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lawyers from different Arab countries.
In March 1975, AI sent a Turkish lawyer to observe a trial in Alexandria in Egypt. In October 1974, a three-man mission investigated allegations of ill- treatment and torture in Syria and Israel, and their report was published in April 1975. In May 1975, a high level mission visited the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and the Yemen Arab Republic for the purpose of talking to the governments about Amnesty International and its work, and about the human rights situation in their countries. Visits by members of the Interna- tional Secretariat to a number of embassies in London have further helped to establish direct contact with governments.
The Middle East department is currently handling 270 adoption and inves- tigation cases, of which 16 are "group adoptions".
Bahrain
In August 1974, Amnesty International Secretary General Martin Ennals appealed to the ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Issa bin Sulman Al Khalifa, to release 29 trade unionists who had been arrested in June 1974, following worker strikes. A news release was issued to this effect. All 29 were subse- quently adopted by AI groups, and of these only three are now still in prison.
Apart from these three, for whom AI groups are still working, the Research Department knows of only seven other political prisoners in Bahrain.
Egypt
Over the past year there has been growing criticism of the Egyptian govern- ment, particularly among workers, caused by inflation at home, and re-align- ments in foreign policy. The resentment culminated in New Year's Day worker demonstrations in Cairo. These were the most serious disturbances since the student demonstrations in 1972-73. The latter were sparked off by frus- tration at the "no peace, no war" situation, at the curb on freedom of expression and by economic factors. After the October 1973 war with Israel the govern- ment had promised that the new "open door" economic policy would raise living standards, but this has not resulted quickly in the expected improvements. There have been relaxations since then in censorship, but demonstrations are still illegal, and all political parties, except for the Arab Socialist Union, are banned.
As the government has felt its authority weaken in the face of growing opposition, there have been wide-spread arrests among all sections of the com- munity. Persons detained include those who have expressed their opposition by demonstrating, by distributing anti-government pamphlets, by forming or belonging to secret organizations, or even by singing songs critical of the gov- ernment. In August 1974, 14 people were detained for a brief period for singing songs, or possessing tape recordings of songs, criticizing the government. The detainees included Sheikh Imam, the composer, and Ahmad Fouad Negm, the lyric writer of these songs.
Amnesty International adopted a group of six Egyptians, consisting of a surgeon, a lawyer, a student, a teacher and two employees from the public sector, who were arrested in October-November 1974 and charged under
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