Amnesty accuses Zaire of 'rights' violations

Amnesty International accused Zaire Tuesday of summary executions, torture, and starvation of political prisoners. The London-based human rights organization said the Zairian government of President Mobutu Sese Seko denied the charges.

Amnesty said it had found that hundreds of people in Zaire have been arbitrarily arrested, confined indefinitely to remote camps in the jungle and bush, and then tortured. It said the most notorious detention camp was Ekafera, in the equatorial region, where prisoners sleep on the floor in rodent-infested cells and receive no medical care.