62 parliamentarians jailed or missing in 17 countries (The Times of India, 6 September 1977)

=== [PDF page 1] === 62 parliamentarians jailed or missing in 17 countries The Times of India (1861-); Sep 6, 1977; ProQuest pg. 11 62 parliamentarians jailed or missing in 17 countries LONDON, Amnesty International, vased = human so rights oday published the yailiamentarians who are imprisoned vw have “disappeared” for — political ‘vasons in 17) countries around the world, Amnesty said many of then were former ministers, including (wo Prime Ministers. and = several were arrested while altendine parlamentary Sessions. It said most of the imprisoned pat- September 4 the f.ondonorganisation, names of 62 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. (Reuter). _hamentanans had not been charged “or tried and some had been tortured, ‘The list’ was confined only to those ‘cases known fo Amnesty up to July 4, 1977, and was by no means coinplete. 4° The countries named were Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, Ghana. Ladonesia, Kenya. Malaysia, Nepal. Pakistan. the Philippines, Singapore. Somalia, South Korea. ‘Tanzania, Uruguay, Viet Nam and Yuwostavia. ‘Indonesia topped the list with 23 Parhamentariang held without trial-- most of them since 1965. A> spokesman for Amnesty said the aim was not to judge the merits of any system of pavernment but to appeal to parhamentarians everywhere to work for the release of their colleagues. Amnesty said 21 of the Indonesian parliamentarians listed had been detained without trial under a presidential decree which allows the army to detain indefinitely those suspected of involvement in the attempted coup of 1968 and most of them had been in prison since then, It said the majority were arrested hecause of their links with the Indoneslan Communist Party (PKI), the Communist Federation of Trade Unions (SOWSI), the Peasants Organisation (BII) or the women's organisation (Gerwani)—-all of them banned since 1965. Those named included Mr Subandrio, 62, forme: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mr Setiadi Reksoprodjo, 55, former Minister for Electrical Fnergy and Power, Mr Osi Tju Tat, 55, Minister without Portfolio at the time of his arrest, Mr Armunanto, 59, former Minister for Mining, and Mr Achamad Astrawinata, Minister for Justice until his arrest. Five women parliamentarians named in the list ‘included Mrs Kartinah Kurdi, a 54-year-old mother of nine, Mrs Untiharti Sardjono, chairwoman of the women’s organisation, and Mrs Abdul Rachman Sundari, 55, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1976. ‘Parliamentarians detained in Sings: pore were named as Mr Chia Thye Poh, 36, atrested in 1960 because of his activ opposition to the government and alleged involvement with the Malaysian Communist Party, and Chinese-born Mr Lee Tze-tong, 45, thought to have been arrested in 1963 for opposing the merger of Singapore with the federation of Malaysia. Singapore withdréw from the federation in 1965, In the Philippines, Mr Benigne Aquinon, a 43-year-old former senator widely regarded as President Marcos’ main rival for election which should have been held in 1973, was still being tried by a omfilitary coun. Arrested soon after declaration of martial jaw, he is charged with subversion, murder and illegal possession of firearms, Amnesty said. In Malaysia, Mr Chian Heng Kai, who was arrested in -Parliament last year, was still awaiting trial on charges of “indirectly helping to advance the communist cause in. Malaysta,” it sald. - PAK ARRESTS In Pakistan, Amnesty named five leading mémbets of the. opposition National Awami Party, now banned, |who were arrested tor demanding “greater autonomy for Pakistan’s four provinces. Four of them, Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizenjo, Mr Abdul Wali Khan, Mr Khair Baksh Marri and Sardar Ataullah ‘Khan Mengal had now been brought to trial but Mr Gul Khan Nasir was being tried on charges unconnected with his arrest, it said. Two of the detainees wére suffering from heart problems. Six other Pakistani parliamentarians -were named, three of whom wete being tried by a special court inside Hyderabad jail. ‘Amnesty said that Mr Kim Dae Jung, South Korean opposition candidate who stood against President Park Chung-hee in the _ presidential election of 1971, was seriously j! with sciatica and was heing kept (in solitary confinement. Mr Kim, who left South Korea after his defeat, was kiinapped in Tokyo in 1973 and forcibly returned home where he has been in prison since March 1976. | —n Viet Nam, Mr Tran Van Tuyen, a iawyer anid secretary-general of the ‘Viet. Nam Nationalist Party until (1975, was now reported to be in prison in Ho Chi Minh city (for- ‘merly Saigon), | The former Speaker of the Nepal} Parliamemt, Mr Krishna Prasad Bhat Arai, 68, who was detained in 1960 but later released, was again in pre ventive detention, Mr Arai, former secretary-general of ‘the Nepali Congress, and Mr Bodh Prasad Upadhaya. a former member of the Upper House, were arrésted in November 1976 just before the return of the former Nepali Congress leader, Mr B. P, Koirala, from selfimposed exile in India. Amnesty said Mr Unadhaya, 56, who was being held in Jail at Janakpur, sufférs from tuberculosts, Further reproduction prohibited without permission.