TNAG-0559-FCO40-654-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-othe-1975 — Page 86

Preface

by Dirk Börner, Chairman, International Executive Committee

A year of growth. Amnesty International has grown further in 1974-75, both in membership and in the scope of its operations. But, sadly, it has also been a year of another kind of growth: of politically motivated persecution, long-term detention without trial, brutal torture and executions. A year, then, of growing need for the work of Amnesty International.

Impartially and free from any political consideration, Amnesty International worked in 1974-75 on violations of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in more than 100 countries. Yet, almost all these countries, as members of the UN, have agreed to be bound by that declaration. Amnesty International has persistently reminded the governments of their obligations and striven to bring world public opinion to bear upon those responsible for such violations. Al missions have gone during the year to 31 countries in all parts of the world to investigate allegations of persecution and torture, observe trials and make representations to governments.

Major campaigns, involving the whole organization, have sought amnesties in countries with long-term prisoner problems. In 1974-75, there were month-long campaigns on each of five West African nations, at least three of which subse- quently declared amnesties that freed political prisoners, among them Al-adopted prisoners of conscience. A current campaign for amnesty is concentrated on Indonesia, where more than 55,000 persons have been detained without trial since as far back as 1965.

Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, the Soviet Union, Spain, South Korea, Guatemala, South Africa, Uganda, Argentina, Uruguay, Morocco and Brazil are, as they have been for some time, countries where violations of human rights continue on a disturb- ing scale, Yet there have been dramatic changes in 1974-75 in other "problem" countries. AI has welcomed the mass release of political prisoners in South Vietnam, Greece, Portugal and Mozambique. In each of these cases, the new government has announced its intention of maintaining those freedoms that were violated with such gross persistence by the former regimes. AI has formally called on all four governments to uphold those human rights to which, as UN member states, they have pledged their support. In these countries, as in all countries, words must be matched by deeds. Far too many nations of the world pay only