continued from page 3

b.

.5“ f

I

AI is not a broad— based human rights ‘ organization, but a very focused movement that concerns itself with just a few, very. important rights and violations. this respect, we are absolutely correct in insisting that the debate needs to focus on govern— mental ,accountablility.

v In the United States, it has been said that the concern is not human rights_ so much as terrorism. :3 Well, that's: what we are working on, isn't it?

Terrorism. Govern- mental terrorism, anybody's terrOrism. oppoSes _ these violatiOns perpetrated by Whoevsr‘ff When A V ' privatefgfioUpsg‘orr“ -¥

gover'. -. - 2, ‘ ‘ liBefc-Efifon Esra hostages {for’a‘ssass inate ' ‘ people" with Very few exceptions—4 and Iran was

one such exception — the whole weight of national and international police power descends on the perpetrators. Whereas when governments

practice terrorism, there tends to be silence.

While we say in AI that we can never claim success, we can be very satisfied‘of doing our . work, and Successful to the extent that if we can do nomore than make sure that when these violations occur, never again should" there be this monumental silence. And of. course We do a great deal more.

All of you, I'mpsure, have to .grityour- teeth on many occasions while writing sweet'requesting letters to very nasty People. But the fact is When we do that it is an effort; to call to the . attention of governments that they are in violation of their own commitments and underatkings. ‘

Torture is to be proscribed and condemned

In

at ‘all levels and under all

~ remakes -

v

\

!

circumstances and certainly We are not going .to draw any lines of permissable limits.

Is there a difference between totalitarian and authoritarian forms of government? I often am

I asked this question.

If you look at the AI Annual Report you see that 110 countries are listed for violating human rights, from extreme left to extreme right and every- thing in between. The tragedy is that the words left and right, liberal and conservative,» progressive and reactionary, don't

The/SUN, Thursday, October 8, 1981, page 11

of impartiality never

> neutrality because we are

passionate about these matters — is terribly important and justified. And not let us forget that pecple in 130 countries, of all kinds of political persuations, become members of AI.

Minutes after John Spenkelink was executed in

. Florida, our phones began

to ring. The first pecple to call us were the radio and television networks and the wire services, and all of them wanted to know from me; "Is this an indication that there is a political wing to the right?"

This made me very

seem to ve much meaning in AI'S concerns. People ' of all kinds of political persuasions seem to be

not only able, but willing

to violate the rights which

AI tries to defend. Their political orientation may cover their rhetoric, but

it doesn't give any guarantees one way or the other, and

, surely, the prisoners them-‘

selves cound't care less under which particular ideology they are being

ed. And so our stance 5.3- . . - --_-.-... -;- ‘-' ‘Y-s.‘ '-' -'.\' \‘V -. . . »

angry, because it had nothing to do between left and right, liberal or conservative swings. A person can be of any , political persuasion and be totally’outraged by inhuman- ity. ~ We must never forget that. ‘ I always feel that the voices of the prisoners we work for need to be heard. Here is an exerpt from Jacobo Timerman' 5 book ‘ ' "Prisoner without a name,._;; 'Cell withou a ‘Ntinbef'j .

\ .x‘ "

are. ‘Q‘gxrim :2

\ z is worthwhile.

Am‘nesty' can‘t

(Random House) . Jacobo Timerman was a prisoner of conscience in Argentina. A journalist who became a publisher, who became a prisoner ,of conscience and was subjected to torture. After 30 months in captivity,

he was finally thrown out of th

e country and now lives in Israel.

I thought it would be impossible for any person to write about pure horror and turn it into pure pOetry. But the book is that way. It is very moving and extraor- dinarily detailed.

The final chapter of this book reads:

"Have you ever looked into the eyes of another person, on the floor of a cell, who that he's about to die, no .One has told so? 'He knows that he's-about to die, but he clingstto 4 his biologicaldesire to live ,_ asma single hope, since ‘no mama‘s toldrhim that he's to be executed.

I have many such gazes imprinted upon me. Each time I Write or utter words of hope, words of confidence in the definitive triumph of . man, I‘m fearful — fearful of losing sight of one of thOse gazes. At‘ night,

.I recount them, recall

them,~ re-seei‘ng them, cleanse them, illumine them. These gazes, 'which I encountered in the clandestine prisons of Argentina, and which I have retained one by one, were the culminating point, the purest moment of my tragedy. They are here with me today. And although I might wish to do so, I would not know how to share them with you. I!

It is impossible for us to share these gazes, yet,nonetheless, we plod away with this difficult, frustrating, ongoing, :5. pertinent and pernacious "-‘3' kind of work; because it