Transcript
Page 1: AMNESTY RIGHTS - Home | Amnesty International · U.K. AMNESTY RIGHTS movement DETAILS freedom religion page 4 12 1961 abroad Law O'Brien Greece M.P. Beran Mystery Enemies Notes ABU

Is. post free U.K.

AMNESTY HUMAN RIGHTSJournal of the AMNESTY movement DAY DETAILS

An international movement for freedomof opinion and religion see page 4

No. 12 29th November, 1961

For subscriptions see page 7 Is. 3d. post free abroad

The Justice of the Lawby R. A. G. O'Brien

Shadow over Greeceby R. W. Sorenson, M.P.

The Beran Mystery

The Emperor's Enemies

Amnesty Notes

ABU cartoon on page 3

OpportunitySHORTLY after you receive this issue of

Amnesty theL-7movement as a whole will be given the opportunity of takinga large step forward.

But before we think of the future we can draw someencouragement from a number of things that have happenedsince the Appeal for Amnesty was first launched and in the sixmonths since this journal first appeared.

For a start, the Russian leaders seem recently to have abjuredsome of the cruel persecution that went on during Stalin's reign.If conditions in the Soviet Union are not all AMNESTY wouldlike, they are at least a little better than they were under Stalin.

Another Communist tyranny seems to have sufferedposthumous humiliation. The Czech Communists seem to befurning away from the adulation of the late Klement Gottwaldunder whom Archbishop Beran and Mr. Sum (mentioned in thelast issue) both suffered.

On this side of the Iron Curtain there are thousands still inprison for their beliefs. Inside, Mr. Sorenson writes of badconditions in Greece, but he does mention that the number ofpolitical prisoners, although still large, has fallen by about 200this year.

Finally, at home, we can report that our own Governmenthas given a year's asylum to Mr. Wang who was mentioned inAmnesty earlier in the year.

All these diverse items of news are no more than pinpricksof light for which this movement can hardly claim credit. Butthey are all to the good. Who knows how these pinpricks maygrow in the next six months?

An opportunity of bringing the cause of liberty of consciencemore into the public eye will occur on Human Rights Day,Sunday, December 10th. AMNESTY'S plans for this day arealready well advanced. Suggestions about how every AMNESTYsupporter can make them a success are set out inside.

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THE JUSTICEOF THE LAW

By R. A. G. O'Brien

Ibis article has been specially

written for " Amnesty" by a lead-ing Catholic lawyer to express Hu'

Christian attitude towards unjust

laws.

rr HE maxim " lex iniusta nonest lex" is hardly more

acceptable to the modern commonlawyer than it is to the logicalpositivist. The latter is likely toconsign it to the category of im-probable value statements. Forthe former the difficulty is one ofdefinition ; nurtured on " com-mand " and voluntarist theoriesof law he is apt to regard allcommands of the sovereign dulypromulgated as law whether theybe just or not. De Lolme'sdictum that " Parliament can doeverything but make a woman aman, and a man a woman " hasbeen restated thus by a modernAttorney-General : Parliamentis sovereign: it can make any laws.It could ordain that all blue-eyedbabies should be destroyed atbirth."

It is, however, just because suchatrocities have in fact been fre-quently committed in our times withall the sanction of legality that areaction has set in. In the middleof the last war Dr. NathanielMicklem preached a remarkablesermon to the members of the Innerand Middle Temples. Havingshown that Hitler's tyranny wasquite legal, he pointed the moral:" Consider what your instinctivereprobation implies. Here are actswhich on paper are legal, yet youfeel them to be the utter repudiationof the reign of law. That meansthat law as you understand andreverence it has some essential con-nection with ethics." Law, heconcluded, is not so much the ex-pression of the law-giver's will, asthe expression, however imper fect,of eternal Justice, the EternalReason.

The proposition that municipallaw is not necessarily just and to beblindly obeyed was given practicalexpression in the War Criminaltrials, where many of the chargescould only be jurically justified onthe ground that there is a funda-mental standard of justice and rightbehaviour, which underlies all posi-tive law and is therefore owed priorallegiance. The same conceptappears in the attempts to frameDeclarations of Human Rights,whether of the United Nations or ofthe Council of Europe.

Indeed, the common man hasnever accepted that what is legal isnecessarily just. He has often beenheard to grumble that " it may belaw but it isn't fair." He willacknowledge as fair, and so just,what he regards as reasonable incontrast to that which is arbitraryand inexplicable. Unlike the Greeksceptics, the medieval nominalistsand the disciples of Hobbes,Rousseau or Hegel, who all con-sidered law as the expression of will,St. Thomas Aquinas, and themedieval common lawyers lookedupon it as a dictate of reason. Law,if it was law, was reasonable whetherthe immediate lawgiver was God,the Church or secular authority; thewill of the Prince was only law ifguided by reason—otherwise it waslawlessness. Natural law whichapplied to all men precisely byvirtue of their human nature, wasthe participation by a rationalcreature in the divine law: it was alaw issuing from the divine reasonand ascertainable by the reason of arational creature.

There are laws of nature to controlthe physical world. It is, therefore,not illogical to suppose that manalso has his law consisting of a bodyof general principles to guide hisconduct as a rational creature.Once this is admitted, it follows thatthe main function of positive humanlaws is to apply these generalprinciples to actual and contempor-ary conditions and to deal with anumber of details which are necess-ary in modern communities and forwhich the natural law makes noprovision. In this sense positivelaw is subordinate to natural law.If it enacts something contrary to thenatural law, it not only attempts to

achieve what is unnatural, and our nature always reasserts herself—asthe Russians found when they hadto rescind their laws allowing free-dom of abortion : but, what is moreto our point, the positive law thendoes something it has no right to doby contradicting what is anterior to,and more fundamental than, itself.

The same conclusion is reachedby considering what is the justifica-tion of political authority. No manhas any innate power over hisfellows. The basis of politicalauthority has been sought in fictionsof social compacts and general wills,in less subtle doctrines based onclubs being trumps or in theoriesfounded on the supposed superiorityof party or race. Rejecting all these,the traditional Christian view takesits origin from Christ's warning toPilate that all authority is fromGod—a view applied by both St.Peter and St. Paul; but, as St.Thomas Aquinas and Pope LeoXIII indicated, it is for the citizensof a community to decide by whomthat authority is to be wielded. Hewho exercises political authorityhas, therefore, no right to do what isagainst the law of God (for he wouldto that extent forfeit his title to thatauthority); but the natural law ispart of this law of God; and so hewho exercises political authority hasno right to do what is contrary tothe natural law. If he does, nomatter whether we call the result lawor not, he acts ultra vires.

The ultimate sanction for law isnot the truncheon or the bayonet,but, as Professor Goodhart hasshown in this " English Law and theMoral Law," the respect which thelaw commands. This respect isborn of a sense of obligation, whichis a moral concept. If the law isarbitrary or unjust it will inevitablylose any respect and moral claim toobedience. It can then only bemaintained by force; which istyranny. If justice be the giving ofevery man his due that body ofprinciples which is grounded inhuman nature is likely to constitutethe surest guide to what is due toeach man and also to justice.Observance of the natural law is,therefore, the most potent bulwarkalike against injustice, disrespect ofthe law and oppression.

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SHADOW OVERGREECE

By R. W. Sorenson, M.P.

OVER modern Greece, withits many memorials

to an ancient glory, lies the heavy shadow ofexiles, prisoners and detainees.

Some 113 are in detention under Law 375 of 1936,which, according to an International Commission ofJurists, should have long since have. been abrogated.In this category is Manilos Glezos, who gave the signalfor the Greek Liberation Movement to begin by tearingdown the swastika flag one night in 1941 during theGerman occupation. After years of post-war detentionhe was charged with " espionage," sentenced to sixyears' imprisonment and incarcerated in Aegina Prison.However, the military court that sentenced him forfailing to report espionage activities later admitted thatin fact there had not been espionage activities! Thetrial of Glezos, who was a Communist, appears inreality to have been a political trial; and despite manyappeals and protests from European non-Communistshe remains in prison.

A second category includes those sentenced under theThird Emergency which was imposed during the CivilWar of 1946 to 1949, and is still in force. This measureenables civilians to be tried by Courts Martial, andamong the 543 prisoners charged and sentenced underthis procedure is Tony Ambatielos, married to anEnglishwoman living in this country. He has been inprison now for more than 13 years,

A third category consists of men and womensentenced by Civil Courts in 1945 for " crimes duringthe resistance " and of these there are 757, includingAthanasis Elfandis, a teacher, who led a resistance unitagainst the Nazis and was thanked by British militaryauthorities.

Many others are in enforced exile in remote parts ofthe mainland or on distant islands, although no chargehas been formulated against them. They includeDr. Antonis Flountzis, well known to some BritishLabour politicians who have made futile representationson his behalf. There are yet others held in housearrest who have regularly and frequently to report tothe police. The burden imposed on relatives havingto journey long distances to visit them and the difficultyof getting employment for those detained outside prisonis obvious.

Having paid two visits to Greece I am acutely awareof the suffering all this involves, for I was able to meetmany of the wives and families of prisoners or exilesand also many who had been released or were still undersevere restriction. It was significant that when in aninterview with the Minister of Justice I mentioned

(Continued on page 8)

a

"It's just the thought of Christmas

that makes Inc feel lonely."

Amnesty Notes

3

D OCTOR KOFI BUSIA, the Ghanaian Oppo-sition leader who is at present living in theNetherlands, has opened an International Defenceand Aid Fund to assist 11,000 political exiles fromGhana who are now living in other W. Africancountries.

At a press conference held in the Houses ofParliament on November 21st, he announced thatA MNESTY would act as trustees for the fund.Contributions should be sent to 1, Mitre CourtBuildings, Temple, London, E.C.4., marked" Ghana Defence and Aid Fund."

P ETER BENENSON is to speakon

AMNESTY at a public meeting to be heldby the newly formed " Threes " group in Hamp-

stead. The meeting, which will be chaired by Tom

(Continued on page 8)

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HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

rr HE central ceremony organised by AMNESTYis to take place in the crypt of St. Marttn's-in-the-

Fields at 3 p.m. During the ceremony the "AMNESTYCandle " will be lit and at the end this candle willbe brought out from the crypt and placed inside acoil of barbed wire on the porch of the church. Fromthen on, and throughout the night the church will bekept specially open for prayer and meditation onbehalf of those who are being persecuted for theiropinion or their religion.

There will be a vigil of six people standing roundthe candle on the porch until 9 p.m. From that timeonwards the vigil will move inside the church whichwill remain open all night on this occasion.

Those who wish to attend the ceremony in the cryptarc asked to write to Amnesty for a ticket to makesure of a place, but we hope that as manyAMNESTY supporters as can manage to, will cometo St. Martin's for at least a short while during the24 hours from 3 p.m. on the Sunday.

Human Rights Day is also being commemoratedin the following cities:—

Bristol EdinburghBirmingham OxfordDerby PlymouthGlasgow Sheffield

If Human Rights Day is not being formally com-memorated at your church on Sunday, December10th, we ask you to use your influence to see thatspecial prayers are offered on Human Rights Day.Special prayer sheets are available from theAMNESTY office.

ther of Aberbitt

HUMAN RDecembe

at 3Conducted by the Rev.

St. Martins-in-the-Fields.

Singing led by the SCongregational Church.

INTRODUCTION fromARTICLES 18 & 19 from

Two Readings :Churchill's written M'

Executive.

Roosevelt's Speech on '

Psalm 102 sung by the Sh

The Rt. Hon. James John i. 1-14, while Amnesty

Letters to DiplomaticScouts.

Christmas Carol " All pothe Sherard Singers.

Prayers for Human Righ

Hymn: " God of Gracethe congregation.

BENEDICTION.

4

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DECEMBER 10th

i0 raper0 Jesus Christ the Comforter, shield from affliction and despair the families of those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Be Thou their Father and their shelter and make a speedy end to their hopelessness.

Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Volunteers for Human Rights DayTo make Human Rights Day a success at

least the following number of volunteers areneeded :—

For the Vigil 36 men and women toallow replacements at hourly intervals (from3 p.m. to 9 p.m.)

For the protection of the Church—eightmen (from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. on Mondaymorning). (The Vicar of St. Martins-in-the-Fields insists that they must be men, as theChurch is open all night).

For catering—sot women (from 3 p.m. to4 p.m.). The Scouts and others will needrefreshment after the ceremony.

For ,vtewarding—two or three people todeal with tickets and showing people to theirseats (3 p.m. to 4 p.m.).

" AMNESTY Candles." consisting of a candleinside a twisted strand or coil of barbed wire, can beeasily constructed. Supporters are asked to make onefor themselves, and to have it burning in their homeon Human Rights Day. Those who wish to, areinvited to leave the candle in position throughout theChristmas period as a reminder of the purposes ofthe Human Rights Day ceremony.

GHTS DAY10, 1961

p.m.Austen Williams—Vicar of

erard Singers of Eltham

Gospels by the Vicar andlaration of Human Rights.

ute on the power of the

The Four Freedoms."

rard Singers.

iffiths, P.C., M.P. readingCandle is lighted.

issions handed over to the

men and humble " sung by

Day.

God of Glory "—sung by

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The Mystery of Archbishop BeranSINCE June of this year AMNESTY has been pressing the Czech authorities to reveal the present

condition and whereabouts of Monsignor Josep Beran, Archbishop of Prague. The Archbishop,to whose sermons the Government took exception, was imprisoned in his palace in 1949. He was removedto an unknown destination in 1951. Since then a number of stories have circulated about his circumstances:all agree that he has been in bad health—the Archbishop spent much of the war in Dachau concentrationcamp, a prisoner of the Nazis. Some sources have suggested that the Archbishop is no longer alive.Following publicity of AMNESTY's actions, many people from all over the world have been writingto the Czech Government, or to the Czech Embassy in their own country, to ask for information. Noanswer has been given to these inquiries and the great majority have not even been acknowledged.In a further effort to obtain information AMNESTY recently sent a representative to call on theCzech Embassy in London. The reception was courteous and the information given was as follows:—

Archbishop Beran is not in prison. He is physically well, and is being cared for by nuns. He is studying and writing, and is permitted to celebrate Mass privately.

The Czech Embassy declined to disclose the Archbishop's address, giving as one reason that theArchbishop did not want to be disturbed by foreign reporters.AMNESTY has written a letter to the Czech Ambassador calling on him to transmit a request to hisGovernment. It is that the Archbishop should be allowed to return to Prague to celebrate ChristmasMass in his own cathedral.The Archbishop's name figures among those of 144 Prisoners of Conscience to whom you are invitedto send a Christmas card.Special AMNESTY cards are available for this purpose from:—

AMNESTY Christmas Card Department,153, Victoria Street,

London, S.W.1. Price 6s. 9d. per dozen, post free.

THE EMPEROR'S ENEMIESBY AN AMNESTN CORRESPONDENT

Formerly a member of the household of H.I.H. the Emperor Haile SelassieI T is very difficult to know where many prisons

are in Ethiopia. There are few detention centresor concentration camps in the country to comparewith those that have existed in Europe during thiscentury, but, for all that, the lot of the politicaloffender in Ethiopia is hardly less rigorous.

One of the principal punishments of those who dis-agree with the Emperor and the current political ideasin Ethiopia is banishment. People from Godjam aredumped in Harar, Somalis are deported to Begemder,and so on—the criterion is that the offender should beleft among strangers.

Most doors are shut to the exile once it is known thathe is out of favour with Haile Selassie. The Emperor islooked on as head of the Church and the cousin ofChrist, and anyone who is his enemy is regarded as atraitor to his country and an infidel.

Deprived of resources the exile has to go from villageto village as a beggar or live off the country huntingbirds or collecting wild fruit.

Some political detainees are used as slave labour inthe country's gold mines in the forest of Adola. I havehad first-hand reports from prisoners who have testifiedthat dozens of their fellows have died every month fromthe effects of emetics given to them to make sure theydid not smuggle away small nuggets by swallowingthem.

About 120 of those who were involved in the recentrising against Haile Selassie are at present in the Akakiprison in Addis Ababa including Major Yohanes Paulosand Major Getachew Afework.

A further 260 officers arrested after the rebellion havebeen detained in the Karakore region, and 160 cadetsare imprisoned in Asmara in Eritrea.

The tortures that these men are undergoing is suchthat I appeal for the intervention of an internationalhumanitarian body to investigate the conditions underwhich these and others live; the Ethiopian Red Crossis not effective—it is administered by a governing boardappointed by the Emperor.

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IHave you joined Amnesty yet ?'TIDE purpose of " Amnesty

is to mobilise public opinionthroughout the world in favourof releasing Prisoners of Con-science, and effective guaranteesfor opinion and religion. Ourjob is to set a tide running inthe affairs of the world againstpersecution of people for theirideas, and set up organismswhich over the years may proveeffective in bringing about bothreleases and improvements inthe law.

YOU can become a subscriberto " Amnesty " to help withthe work of collecting and pub-lishing information about Pri-soners of Conscience and findingout the financial position of theirfamilies.

ANYONE can join by payingI a minimum of LI. This en-

titles him or her to free issuesof the bulletin, to take part inany special meetings or con-ferences and to make use of thelibrary. One pound is the mini-mum subscription. Donationsover and above are welcome.

lo: AMNESTY

(An international movement for freedom of opinion andreligion).

I. Mitre Court Buildings,

Temple,l.ondon. E.C.4.

*I wish to join the AMNESTY Movement (minimum annualsubscription LI) and I enclose cheque/ P.O.for s. d.

*I am sending th2. names and addresses of the following peoplewho I think would like to hear more about the AMNESTYMovement.

2

3.

My name is

Address

* Delete if inapplicable.

" The SpectatorThe first and liveliest of the

British weeklies

Every Friday, 9d.

7

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AMNESTY NOTESContinued from page 3

Sargent of Justice, is at 8.30 p.m. on December6th at Burgh House, Flask Walk. Hampstead.

Invitations have gone out to local organisations.AMNESTY supporters in North London are in-vited to go along with their friends.

H AMPSTEAD is not the only place that hasstarted a " Threes " group to adopt specificprisoners of conscience and their families. A grouphas started in Norway and one is expected tobe formed soon in Australia. At home the LondonSchool of Economics has plans to start one.

Anyone who feels that he is not going to beshamed by London students, Norwegians orAustralians can get help in forming his own groupfrom the AMNESTY office at 1, Mitre CourtBuildings, E.C.4.

SENOR RAMON ALVAREZ, former Secre-1.3 tary-General of the Spanish C.N.T. TradeUnion Movement, was arrested by the Frenchauthorities on October 12th. Sr. Alvarez has livedin France as a political refugee since 1938. Con-cerned because he had been denied bail,AMNESTY wrote a letter to the French Embassyin London on November 7th. Within two weeksnews came from the British branch of the C.N.T.that Sr. Alvarez had now been released. Thankswere expressed to AMNESTY for its intervention.

SHADOW OVER GREECEContinued from page 3

certain cases I was informed that they did not comewithin his jurisdiction but that of the Minister of theInterior.

I detected in many people a mood of apprehensionlest at any time they would be seized by the police anddisappear without charge or trial. Now that theGeneral Election is over and Mr. Karamanlis is againin power renewed efforts must be made to secure ageneral amnesty. Greece is unlikely to move out ofits tragic shadow until and unless the Government nowin power can be induced to see the wisdom of a generalamnesty.

Undoubtedly savage acts were committed during theCivil War.

Yet it is not only those guilty of violence who aresuffering incarceration in various forms, but othersagainst whom the only possible charge is that ofsubversion or association with suspected persons.Many are Communists or supporters of the Left WingE.D.A., but many are not and some of the Centreand even of the Right have been victims of the prolongedGovernment action in repressing opponents, or areseverely critical of it.

Savage deeds were done during the time of theNational Resistance and the Civil War. The bestcourse is now not to sustain an era of bitterness, butto apply clemency.

The Sunday Times of 16th April, 1961, stated that1,422 were prisoners and although by November thisnumber had been reduced to 1,231 that formidablenumber, including those who have languished for manyyears and many of whom have committed no crime is ameasure of the need for the spirit of clemency tointervene.

CONVOYS LTD.

Officially Appointed Travel Agents To

" ODYSSEY "

Head Office 6, Bouverie Street, London, E.C.4.

FLEet Street 4060 (15 lines)

Tothill Street,London, S.W.1.Trafalgar 5445.

6, Carlton Place, Glasgow, C.5.

Glasgow South 3325.

17, Merton Road, Bootle, Liverpool, 20

Bootle 4141. Worsley Road,

Swinton, Manchester. Swinton 3221.

For ChrigonasWhy not send all your friends

the AMNESTY card this year? Ithas six pointed quotations in sixlanguages, attractively set in redand black. And it is cheap, too;6s. 9d. per dozen, or £1 per threedozen (post free).

And please send a few to pri-soners. Each box of twelve has alist of prisoners' names and ad-dresses. Remember " The FOR-GOTTEN PRISONERS" thisChristmas and HELP AMNESTY.

All cards (including samples)can be obtained from AMNESTYCHRISTMAS CARD Dept., 153,Victoria Street, London, S.W.1.

Published by Appeal for Amnesty 1961. 1 Mitre Court Buildings. London, E.C.4, and produced in the ILK. for the publishers by the Co-operative Printing Society Ltd.. (1.1.1.). 7-11, Tudor Street, London. E.C.4.


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