Amnesty cities disappearances

At the opening of its annual meeting, a spokesman for the American chapter of Amnesty International said regard for human rights has worsened during the past year in areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Amnesty International USA is particularly alarmed over "new techniques of suppression," especially reports of mass disappearances in Afghanistan, Argentina, Ethiopia, and throughout Central America.

between 400 and 500 delegates from the United States, Canada, and Mexico are participating in the four-day meeting. Former Argentina newspaper publisher Jacobo Timerman, who was imprisoned and tortured for 30 months without trial in Argentina, and Romanian free trade union leader Nicolae Dascalu were to address the organization Sunday night.

Today (June 15) the group plans a candlelight gathering in front of the Jefferson Memorial to hear speeches from former Tanzanian, Soviet, Cuban, Argentine, South Korean, and American "prisoners of conscience."

Amnesty International USA is one of 41 national sections of the London-based group, which won a Nobel Prize in 1977. Founded in 1961, it now has representatives in 134 countries.