New York Times
Letters
Published January 9, 1997

To the Editor:

"New Attention to Harsh Conditions in Peru's Prisons" (news article, Dec. 31) mentions the one-year isolation that many political prisoners suffer, but some have been kept isolated far longer. The chairman of the Communist Party of Peru, Abimael Guzmán, has been held in an underground tomb for more than four years, with no visits allowed from his lawyers, family or doctors.

Despite claims that Mr. Guzmán is calling for an end to the 16-year-long Maoist insurgency, none of the international delegations that have tried to visit him, including the one I traveled on in 1992, have been allowed to do so.

Heriberto Ocasio
Berkeley, Calif., Jan. 7, 1997
The writer is national spokesman of the Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru