The World - News from Aug. 3, 1989

Amnesty International, the human rights group, accused the Ethiopian government of imprisoning thousands of political opponents and torturing many of them. “Methods of torture include beating on the soles of the feet, electric shocks and submersion in water,” the London-based organization said. It also said that several thousand suspected opponents of Marxist President Mengistu Haile Mariam are in prison, including about 180 detained after an abortive coup attempt in May. The group defines prisoners of conscience as those jailed for their political opinions, religious beliefs or ethnic origin.