Dear Minister,
			Amnesty International has on two occassions, in October 1985 and in August 1987, 
expressed concern to your government about the case of nine Kurdish refugees who 
have been under town arrest since 1984 as a result of an administrative order. 
Your goverment has on both occations stated that it would not take any action as 
a result of Amnesty International's intervention. We respectfully urge you, 
again to reconsider their case.
Amnesty International's concerns relating to this case derive from article 1 (b) 
of its Statute which sets out its mandate with respect to fair and prompt 
trials. Article 1 (b) states that the organization shall oppose 'by all approriate means the detention of any prisoners of conscience or political 
prisoners without trial within a reasonable time or any trial procedures 
relating to such prisoners that do not conform to internationally recognized 
norms'.
In December 1984 the government decided that nine Kurdish refugees should be 
deported from Sweden pursuant to Section 47 of the Aliens Act (1980:376) on the 
grounds that they were suspected of being terrorists. Att the same time the 
government decided that the expulsion order should not be deferred, as the nine 
Kurds might face political persecution if returned to their country of origin. 
As the expulsion order could not be carried out with immedeate effect your 
government decided to impose certain restrictions on their freedom under 
section 74 of the Act.
Now, four years after the restrictions of their freedom of movement were 
imposed, the nine Kurds AA, NA, IC, HI, GK, HK, ES, MT and AU, remain under town 
arrest. To comply with the administrative order they have to report three times 
a week to the police and cannot leave or change their towns of residence without 
prior permission from the police. Breach of any of these regulations may result 
in imprisonment of up to one year. Your government did not give any indication 
as to when these restrictions might be lifted.
On 19 May 1988, the Ministry of Labour issued a press release confirming once 
more that the government had decided not to change its decision either on the 
expulsion of the nine kurds or on the restrictions.
In September the Minister of Immigration [Georg Andersson] issued Committee 
Directive 1988:49 in which he called for a review of the anti-terrorist 
regulations in the aliens legislation ...
However, Amnesty International is concerned that despite the review, the nine 
Kurdish refugees remain under town arrest and there appears to be no 
possibility that the restrictions of their freedom of movement will be 
reviewed by a judicial body. In the light of its continuing concerns, our 
organization is seeking further clarification from you about the existing 
procedures according to which the restrictions have been imposed upon the nine 
Kurds as well as the procedures for review of such decisions.
			
Amnesty International notes that in December 1984 the government decided that a 
number of Kurdish refugees should be expelled from Sweden in accordance with 
Section 47 and Section 30 of the Aliens Act, on the grounds that they were 
suspected terrorists...
Would you please inform us whether any regulations or guidelines have been 
issued to assist in the interpretation of of Section 30. What constitutes, for 
example, 'good grounds' for assuming that a person belongs to or is working for 
a terrorist organization? What are the criteria for determing precisely which 
particular individuals it is feared will 'resort to violence, threats or 
coercion to political ends' outside their home country?
			
If no such guidance has been given by your government, would you please inform 
us if there are court rulings assisting the interpretation of Section 30.
We understand that your government's decision to expel the nine Kurds was 
preceded by an inquiry held before the Stockholm District Court.
			
We note that the Minister of Immigration in Committe Directive 1988:49 stated 
that the court shall not reach a decision or issue any statement upon completion 
of the hearing. According to the Minister, the aim of the hearing is to promote 
a thorough ivestigation of the case, and the minutes of the proceedings shall 
become part of the goverment's decision. According to Section 60 of the Aliens 
Act the alien shall be given given the opportunity to state his viewpoint and 
to comment on the circumstances cited in the case against him.
Furthermore, this section provides that the inquiry shall be held in public if 
the aliens so requests and the authority does not feel that that circumstances 
demand otherwise. The Minister states in the same Directive that in cases where, 
for reasons of secrecy, a document cannot be revealed to the alien 
himself/herself (according to Chapter 14, paragraph 10 of the National Secrets 
Act) his/her legal representative may be granted access to the information upon 
certain conditions.
The Minister also states that only in a few of the inquiries in respect of 
terrorist cases held to date have documents been completely withheld from the 
alien concerned. We furthermore note his comment that a public representative is 
present during the hearing to safeguard the public interest and tat his/her 
task is to ensure that all questions are posed in an all-round and exhaustive 
manner. He also notes that the public representative is normally a member of the 
National State Police Board.
However, the hearing in the case of the nine Kurdish refugees before the 
Stockholm District Court was held in camera despite requests by their 
representatives that it be held in public. These legal representatives have 
stated that the hearing was more like interrogation than an investigation. The 
members of National State Police Board, reportedly present in their capacity as 
public representatives as well as investigators of the case, refused requests 
made by the lawyers to give information for the basis of their suspicions 
against the nine Kurds. Rather, the National Secrets Act had been invoked to 
withhold information completely from them and from their legal representatives 
on the grounds of national security.
Could you please inform us in which of the cases of the nine Kurds such 
information was withheld, and on what grounds? Could you also inform us what 
legal safeguards exist to ensure that the National Secrets Act is not invoked by 
the authorities in an arbitrary manner? What were the exect reasons for 
conducting the hearing in camera? We would furthermore like to know whether the 
members of the National State Police Board who were present were members of the 
Swedish Security Police (SAPO)..
The nine Kurds allege that they were not informed by the government about the 
basis of the suspicions against them. Therefore we would like to know whether, 
and if so how, the nine Kurds were informed..
			
Were they provided with a written statement setting out the grounds for the 
suspicions against them? If so, did these statements enumerate specific 
individualized reasons for imposing the restrictions?...
According to Section 73 of the Act the government shall re-examine its expulsion 
			order  'when there is cause to do so'... In a press release of 19 May 1988 issued 
by the Ministry of Labour it was stated that that  'there are no indications that 
any of those exepelled have changed his/her attitude to the PKK (Workers Party 
of Kurdistan). Accordingly, there is no reason to change the decision taken by 
the Government in December 1984...'
Did the persons on whom restrictions hade been placed have the opportunity ta 
attend the review, to have their views heard and to have legal representation? 
Were they informed about the reasons for continuation of restrictions. On what 
grounds did the government decide that none of the nine Kurds had changed their 
attitudes to the PKK?
 
We understand that a hearing will take place before the Supreme Court in the 
cases of ... in which they will appeal against convictions for having breached 
the regulations imposing restriction on their freedom of movement. We are told 
that the lawyers for the two will argue, inter alia ... that the government's 
decision was imposed in breach of Chapter 2 (9) of the Swedish Constitution. 
This chapter gives anyone deprived of his liberty on suspicion of having 
committed a crime, or for other reasons deprived of his liberty, the right to 
have his case tried by a court without excessive dealy. The right is also 
applicable to foreigners residing in Sweden.
Amnesty International is concerned about claims made by the lawyers of the nine 
Kurds that they have not been able to challenge the legality of the restrictions 
imposed on their clients before an independent court on the grounds that the 
courts have decided that the restrictions are not considered to be deprivation 
of liberty. In view of this, we would be grateful if you could inform us whether 
any other procedure exists through which the legality of administrative orders 
such as these can be challenged.
We look forward to receiving a reply to the above questions att your earliest 
convenience.