The Rivonia Trial - Ten Years After
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The Rivonia Trial - Ten Years After http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuun1974_08 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org The Rivonia Trial - Ten Years After Alternative title Notes and Documents - United Nations Centre Against ApartheidNo. 8/74 Author/Creator United Nations Centre against Apartheid Publisher Department of Political and Security Council Affairs Date 1974-05-00 Resource type Reports Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1964 - 1974 Source Northwestern University Libraries Description "The cause of the prisoners of apartheid is the cause of all humanity" by H.E. Mr. Edwin Ogebe Ogbu (Nigeria), Chairman of the Special Committee on Apartheid. A brief review of the "Rivonia trial" of Mandela and others. Biographical particulars on the accused in the Rivonia trial. Format extent 19 page(s) (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuun1974_08 http://www.aluka.org UNIT ON APARTHEID UNIT ON APARTHEID DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND SECURITY COUNCIL AFFAIRS No. 8/7 NO DOCUMENTS* May 1974 NVorth j AER 7I TH RIV A TRIAL - TEN Yrsit A 3 97 "The cause of th prisoners of apartheid is tie cause 1 of all hum ity" by H. E. Mr,, Edwin Ogebe Ogbu (Nigeria), h of the9 i,4 Committee on Apartheid A brief review of the "Rivonia trial" of nlg Mandela and others Biographical particulars on the accused in the Rivonia 9 trial /Note: On 12 June 1964, eight leaders of the liberation movement of South Africa were sentenced to life imprisonment, under the "sabotage act", for their leadership of the underground struggle against apartheid and for freedom, after the banning of the African political organizations. Their trial, known as the "Rivonia trial" after the name of the farm at which most of the accused were arrested, was condemned by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, as well as by numerous Governments and organizations. This issue of "Notes and Documents" is devoted to this trial and includes biographical particulars on the eight leaders who have already spent a decade in prison. The United Nations General Assembly, in resolution 3055 (XXVIII) of 26 October 1973, expressed its strong conviction that the release of the leaders of the oppressed people of South Africa and other opponents of apartheid from imprisonment and other restrictions, is essential for a peaceful solution of the grave situation in South Africa. It appealed to all Governments, organizations and individuals to undertake a more vigorous and concerted action to publicize and support the legitimate cause of all those persecuted in South Africa for opposition to apartheid and racial discrimination.7 74-10280 *All material in these notes and documents may be freely reprinted. Acknowledgement, together with a copy of the publication containing the reprint, would be appreciated. The cause of the prisoners of apartheid is the cause of all humanity On 12 June 1974 it will be ten years since Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and other leaders of the South African liberation movement were sentenced to life imprisonment. These men are in prison because they have valiantly led their people in the sacred struggle against racist oppression and exploitation, and for freedom and dignity. The South African regime has imprisoned them in defiance of repeated demands by United Nations organs that it abandon its policy of apartheid and the persecution of opponents of racism. It has, instead, enacted ever more ruthless repressive laws and jailed, banished, restricted or forced into exile, numerous leaders of the Black people, as well as a number of white opponents of .a_1rtheid. They include Mr. Robert Mangeliso Sobukwe, leader of the Pan Africanist Congress, who is under house arrest in Kimberley; Mr. Bram Fischer, a distinguished Afrikaner jurist and defence counsel in the Rivonia trial, now 70 years old, serving a term of life imprisonment in Pretoria Central Jail, Mr. Alexandre Moumbaris and Mr. Sean Hosey, Australian and Irish trade unionists, serving long terms of imprisonment for assistance to South Africanbworking people; and a large number of Black and white student leaders who have been subjected to severe restrictions for peaceful demonstrations against racial discrimination. As the United Nations General Assembly has recognized, in a resolution adopted on 26 October 1973, with only the delegation of the South African regime voting against, there can be no peaceful solution in South Africa without the liberation of these genuine leaders of the people and fighters for justice. The Special Committee on Apartheid has appealed, in a declaration in August 1973, that world public opinion keep alive the cause of the prisoners of the racist regime in South Africa which is, indeed, the cause of all humanity. NWe have a duty,, it declared, "to demonstrate our solidarity with those who are persecuted for their commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We must redouble our efforts and do all in our power to free those men and women who represent the best traditions of freedom movements, and to rid the world of the scourge of racism. ' Let the tenth anniversary of the end of the 'Rivonia trial" be the occasion to pledge unswerving solidarity with the many men and women who have been imprisoned or restricted for upholding the principles of the United Nations; to condemn the South African rigime for its crimes; and to provide all necessary assistance to the South African liberation movement in its struggle for the emancipation of the oppressed people of that country. Edwin Ogebe Ogbu Chairman Special Committee on Apartheid - 2 - A BRIEF REVIEWl OF THE "RIVONIA TRIAL" On 9 October 1963, eleven prominent leaders of the Black people of South Africa and other opponents of apartheid were charged in Pretoria with acts of sabotage and preparations for guerilla warfare. The charges arose from the underground struggle launched by Umkonto We Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), associated with the African National Congress (ANC) after the banning of the ANC in 1960. The indictment was quashed on 30 October as fatally defective. Ten of the accused were immediately re-arrested and a new indictment was served on 12 November 1963 charging two counts of sabotage and two other counts. Their trial came to be known as the "Rivonia trial" as most of the accused had been arrested on a farm in Rivonia. The following were accused: Mr. Nelson Mandela, Mr. Walter Sisulu, Mr. Dennis Goldberg, Mr. Govan Mbeki, Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada, Mr. Lionel Bernstein, Mr. Raymond Mhlaba, Mr. James Kantor, Mr. Elias Motosoaledi and Mr. Andrew Mlangeni. The first count of sabotage alleged that the accused, acting in concert with a number of persons and through their agents and servants, (a) recruited persons for instruction in the manufacture and use of explosives and for military training inside and outside South Africa; and (b) committed 154 acts of sabotage listed in the indictment. Accused one to seven were charged both in their personal capacities and as members of the National High Command of the Umkonto We Sizwe. Named as co-conspirators were twenty-two individuals and three organizations the South African Communist Party, the African National Congress and the Umkonto We Sizwe. The second count alleged further acts of recruitment of persons and thirtynine other acts of violence and sabotage, as well as a conspiracy to commit acts of guerilla warfare and violent revolution. The third count alleged that such acts were calculated to further the achievement of one or more of the objects of communism. The fourth count alleged that the accused solicited, accepted, received and paid out money to various persons to enable or assist them to commit sabotage. The case of the prosecution The prosecutor stated that the accused had plotted to commit sabotage, violence and destruction as a prelude to guerilla warfare, armed invasion of South Africa and the violent overthrow of the Government in a war of liberation planned for 1963. The plot was the work of the African National Congress which, by the latter half of 1961, had decided on a policy of violence, and for that purpose formed a military wing, the Umkonto We Sizwe. The headquarters of the organization were at Lilliesleaf Farm, Rivonia, the home of Mr. Arthur Goldreich. Basing his presentation largely on a document called 'Operation Mayibuye found at the farm, the prosecutor claimed that the accused planned guerilla warfare and had intended to produce or acquire large quantities of arms, ammunition and explosives. He charged that Mr. Dennis Goldberg had assisted in the preparations for the manufacture of explosives, arms and weapons, and in the training of men for warfare, and that Mr.