 1968 reform movement, Jiri Müller and Professor Jaroslav Sabata, to mark the third anniversary of their arrests. In April 1975 appeals were made for the release of all prisoners of conscience on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the libera- tion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet army. An amnesty was later announced but applied only to criminal prisoners.
Prison conditions continue to cause concern. One particularly harsh feature of the Czechoslovak system is the legal obligation placed on released prisoners to repay the costs of their maintenance while in prison to the state.
France
Amnesty International's attention in France has been focused mainly on conscientious objectors, of whom eight more were adopted and seven released in 1974-75. A further 20 are being investigated. The presidential amnesty of 16 July applied only in part to conscientious objectors, with the effect that the majority of those sentenced remained in prison.
For the first time there were manifestations of political action within the ranks of conscripts. On several occasions soldiers went out into the streets to try to make the French public aware of the great need for reform of the conscription system. Their widespread discontent continues to grow and finds expression not
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