Amnesty asks N.Z. lawyers for help

Press, 19 September 1985, Page 24

Amnesty asks N.Z. lawyers for help

PA Wellington Amnesty International has challenged New Zealand’s reputation for moral leadership by calling on lawyers and jurists to assist in its missions. The chairman of Amnesty in New Zealand, Mr Bill Smith, said that helping in the monitoring of trials and prison conditions “would be proof that this reputation was deserved.” Mr Smith said Amnesty would be able to increase its research cover in the Pacific area because a new programme providing extra resources for the worldwide organisation had been launched at an international council meeting in Helsinki. “It means we can employ more skilled researchers ...

we can check the facts ” about political imprisonment, torture and execu- -<□ tions, send representatives a to monitor trials, provide medical care and oversee prison conditions.” It would also enable xwidespread publicity campaigns in more languages and more countries, he said. The programme was a “quantum leap forward ” which would “ensure the facts were put before world opinion and effective action was taken.” Mr Smith said the programme had been made possible through an act of “astonishing community conscience” by the Norwegians who last year granted their annual telethon to Amnesty.