Treatment of Political Prisoners and Detainees in

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Alternative title Notes and Documents - United Nations Centre Against ApartheidNo. 4/79 Author/Creator United Nations Centre against Publisher United Nations, New York Date 1979-04-00 Resource type Reports Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1979-00-00 Source Northwestern University Libraries Description TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS, DETAINEES AND CAPTURED FREEDOM FIGHTERS. Reference to some relevant laws. Analysis of information and evidence received. (a) Treatment of detainees: Detention and torture of women. Detention and torture of students and children. Cases of "disapperances". Other cases of detention. (b) Treatment of political prisoners: Cases of children. conditions. Robben Island. Central Prison. (c) Treatment of captured freedom fighters (d) Treatment of former political detainees and political prisoners and their families. (e) Recent political trials: (i) Trial of the Pretoria. (ii) The Bethal Trial. (iii) Trial of Isaac Zimu and three others. (iv) Trial of the Soveto 11. (f) Bannings and house arrests: Former political prisoners banned. Banishments from Transkei and Ciskei. Prosecution arising out of banning orders. ALLEGED RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECURITY POLICE FORCES. Format extent 39 page(s) (length/size)

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http://www.aluka.org NOTES AND DOCUMENTS*

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS* 4/79 a,-, t f ~ I I A f c nU April 1979 TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS AND DETAINEES IN SOUTH AFRICA (Note: This issue contains excerpts from the report of The Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts (E/CN.4/1311 of 26 January 1979) prepared in accordance with resolution 6 (XXXIII) of the Commission of Human Rights and decision 1978/28 of the Economic and Social Council.) 79-11546 * 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.

C 0 N T E N T S Page I. TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS, DETAINEES AND 1 CAPTURED FREEDOM FIGHTERS ...... Reference to some relevant laws ...... 1 Analysis of information and evidence received ...... 2 (a) Treatment of detainees ...... 2 Detention and torture of women ...... 9 Detention and torture of students and children ...... 12 Cases of "disapperances' ...... 13 Other cases of detention ...... 13 (b) Treatment of political prisoners ...... 15 Cases of children ...... 16 Prison conditions ...... 16 Robben Island ...... 18 ...... 22 (c) Treatment of captured freedom fighters ...... 22 (d) Treatment of former political detainees and political prisoners and their families ...... 23 (e) Recent political trials ...... 24 (i) Trial of the Pretoria 12 ...... 25 (ii) The Bethal Trial ...... 25 (iii) Trial of Isaac Zimu and three others...... 26 (iv) Trial of the 11 ...... 26 (f) Bannings and house arrests ...... 30 Former political prisoners banned ...... 32 Banishments from Transkei and Ciskei ...... 33 Prosecution arising out of banning orders ...... 34 II. ALLEGED RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECURITY POLICE FORCES ...... 35

- 1 - I. TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS; DETAINEES AND CAPTURED FREEDOM FIGHTERS Reference to some relevant laws Legislation governing detention without trial, security legislation that makes a wide range of political acts punishable by law and the laws governing the conditions of prisoners in Jail have all been described in previous reports of the Group (see in particular E/CN.h/1159, para. 50; E/CN.4/1187, paras. 30-32). At present, individuals may be held without trial under any of the following legislation: under the Terrorism or General Laws Amendment Act, pending investigation of possible charges; under the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977; or under the Internal Security Act's preventive detention clauses of Section 10. The Group has taken particular note of amendments to the law in recent years affecting court procedures, the rights of accused before and during trials, the treatment of witnesses as well as treatment of political prisoners and detainees (see E/CN.4/1270, paras. 47-52). The effects of the Criminal Procedure Act No. 51 of 1977 on political trials held during the period under review are dealt with in pages 27-28 of this report. Further recent changes in the law have restricted the rights of persons detained as State witnesses in political trials: the Criminal Procedure Matters Amendment Act, passed in July 1978, extends the period for which witnesses can be detained from six months until the end of the trial in which they are expected 1/ to appear.In addition, a Amendment Act of March 1978 empowered the Commissioner of Prisons to withdraw at his discretion the "privileges" - such as visits, letters 2/ and study facilities - of political prisoners.1/ Criminal Procedure Matters Amendment Act No. 79 of 1978. Prisons Amendment Act No. 58 of 1978.

- 2 - Analysis of information and evidence received (a) Treatment of detainees The Group's two previous reports (E/CN.4/1222, paras. 78-79, 251; and (E/CN.4/1270, paras. 56-62) reported the mass arrests and detentions that had been taking place since the series of uprisings and demonstrations that started in Soweto in June 1976. According to information available to the Group in February 1978, the Minister of Police stated that 240 persons had been held under the Terrorism Act during the year 1977, and 61 under the Internal Security Act, plus a total of 313 detained as potential witnesses, 95 of whom were still in detention on 2 February 1978.-/ He also said that 259 persons under 18, 23 of them girls, had been detained during 1977.The latest figures available to the Group have been compiled by the South African Institute of Race Relations, which gives a total of 359 persons known to be in police detention at the beginning of July 1978, of whom 180 were being held under the Terrorism Act, 15 under the General Laws Amendment Act, 111 under the Criminal Procedure Act or the Internal Security Act as potential witnesses, and 53 under the internment provisions of the Internal Security Act. 169 of this total were school pupils, and over half of these 5/ - 99 - had been held in detention for more than 18 months.These figures, taken in conjunction with those in a document submitted to the Group at its 1978 hearings by Amnesty International,-/ indicate clearly that the total number of detainees has been increasing substantially since 1976. 3/ Rand Daily Mail, 18 February 1978, quoted in Focus, No. 15, March 1978. 4/ Rand Daily Mail, 11 February 1978, quoted in Focus, No. 15, March 1978. 5/ Focus, No. 18, September 1978, quoted Rand Daily Mail, 1, 5 August 1978. 6/ Political Imprisonment in South Africa; An Amnesty International Report, 1978, pp. 38-39.

- 3 - The Group's last report (E/CN.4/1270, paras. 63, 69-73), drew attention to the plight of children in detention; this subject was also examined at the Lesotho Symposium (see ST/HR/SER.A/l). Mr. Malcolm Smart, giving evidence on behalf of Amnesty International, made a point of stressing the detention of children as a violation of human rights "of great significance". He drew the attention of the Group to a report by the International Commission of Jurists,-/ supporting the demand of the South African Institute of Race Relations for an independent commission of enquiry to examine all aspects of detention without trial in South Africa, and urging that the Group gives particular attention to the practices with respect to, and the conditions of detention of, young children. The report made clear that official secrecy makes "an accurate detailed count" impossible but quoted the South African Institute of Race Relations figures of 84 school age students in detention on 25 March 1977; 141 on 30 September 1977; and 180 on 30 November 1977. Referring to the most recent count of 169 school students in detention made by the Institute in July 1978, he stated that the ages ranged from 13 years to 25, with 31 of them under 18 years of age; he added that "the real figure may be much higher". Many other witnesses who bore personal testimony to their own experiences, dealt in detail with the question of torture under interrogation of children detainees. A witness whose name is withheld at his request-/ said he had been detained four times under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, the last time for eight 7/ Detention of Children in South Africa, A special report prepared by the International Commission of Jurists, 1978. 8/ The Group has received testimony which is being kept confidential at the request of the witnesses.

- 4 months in 1976-1977. The Group was impressed with the detailed account he gave of his torture under interrogation; this maltreatment left him permanently deaf in one ear, damaged his eyesight, cracked his teeth and permanently affected his nervous system. The witness said that upon his arrest he was beaten with truncheons, kicked and punched, then suspended from a tree and beaten again all before a word was said or a question asked of him. He had the impression that "whether I survived or not" was of no importance to the police. "This was a sort of game to them". Bleeding from the ears, nose and mouth, he was taken to John Vorster Square in , where he was left five days without medical attention; after he complained to the visiting magistrate he was taken to see the District Surgeon. Only after this did the interrogation start. The witness explained that it appeared to be policy in trying to "break" prisoners to place them for the first week in a cell aext to one of the interrogation rooms so that they would hear the screams of other prisoners being tortured, sometimes for 24 hours at a time. A "new" technique, which he was told had been learned by the South African security forces from Portuguese security men from Mozambique and Angola, was used: it consisted of placing a string around his forehead; the string was tied to a stick held at the back; the stick was then twisted until "there is so much pressure it is as if one's skull would break". This technique may be used on other parts of the body, such as the neck, or at any joint. The two-day interrogation was followed by a period of 11 days of non-stop 24-hour interrogation, including a period of seven days of kneeling - which he said was another form of torture learnt from the Portuguese - at the end of which his whole body was swollen and he was hallucinating. The police, still not satisfied with the answers to their questions, took him to the ninth floor of the building for what they called "the Timol treatment". The witness reminded the Group that Ahmed Timol had been one of the first political prisoners to have died under

- 5 interrogation in recent years, allegedly by throwing himself out of a window at John Vorster Square. This witness then went on to give the Group a detailed account of a procedure which he told the Group he believed accounted for many of the so-called suicides at John Vorster Square. (The essentials of this story were confirmed by two other witnesses). He described an office with large windows without bars in which there was a table which was pushed lengthwise against one of these windows and propped up on blocks so that it sloped towards the window. He was then placed on the table, his hands tied behind him by a long rope, the end of which was in the hands of one of his interrogators. The rope was tied in such a way that if the end of the rope were tugged, the knot would slip free. He was interrogated in this position and told that if he did not answer satisfactorily he would go out of the window. Occasionally the end of the table was lifted so that he slid towards the window. If he had fallen, he said, the rope would have been pulled free so that when his body was found there would be no evidence he had been tied. Another witness who similarly described the process, pointed out that the windows tipped open in such a way that a victim would have to be specially positioned in order to fall out and could not conceivably Jump out. This witness believed that the "Timol treatment" was used not only against prisoners under interrogation but also to dispose of the bodies of others who had been previously killed by the police. The same witness also described several forms of psychological torture which were used in conjunction with physical torture. At Modabi prison, he said all the cells are connected to an intercommunications system so that "hardegat" (recalcitrant) prisoners can be held in for long periods - sometimes also starved for days at a time - while special tapes are played to them over the intercommunications system: "sometimes it is like -aLnes in the air, sometimes it is like a drop of water, sometimes it is

- 6 - like the waves of the sea, sometimes it is a creaking door, sometimes it is screams or the breaking of glass or the barking of dogs dr the roaring of lions." Many prisoners broke down under this treatment and the witness named two students from Soweto who had been committed to a mental asylum after two weeks in this prison. The witness also said that "politicals" were sometimes punished by being placed in an open cell with a group of "hardened criminals who would do anything to entertain the prison authorities so as to buy some favours from them". Assaults and acts of sodomy resulted in some cases in the hospitalization of the victims, "their rectums torn to shreds". The witness named among his torturers four security policemen: Captain Cronwright who, in command of the riot police, he reminded the Group, had been responsible for much of the violence at Soweto in 1976, including the shooting of mourners at a funeral; Major Olivier, Major Heystoek and Colonel Stroegel. These names were also mentioned by several other witnesses. He also described the role of the magistrates in the detention system. He said that the magistrate whose visit was supposed to be a safeguard for the detainee in fact acted only as a post office, handing on complaints to the security police themselves who then continued to act as they pleased. More than this, they could actually be a source of the information the police were trying to acquire, if the detainee were in any way indiscreet in what he said to the magistrate. Several witnesses offered testimony on the role of the doctors brought in to attend detainees after they had been tortured. Many complained of delays between asking for a doctor and seeing one; for instance, one witness said it was two weeks before one came. When he did come, the doctor carried out no examination, "he just looked at me and said that he thought I was fit". The security policemen then told him that since the doctor had pronounced him fit, "you are fit to be tortured again".

- 7 - Several witnesses were of the opinion that torture at the hands of the police had intensified in the period under review. Wiseman Khuzwayo, a former student at the University of Zululand, detained in 1976 under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, referred to the effects of the Indemnity Act No. 13 of 1977 (see E/CN.4/1270, para.49), which with retroactive effect to 16 June 1976, exonerated the police from any act committed against an individual "in good gaith", and the Criminal Procedure Act No. 51 of 1977 (see E/CN.4/1270, para. 50) which he saw as a justification of "homicide". Mr. John David Jackson, a lawyer with considerable experience in defending "political" cases in the Eastern Cape, said that as a result of the enactment of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977 the confession had now become "an essential weapon in the police arsenal", and that "the interrogators will go to any length to secure such a confession and this in itself leads to severe and sophisticated methods of torture being applied. It is as a result of such methods that detainees are killed or driven to "suicide", having usually been brought to such a level of suffering that any avenue of escape is better than further torture.2''/ Various witnesses also referred to the torture of those detained under the same Act as potential witnesses in political trials. Mr. Malcolm Smart, in drawing attention to the new Criminal Procedure Matters Amendment 9/ John David Jackson, The Practical Application of the Confession in South African Law, 1978.

- 8 - Act, said that the Government claimed that the law was necessitated by the fear that State witnesses may be "attacked" to prevent them from giving evidence for the State, but commented that no effort seemed to be made to protect such witnesses after the trial, while the many allegations of torture made by the State witnesses in court leads him to"vonder how anyone could suppose that placing detainees in the custody of the security police could offer them the least degree of protection". The real reason for the introduction of the Act, he stated, "is not to protect witnesses but to place them even more in the powers of the security police ... in order to induce detainees to agree to make statements which implicate trial defendants in the commission of political offences and therefore to assist in their conviction". He pointed out that in the Bethal trial alone there were 165 witnesses, most of whom are detainees, some of whom have already been detained for almost two years. The trial is not expected to end before the end of 1978. One witness described the incommunicado detention of witnesses as "an attempt to create conditions whereby one is unable to think positively. It is actually subjecting one to the most harsh physical and psychological conditions, and in this way the security police are in one more way able to subject you to their norms, and ... you are forced into compromising or forced into conforming to their demands, becoming a witness, endangering your fellow detainees, particularly those they are particularly interested in sentencing to long prison terms". The witness claimed, for example, that the police might take ten detainees from one organization, charge five of them with serious offences, and then try to use the other five as witnesses against the first group, to ensure convictions. Another witness said that detainees "see giving evidence for the State as the only way out of the situation they are in".

- 9 - Detention and torture of women Four women gave testimony on their own detention and torture, and that of other women were presented by the representative of the African National Congress which described the detention for 11 months and particularly brutal torture of Ms. Lindiwe Sisulu, daughter of the ANC leader, Walter Sisulu, who is currently serving a life sentence on Robben Island. Ms. Sisulu was arrested in June 1976 and tortured with electric shocks to her genitals, beaten and subjected to long periods of total isolation. She had stated that the worst aspect of her experience was mental torture: she was told that her mother had been arrested and the children were alone at home; that her brother had been arrested; and that her mother was first critically ill - she would be allowed to see her only if she made a statement - and then dead. Ms. Sisulu fell ill, her weight fell to 80 lbs and on her release one of her legs was partially paralysed and her nerves shattered. A witness described her own detention, in isolation, for five months, and the failure of the police to notify her family of her arrest. She also described the plight of another Eastern Cape woman who was detained and physically tortured and who was redetained at the same time as her husband was detained, but without his knowledge. In an attempt to force her to make admissions the woman had been shown a series of"statements" implicating her allegedly made by other detainees. It was only the signature of her own husband on one of these "statements" that convinced her that they were forgeries. Ms. Namalizo Kraai, a former student at the University of Zululand detained in January 1977, described being rendered unconscious from being struck on the head with an iron bar by Captain Ells at Meadowlands Police Station in Soweto. After a month of solitary confinement she was moved to Charlestown,

- 10 - near Volkrust, where a policeman named Mbatha assaulted her in front of a white sergeant, punching and kicking at her genitals. She was refused medical care and after three weeks had a statement dictated to her. She was offered one Rand a day if she would give State's evidence - which she refused to do. Ms. Gwazela, in a statement made at the Lesotho Symposium, gave a graphic description of the violence of the interrogation on the occasion of her third detention in October 1976 following a beating by a policeman called Coetzer, who kicked her in the lower abdomen until she bled, she was left for three days and nights without sleep during which time she was alternatively beaten and made to kneel with a broomstick between her knees. After this she was kept in solitary confinement and questioned daily, until she was so ill that she had to crawl to the toilet in her cell. When a doctor was called who recommended she be sent to hospital for a heart condition, the authorities refused to let her go; by then she had to be carried to her interrogations by a black policeman; she was similarly carried to see the visiting magistrate. Finally she was forced by "a white man" to take two tablets, allegedly prescribed by the doctor, but which cut her lips and made her bleed from her mouth and rectum. Two days later she was again interrogated, stripped naked, and given electric shocks which rendered her unconscious. She woke up in Baragwanath hospital, under guard, and was told that X-rays had shown metal objects "which looked like pins" inside her. The X- ray plates were then "stolen", she was told that this had happened to other medical evidence relating to students and children who had been in the hands of the police at that time.

- 11 - Ms. Violet Weinberg, who left South Africa in December 1977, gave the Group an account of her imprisonment in 1965 under the 180-day clause of the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act and of her interrogation for four days without sleep by Captains Swanepoel, Brodryk and van Rensburg and three others. She was sometimes refused food or access to the toilet, made to stand continuously and threatened that they would "break" her so that she would be committed to a mental asylum. She was told that her deaf son Mark would be arrested; she was promised and then refused a visit to her husband, Eli, serving a five-year political sentence. She finally "cracked" and made a statement, after which she was taken to the death cell at Pretoria Central Prison. The visiting magistrate told her she could not complain about her treatment at the hands of the Special Branch. She was held incommunicado and not allowed to see her daughter, Shelia, who was serving a political sentence in the same prison, though she was also told that if she (the witness) would give evidence against Advocate Braam Fischer, then on trial, her daughter would be released.0/ She was held 179 days and released on the order of the Judge when she was brought to court to give evidence against two persons charged under the Suppression of Communism Act. She was then charged with refusing to give evidence and sentenced to three months' hard labour. After her release, she needed psychiatric help but nine psychiatrists refused her before one would take her as a patient. 10/ See Centre against Apartheid, Notes and Documents No. 8/75.

- 12 - Detention and torture of students and children Other information before the Group continues to highlight evidence of physical maltreatment of young detainees. Focus refers to the case of Jefferson Lengane, aged 21, detained under the Terrorism Act, whose parents discovered in July 1978 that he had been admitted to hospital with a broken leg. They were refused permission to see him and told by the security police that although he had been held in solitary confinement he had been "hurt while playing soccer with his friends". Joseph Mngina (19) was admitted to Baragwanath hospital, also in July, for intensive care, and his parents were told that he had been shot in his cell.ll/ Mr. John Jackson submitted a file of press cuttings from the Eastern Province Herald concerning disturbances involving children and young people in the Eastern Cape during the period under review. The cuttings described, among other incidents, mass arrests of children following stoning of police vehicles after police had ordered the dispersal of a meeting at St. Stephen's Hall, New Brighton, in October 1977. 474 pupils had been arrested, of whom 280 were detained under the General Law Amendment Act. Incidents involving mass arrests and detention of school students in connexion with the boycottin of schools in order to bring an end to Bantu Education were described in the documents submitted by the International Defence and Aid Fund.2/ Mr. Jackson also presented to the Group press reports describing a series of trials of young people accused in connexion with the 1977 demonstrations; the trials took place in "a special makeshift court" in Algoa Park police station, Port Elizabeth, during which several accused alleged that they had been "beaten by the police to produce their statements", and others appeared to be severely disorientated. i/ Focus, No. 18. September 1978, quoting Post (Johannesburg 9 and 15 Tune 1978. 2/ Focus, No. 13, November 1977.

- 13 - Cases of "disappearances" Information available to the Group indicates that young people and children have continued to "disappear" in the period under review. Focus, published by the International Defence and Aid Fund, quotes the news agency Reuters as stating that "hundreds" may be involved and cites the instance of Elias Shiburi, detained in March 1977, whose mother has not heard of him since, though she had a call from two policemen in June 1978 who returned his clothes to her and informed her that he had been "released" three months earlier. 13/ Other cases of detention Among the detentions to which individual witnesses drew the special attention of the Group was that of Deacon Stanley Sobelo Mtwasa, a deacon of the Anglican Church and former associate of Mr. (see E/CN.4/ 1270, paras. 120- 125). According to the testimony of Mr. Cosmas Desmond the Anglican Bishop has repeatedly been refused access to the detainee. The witness added that "we have heard that there are other people who have not been released because they are so disfigured by torture ... I think there is a very grave danger that Mr. Mtwasa is in that situation". The Group's attention was drawn to Mr. Rommel Roberts, described by the International Defence and Aid Fund in its written testimony as "one of the most active spokesmen for the "squatter communities" in Cape Town and to two i_/ Focus, No. 18, September 1978, quoting Morning Star, 24 July 1978; Post, 23 June 1978.

- 14 - leaders of the Young Christian Workers of South Africa, Mr. Phelelo (Simon) Magane, National President, and Mr. Marcus Anthony Rodgers, National Secretary, described in a document handed in by Mr. Mike Terry.14-/ The document goes on to say that these are only two of 19 YCW members who have been detained between 3 May and 13 June 1978. Further information received by the Group relates to the following individuals detained during the period under review: Ms. Juby Mayet, the black chief sub-editor of The Voice, detained in June 1978, whose arrest followed that of 12 black journalists in November 1977 and 8 more in January 1978;15/ Churchmen Rev. T.S. Farisani; Rev. Ngidi, Rev. Chris Wessels; Fr. Smangaliso Mkhatshwa; Black Consciousness leaders Mr. Vivame Made; 10 members of the Association of Science and Technology in Port Elizabeth, and various relatives and associates of Mr. Steve Biko, detained on the first anniversary of his death in September 1977. 6 Further Black Consciousness leaders detained include an executive member of the newly formed AZAPO (Azanian People's Organization)-7/and six members of the Soweto Committee of Ten - including its Chairman, Dr. Nthato Motlana.18/ 14/ Focus, Newsletter of the English and Welsh YCW movement, special issue on Solidarity with South African YCW, 1978; also The Times, 26 June 1978. According to South African press reports, further YCW members were arrested later - Cape Times, 19 June 1978. 15/ Observer, 25 June 1978; Cape Times, 3 June 1978. The 12 names are listed in Survey of Race Relations 1977, p. 147. One of these, Mr. Wiseman Xhuzweyo, gave evidence before the Group. The eight arrested in January 1978 were five whites and three blacks named in Post, 23 January, 1978. 16/ Guardian, 12 September 1978. 17/ Post, 3 August 1978. 18/ The Voice, 1 April 1978.

- 15 - (b) Treatment of political prisoners The Group received a great deal of detailed personal testimony on the treatment of political prisoners, both during its 1978 hearings and at the Lesotho Symposium. In particular, the Group heard a number of witnesses who had recently served sentences on Robben Island and who were thus able to describe conditions there from recent and personal experience. According to information available to the Group, the most recent official figure for sentenced prisoners in South African gaols was 83,069 on 30 June 1977, as announced in the Report of the C6nmissioner of Prisons, 1 July 1976 to 30 June 1977. Of these, 61,184 were Africans. The average daily prison population, including unsentenced prisoners, in the period 1 July 1976 to 30 June 1977 was 90,985, an increase of 4,124 over the previous year (cf. E/CN.4/1270, para. 83). A graph published in the Commissioner of Prisoners' report shows a striking increase both in total number of sentenced prisoners in custody in the 10 years since 1968 and in the total number of long-term prisoners. 2,981 children (infants) of which 2,609 were African are recorded in the same document as having been in gaol during the period, 150 of them born during their mothers' imprisonment. The Commissioner's Report gives no separate figure for political prisoners, but the Minister of Justice told the House of Assembly in June 1978 that at the beginning of the year, of the 440 people serving sentences for convictions under the four main security laws, 400 were Africans, 16 Asians, 14 Coloureds and 10 whites. 244 of these had been sentenced under the Sabotage Act, 20 under the Internal Security Act, 175 under the Terrorism Act 19/ Act and 1 under the Unlawful Organizations Ac.- 12/ Rand Daily Mail, 15 June 1978.

- 16 - Cases of children The Minister also told Parliament that he was unable to say how many children under 16 years were serving prison sentences, but that five 15-yearolds and one 14-year-old were serving sentences on Robben Island.20/ Prison conditions Mr. Malcolm Smart echoed the Amnesty Report21/ in describing the South African Government's treatment of political prisoners as "vindictive". The Amnesty Report states that "the South African authorities clearly do distinguish between those convicted of political offences and those imprisoned for nonpolitical crimes. Political prisoners are held in special maximum security prisons or prison sections and are treated more harshly than criminal prisoners. They are denied many rights and privileges normally permitted to criminal prisoners, even those imprisoned as habitual offenders. Political prisoners are denied parole or remission of sentence, although most categories of criminal offenders may receive up to one third remission of sentence. Political prisoners, too, are subject to a complete news ban." Mr. Smart, in his oral testimony, reported on a promise from the Department of Prisons that prisoners on Robben Island, at Pretoria and Kroonstad will in future be allowed to listen to radio broadcasts from time to time. Mr. Smart and other witnesses drew the attention of the Group to the Prisons Amendment Act No. 58 of 1978 which authorizes the Commissioner of Prisons to determine security measures at prisons, to grant privileges and indulgences to 22/ prisoners and to withdraw such privileges and indulgences.20/ Rand Daily Mail, 16 June 1978; Sunday Times, London, 11 June 1978. 21/ Political Imprisonment in South Africa. 22/ Prisons Amendment Act No. 58, 1978. Government Gazette, 17 May 1978. - 17 Witnesses also drew attention to the ruling of the Department of Prisons in November 1977 that prisoners would no longer be allowed to study beyond matriculation level. All prisoners at present studying beyond this level have been given a date by which to complete their studies. "Denial of study", said the witness, "means that lights go off at 8 instead of 11, no books except those from the prison library, and no writing materials except those for writing letters." Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, sentenced to 12 and 8 years' respectively under the Terrorism Act in June 1978, have already been refused leave to study and had their court applications refused under the new legislation. According to further information before the Group, prisoners regard study as a source of mental stimulation "to keep them sane". Ms. Helen Suzman MP, a South African, quoted a prisoner to this effect in querying the Minister's ruling in Parliament in May 1978. She was told by Mr. Kruger that study "privileges had been abused, that the prison staff was inadequate to supervise studies and that released prisoners had used their degrees for incitement" 23/ Mr. Smart, and the International Commission of Jurists in its written submission to the Group, also reported that in May 1978 the Minister of Justice had prohibited five defence lawyers from making any further visits to their clients on Robben Island or at Pretoria Central Prison. The ICJ, through the Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, had issued a strongly worded statement of protest at the ban. 23/ Post, 18 May 1978.

- 18 - Robben Island The Group's previous reports have paid special attention to the Robben Island gaol in which , Walter Sisulu and other long-term black political prisoners are held, and in its 1978 report (E/CN.4/1270, para. 91) referred to first-hand evidence given by one former political prisoner on conditions there. During 1978 the Group has received information from a number of former Island prisoners. The statements of three such ex-prisoners were heard on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Mr. Nelson Mandela. Mr. Maharaj, representative of the African National Congress of South Africa at the Lesotho symposium made his statement in tribute "not only to Nelson Mandela but to all my comrades who are languishing in the prisons of the racist regime". Mr. Maharaj estimated that there are 600-800 political prisoners on Robben Island and that in the mid-1960s there had been as many as 1,500. These are isolated from the non-political prisoners, and from each other. About 30 in the isolation section include those serving the longest sentences. The rest are in communal cells, but these too are divided, the Namibian prisoners being largely cut off from the South Africans. Those in the single cells were prohibited from communicating with each other, and the only contact was when they worked together crushing stones, digging lime and gathering seaweed. Apartheid also operates in terms of treatment: the Asians receive a tablespoon of sugar with their porridge, the Africans half a spoon; the Asians shoes and socks to wear, the Africans sandals without socks; the Coloureds and Asians long trousers in winter, the Africans only shorts. "This," 24/ See report of the Lesotho symposium on the exploitation of blacks in South Africa and Namibia and on prison conditions in South African gaols. ST/HR/SER.A/l. See also Jeune Afrique, 15 November 1978.

- 19 said the witness, "in spite of all the hardship, in spite of all the brutality, in spite of all the torture that I have endured, this was the most humiliating aspect of our life: that we, who went to prison together, should not eat the same food and should be told that it is an offence to share our food." He added: "I have survived not because of any special strength of my own: I survived because of the strength of my comrades who were there to strengthen me in y weak moments." Mr. Maharaj went on to say that the political prisoners*/ saw themselves as treated as hostages, whom the authorities saw it as their challenge to break by whatever means. And to this end the prisoners have been a sharpening of psychological weapons over recent years. On their part the prisoners have reiterated three demands: (1) for the unconditional release of all political prisoners; (2) For an end to racial discrimination in their treatment in gaol; and (3) to be granted the status of political prisoners5/ Similarly, in a statement made before the Lesotho Symposium, Mr. Nkophe described the attempts made to "break" prisoners. When he was first sent to the Island in 1963 he was put in chains and then beaten up on the boat by the white warders. He was then placed in the most notorious of the workteams, the Landbou Span, where prisoners were constantly beaten and pressured into homosexual relations with criminal prisoners. In the cold winter of 1964 their food for breakfast was set outside in the sand at 3 a.m., so that it was inedible by 6 a.m. breakfast time. They were made to work in the cold sea up to their waists. In the hot summer the warders took prisoners' jackets to make a shelter *_/ While political prisoners have no status as such, they are more severely treated than ordinary prisoners. g5/ The witness drew attention to a copy, smuggled out of Robben Island, of a letter addressed to the Ministry of Justice from Nelson Mandela dated 22 April 1969, setting out these three demands.

- 20 - for themselves at lunchtime and left the prisoners on the workteam in the sun. And if someone took ill "you would not expect to see him again". He would be "put under showers for 30 minutes until he is stiff then dragged by his legs to the clinic. The next thing we will learn is that he has died." Protest, hunger strike, or failure to pay sufficient respect to warders would be punished by 6 to 46 days in an isolation cell, on a starvation diet. "Carry-ons" or beatings took place regularly; these involved placing a prisoner in a cell, stripping him naked and beating him - sometimes for as long as three hours at a time. These particulars were confirmed by Mr. D'Langa in his statement before the Lesotho Symposium. Mr. D'Langa added that he had seen people buried up to their necks in sand on Robben Island. He described a Mr. Mulambo as having been treated in this way and, when he asked for water, he was urinated on. (This torture of prisoners was confirmed by Mr. Mbatyothi). Mr. D'Langa's eyesight was damaged following assaults by warders, and at one time his left arm had been semi-paralysed for the same reason. A lawyer that he had engaged to bring assault charges was sent away when the authorities found out the reason for his visit to the island. On the question of access to news and study facilities, Mr. D'Langa stressed the importance of both to Robben Island prisoners. He pointed out that in particular the children held on the island deserved some education. And he said that the denial of news and study facilities was aimed at "adding mental isolation to physical isolation" as further punishment. At one point prisoners had been instructed to burn all their letters from friends and family - which they had refused to do. He pointed out that censorship of mail was so strict that Nelson Mandela had actually received a letter which, after censorship read only "Dear Nelson, your loving wife Winnie". There were some prisoners who had

- 21 - spent 14 years on the island without a single visit; visits were in any case limited to "relatives of the first degree" - consequently Walter Sisulu had been refused a visit by his daughter-in-law. Furthermore visitors are subject to harassment by the police. During the discussions in the Lesotho Symposium Dr. Ngakane, a medical doctor who had himself been imprisoned on Robben Island, declared that the physical and mental health of political prisoners "have been manipulated by the South African Government as a means of torture". Conditions are, in his opinion, "deliberately made so adverse as to affect people's health". Sensory deprivation, "one of the most potent forms of torture", is used on detainees and sentenced prisoners. He referred to the breakdown of his fellow prisoner, Denais Brutus, as a result of such treatment. Deprivation of study facilities would be another factor in precipitating breakdown; similarly, malnutrition, of which "stark evidence" is clear in the faces of prisoners. Dr. Ngakane made the point that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Part II, Article 10, which states that "all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person", was being abused in South Africa, and urged that pressure be exerted on South Africa to observe it. A witness described his treatment on the island; he suffered from epilepsy, for which he was given no medical treatment but instead subjected to further persecution by the warders. If he had a fit, he was punished for refusing to work. Others, he stated, suffered from asthma, tuberculosis and other diseases as a result of the unhealthy conditions. The witness was eventually sent to a mental hospital on the mainland in view of his deteriorating condition, and he was kept there until the date of his release. - 22 - Mr. Stephen Dlamini said that while he was detained on Robben Island, he was visited by a Magistrate who had told the Justice to send him to the doctor because of the maltreatment he had had from the police. The doctor would not examine him when he was told by the police that he was a terrorist. The only medicine he then received was a bottle of aspirin and something for diarrhoea. Mr. Mbatyothi confirmed the inadequacy of medical treatment. He said that the doctor, named van den Berg, called to the island, would refuse to speak English, implying "If you do not speak Afrikaans you are not sick", and prisoners who could not speak Afrikaans were punished. If you were sick, you had to have "something visible", or you would be told to "dump your head in sea water". There was a treatment called "isubafa", a medicine diluted with water, which was administered for a variety of ailments. Whatever their condition, they were required to work. Pretoria Central Prison Mrs. Violet May Weinberg who gave evidence of personal experience of detention and interrogation following her arrest said that all her mail was intercepted. She complained that she was denied books and permission to receive any family visits. (c) Treatment of captured freedom fighters Mr. Thami Nqayi of the African National Congress drew the attention of the Group to the case of , sentenced to death in March 1978. Mr. Mahlangu, a school student at the time of the Soweto uprisings of 1976, left South Africa for training as a freedom fighter with . He returned with two comrades in June 1977 and was captured, with Mondy Motloung, in Johannesburg. Mr. Mahlangu was sentenced to death for the murder of the two whites, although he was not present when the shooting took place. His torture

- 23 - under interrogation by Captain Cronright and Lt. Divrouw - including being hurled up in the air and dropped on the floor, which the police described as "killing him gradually" - and his trial for murder was described to the Group by a witness. The African National Congress maintains that Mr. Mahlangu ought to be treated as a prisoner of war under the terms of the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, which includes "armed conflict in which the people are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation, and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations". (d) Treatment of former political detainees and political prisoners and their families A number of witnesses raised with the Group the plight of former detainees and political prisoners who have served their term. Mr. Stephen Dlamini said "when you come out of prison they put you in another prison". Former political prisoners are banned, which in many cases makes it impossible for them to work. Mr. Dlamini had had a five-year banning order imposed on him upon his release from gaol, and found that even when he found employment officials intervened with the employer to prevent him from getting the Job. "It is done deliberately so that you will die of starvation." A similar experience was described by another witness. In his testimony Mr. Papa Mbatyothi said that he was employed after his release from Robben Island by the South African Council of Churches in the Ciskei to do social work among the dependants of political prisoners and ex-political prisoners. "I have never in my life seen or come across such suffering," he said, and described "the hunger, the degrading conditions and extreme suffering to which the families of my ex-inmates on Robben Island are exposed". Banishment to a "resettlement" area was another technique for destroying former political prisoners. He cited the case of Mr. Holiday Ginta, "dumped" in a Ciskei resettlement area after his release from Robben Island, with "absolutely nothing from the island except the clothes he had on him. The house was a four-roomed matchbox with a cold cement floor, no curtains, no bed. He was sleeping on pieces of board, cardboard he picked up from a dustbin used by a local shopkeeper. For curtains he had been given old newspapers by neighbours." Mr. Mbathyothi commented on the added strain that such a banishment, coming at the end of a prison sentence, puts on the prisoner's family relationships. "It is only natural that a woman should resist abandoning her Job in an urban area to join a husband or relative in a bantustan, with no prospect of employment whatever." More often spouses are forced to live apart, and the man must "acclimatize himself to the mindshattering social and economic conditions in these homelands, until he finds consolation in another partner or a brothel or both". (e) Recent political trials Information on the unprecendented number of political trials taking place in the period under review was received from various sources, notably from the International Defence and Aid Fund, whose periodical Focus summarizes ongoing political trials; from the African National Congress, whose weekly news briefing deals with such matters; and Mr. John David Jackson, a witness who handed over to the Group a collection of press cuttings dealing with trials in the Eastern Cape, many of them involving young people and school students, and arising out of the disturbances there since October 1977. Mr. Jackson had himself been the defence lawyer representing many of the defendants, in these trials. - 24 -

- 25 During the first 11 months of 1977 a total of 144 persons were convicted under the security laws and during the first four months of 1978 a 26/ further 19 people were convicted.- The African National Congress, in its written statement to the Working Group, commented that these figures reflect only major trials and "do not include the hundreds of militants arrested and charged under other laws". According to information available to the Group, the following security trials were pending during the period under review: (i) Trial of the Pretoria 12: Mr. Mike Terry reminded the Group of the Anti-Apartheid Movement's international campaign on behalf of the Pretoria 12, charged under the Terrorism Act and Internal Security Act (see E/CN.4/1270, para. 101c). Over 87,000 signatures demanding their release were presented in April 1978 to the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid. On 8 April the trial ended with six acquittals and six convictions, of the six convicted one was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment, two to 14 years, one to 12 years, one to 10 years and one to 7 years. The State had asked for the death penalty for all six, although no one had been charged with murder.27/ (ii) The Bethal Trial: The trial of Mr. Zephania Mothopeng and 17 others accused under the Terrorism Act and with furthering the aims of the Pan Africanist Congress opened in January 1978 in the small Transvaal town of Bethal, "a location apparently chosen to reduce the public impact of the proceedings", according to Focus. The list of "co-conspirators" included Mr. , who died after the trial commenced, and four who died in detention in 1977: Nabaoth Ntshuntsha, Samuel Malinga, Aaron Khoza and Nonaventura Malaza. Mothopeng and 15 others 26/ Focus, No. 16, May 1978; Daily Dispatch, 9 December 1977. 27/ Focus, No. 16, May 1978.

- 26 refused to recognize the right of the court to try them and pleas of not guilty were entered on their behalf. Mr. Ntshali-Tshali, a Swazi citizen, pleaded not guilty. The defence had requested that the indictment of Hamilton Keke be quashed on the grounds that he had already been acquitted for the same offence in April 1977 (after which he had been immediately redetained). The Judge ruled that it could not be proved that this was the same offence. After 13 February 1978 the trial was held in camera at the State's request and a series of anonymous State witnesses are reported to have given evidence on PAC's alleged military training programmes, plans for "revolution" starting with a children's uprising, and "new Marxist policy". In May 1978 the instructing defence attorney, Griffiths Mxenge, received a death threat. He is a former ANC member and Robben Island prisoner. Summonses have been issued against the Minister of Police by 15 of the accused alleging torture by the security police.28/ (iii) Trial of Isaac Zimu and three others: The first terrorism trial to be held pursuant to the new Criminal Procedure Act ended on 2 November 1977 in Pietermaritsburg with convictions against three of the accused for attempting to leave the country for military training and inciting others to do so. The fourth, Walter Mtshali, was declared psychiatrically unfit to stand trial. The The four originally pleaded guilty and were convicted on 2 August 1977, after a 15 minute hearing conducted under the new Criminal Procedure Act. The following day they made application to change their plea and their defence counsel. Their original pro Deo counsel then appeared as a State witness in the trial.-29/ (iv) Trial of the Soweto II: Eleven black students are facing a series of charges arising from the upheavals in Soweto on 16 June 1976. They are 28/ Focus, No. 15, March 1978; Focus, No. 16, May 1978; Focus, No. 17 July 1978; Focus, No. 18, September 1978. 2'9/ Focus, No. 14, January 1978.

- 27 charged of sedition under the Terrorism Act. According to the information available to the Group, it is the first trial involving charges of sedition since 1946, a fact which reflects a desire by the State to avoid giving the impression that this is an important political trial. Sedition which is based on the incitement of crowds to commit unlawful acts is a common law offence and the sentence it carries is left at the discretion of the Judge. It could be a suspended prison sentence or life imprisonment, but not death.Wilson "Chief" Twala, aged 18; Daniel Sechaba Monsitsi, aged 23, former chairman of the SSRC; Seth Mazibuko, aged 19; Mafison Morobe, aged 22; Jefferson Lengane, aged 21; Susan Mthembu, aged 22; Ernest Ndabeni, aged 21; Kennedy Mogami, aged 19; Reginal Mngomezulu, aged 21; Michael Khiba, aged 20; and George Twala, aged 23. The 11 accused were either office bearers, members or supporters of the South African Students' Movement (BASO or the Soweto Students' Representative Council (SSRC) both of which were banned in October 1977.30/ Mrs. Naidoo, in her statement at the Lesotho Symposium, dealt with the increasing difficulties in obtaining a "fair trial" in South Africa. Mrs. Naidoo, an attorney with considerable experience in political trials, pointed out that the judiciary itself is not independent: Judges, magistrates, prosecutors and policemen are all appointees of the racist Government. Mr. David Jackson stated that there had been enormous changes in South African Law in recent years - in particular the change in the Criminal Procedure Act No. 51 of 1977. This Act has an effect on the lengths to which the was prepared to go in order to extract a "confession".31/ 30/ Times, 29 November 1978. 31/ In this connexion, the Group has taken note of the provisions of the New Criminal Procedure Matters Amendment Act No.79 of 1978 which amended the Criminal Procedure Act No. 51 of 1977. Legislation under which State witnesses are held has recently been amended so that they may now be detained continuously until the trial for which they are required is completed, provided that such trial begins within six months of their detention under the Criminpl Procedure Act. Previously State iritnesses could on.Ty be held for up to six months.

- 28 - A confession, the witness explained, needs merely to be handed in by the prosecutor; the onus is on the accused to prove that it was not made freely and voluntarily - "an onus which is almost impossible to discharge" in practice particularly in political or quasi-political cases. In effect, "by obtaining a confession the State was virtually obtaining a conviction. if there was an outcry and anything said about assault or the way the confession was obtained, "the magistrate usually found "an aggravating factor because Lthe accused/ is trying to discredit the police in saying that they beat him up". The witness then went on to describe the working of the Act in some trials in which he was personally involved. One took place in Port Elizabeth in April 1978, when four black youths, ranging in age from 14 to 16, were charged with sabotage. Mr. Jackson stated that the educational level of two of the defendants was that of a child of seven or eight. Furthermore, even though the State witnesses themselves admitted that these were not the boys who had committed the offence, all four were convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment on Robben Island. Mr. Jackson also pointed to the significance of the Criminal Law Amendment Act in extending the Jurisdiction of regional courts to impose sentences of up to 10 rather than up to three years' imprisonment; and to conduct terrorism and other political trials - which magistrates had not previously been allowed to do. We referred to harassment of lawyers who were prepared to defend political cases, including the threat of the Minister of Justice in April 1978 to"look closely" at such lawyers and advocates; and to the difficulty any black offender faces in finding a lawyer to take this case and in financing such defence. It is equally difficult to find a doctor to conduct a post mortem or give medical evidence in cases where the police are involved.

- 29 - Mr. Jackson also described from his own experience, documented in press cuttings set before the Group, how crucial is the appearance of a defence attorney in the cases based upon police-induced confessions. Of the first 63 cases the witness had taken on, he won 61 without ever calling a defence witness or an accused. "They were acquitted at the end of the State's case because of the standard of evidence. But that same evidence had been getting convictions before I arrived on the scene." On the nature of prosecution evidence, Mr. Malcolm Smart spoke of "travelling" State witnesses, who give evidence at a series of political trials. In the Bethal trial and other recent trials the practice has been established of withholding the names of such witnesses and hearing their evidence in camera. This procedure makes the preparation of the defence case most difficult, e.g. in detecting contradictions in the evidence given in various trials. Mr. Smart also commented on the increase in the penalty from one to three years' imprisonment for contempt of court: this charge is frequently brought against detainees who refuse to give evidence against colleagues. Other witnesses described other pressures brought on individuals to testify on behalf of the prosecution. A witness described his own trial during which three witnesses he had never seen before appeared against him. Two of these gave incriminating evidence and the thid confessed that he had been given a sum of R 700 for giving evidence and that in fact he knew nothing about the accused. He recalled similar occasions in other trials, such as that of the Pretoria 12 when one State witness described how his statement had been prepared for him by the security police. He described further - 30 - techniques used by the police to force detainees and former political prisoners to work for them. The main technique consists in intervening with potential employers and the "pass office" to prevent the released prisoners from obtaining employment so as to force them to become informers. (f) Bannings and house arrests According to information before the Group, the number of bannings under the Internal Security Act rose appreciably during the period under review. In April 1978 the Secretary for Justice, Mr. J.P.J. Coetzer, told the Assembly that 59 persons had been prohibited from leaving certain areas during 1977, compared with 25 similarly restricted in 1976; 61 people were banned from attending gatherings and 30 ordered to report periodically to police stations. Twelve banning orders had not been renewed after expiry, one was revoked, eight relaxed, compared with 46 orders not renewed, four revoked and eight relaxed in 1976.12J The latest list of banned persons published in the Government Gazette comprises a total of 172 names - 45 whites and 127 blacks.3 According to figures released in August 1978 by the South African Institute of Race Relations, at least 1,354 people have been banned over the past 18 years;-4/ in July 1978 The Star, Johannesburg, published a list of 700 persons currently under some form of restriction.5/ Several witnesses before the Group described their experiences as banned persons. Mrs. Weinberg said that she was first banned in 1962. In 1968, on the day that her prison sentence (for "assisting when he was 32/ Cape Times, 27 April 1978. 33/ Government Gazette, No. 6127, 11 August 1978. 34/ Rand Daily Mail, 1 August 1978. 35J The Star, Johannesburg, 21 July 1978.

- 31 - 'underground'') expired, while still in gaol, she was served with a five year and banning order which was renewed in 1973 (with the house arrest provision modified). So from 1962 until she left the country in 1977 she had been able to leave Johannesburg only to go to prison or to visit her husband and daughter in prison. In 1971 she was sentenced to an 18-month prison sentence, suspended, for twice failing to make her daily report to the police. Although she had on these occasions a doctor's certificate stating that she was ill and was still suffering the after-effects of her own prison sentence and the separation from her husband, who was still in gaol, she was found guilty. It later took her "14 months of arduous and persistent" effort to get the exit permit on which she finally left. According to further information aiailable to the Group, mass bannings were announced on 19 October 1977 affecting a number of Black Consciousness organizations, including the South African Students' Organization (SASO), the Black Community Programmes (BPC), the Christian Institute of Southern Africa and other anti-apartheid organizations. At the same time, leading personalties were also banned: Rev. Beyers Naude, Director of the Christian Institute; Rev. Theo Kotze, Cape Regional Director of the Institute; Rev. Brian Brown, Institute administrator; Mr. Peter Randall, Director of the Raven Press, associated with the Institute; Mr. Cedric Mayson, editor of the Institute's monthly magazine, Pro Veritate; Rev. David Russell, Anglican minister who campaigned against the separation of African families in Cape Town through migrant labour policies and the clearing of squatter camps; and Mr. Donald Woods, Editor of the East London Daily Dispatch, whose paper had consistently questioned the official version of the death of Mr. Steve Biko.361 16/ International Defence and Aid Fund, undated; see also Fimencial Mail, 2l October 1977.

- 32 - Among other persons known to the Working Group to have been subjected to banning orders in the period under review are: - Mr. Harold Nxasana, on whom house arrest and banning were imposed and who was prohibited from engaging in all trade union activities in January 1978. Mr. Nxasana is a former trade unionist who had been detained and gave evidence for the State during the trial of the Pietermaritzburg 10 (see E/CN.4/1270, para. 81).2- / - Dr. Nthato Motlana, Chairman of the Soweto Committee of 10; banned from attending public meetings for a month in September 1978. Dr. Motlana had been detained in the mass detentions of October 1977 and released in March 1978.-L/ - Mrs. Mary Moodley, a 65-year old grandmother who has been under continuous banning order for 15 years, was served with a new five-year order in April 1978.3/ - Kenny Matune and Thabo Sebume, detained in October 1977, banned in June 1978.-0/ Former political prisoners banned Among former political prisoners known by the Group to have been banned during the period under review are: - George Naicker and Kisten Zulu Moonsamy, banned on their release from Robben Island in February 1978 after serving l4-year gaol sentences.41/ J] Post, 1 February 1978. 3L8/ The Times, 8 September 1978; Guardian, 8 September 1978; Rand Daily Mail, 8 September 1978. 32/ Rand Daily Mail, 5 April 1978. 40/ Post, 28 June 1978. A list of other banned persons in South Africa as been-iblished by the United Nations Centre against Apartheid in Notes and Documents, No. 39/78, pp. 31-56. l/ Rand Daily Mail, 28 February 1978.

_ 33 _ - Robert Wilcox, Frank Anthony and Sonny Venkatrathnam, banned on their release from Robben Island in April 1978 after serving six-year gaol sentences.- Mrs. Amina Desai, banned and house arrested for five years in January 1978, after serving a five-year sentence under the Terrorism Act.3/ - Reggie Vandeyar and Shirish Nanabhai, two former Robben Island prisoners, banned in July 1978.4/ - Mr. Pindile Mfeti: released last year after 366 days in detention and then banned for five years in July 1978, was banished to the Transkei. 45/ Banishments from Transkei and Ciskei In April 1978 Mr. Anderson Joyi, member of the Transkei National Assembly, and Chief Bangilizwe Joyi were issued with banishment orders ordering them to leave their homes and settle with their families elsewhere. Both men had been detained under Transkei security legislation in September 1977 and released in March 1978.6/ In April 1978 Mrs. Beauty Lolwane of Mdanesane in the Ciskei was banished by the Ciskei Minister of Justice from her home area. She is a mother of seven, and a South African press report says that the order ,47/ leaves her "homeless".In June 1978 the Transkei authorities were reported to have banished 27 citizens to outlying parts of the country soon after they had been released after serving 15-year sentences on Robben Island.-L/ 42/ Voice, 22 April 1978; The Times, 22 May 1978. 43/ The Times, 7 January 1978. 44/ Rand Daily Mail, 1 July 1978. 45/ Rand Daily Mail, 1 August 1978. 46/ Rand Daily Mail, 3 April 1978. T/ Post, 26 April 1978. 48/ Daily News, 9 June 1978.

- 34 Prosecutions arising out of banning orders Mrs. Winnie Mandela, whose persecution by the South African authorities has been noted in previous reports of the Working Group (see E/CN.4/1270, para. 104), was once again prosecuted during the period under review. In February 1978 she was sentenced to two periods of six months' imprisonment, suspended for four years, after being found guilty of two-counts of breaking her banning orders.49/ In April 1978, Mrs. Helen Joseph, the first person to have been subjected to house arrest in South Africa, began a two-month prison sentence for refusing to give evidence against Mrs. Mandela.i50/ Mrs. Ilona Kleinschmidt, wife of Christian Institute European representative Horst Kleinschmidt, and Ms. Jackie Bosman were acquitted on appeal for convictions arising out of their refusal to give evidence against Mrs. Mandela.-1/ 49 Post, 10 February 1978. 50/ Star, 22 April 1978. 51/ Rand Daily Mail, 14 April 1978.

- 35 II. ALLEGED RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECURITY POLICE FORCES Witnesses before the Group named several South African police and security men as torturors or persons with special responsibility for the torture and deaths of political prisoners and detainees. The Anti-Apartheid Movement, in a document submitted to the Group, listed the following as alleged to be guilty of crimes under the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid: Col. T.J. Swanepoel, Security Branch Chief Interrogator of political suspects, including Suliman (Babla) Saloojee and Looksmart S. Solwandle, among the first detainees to die under detention. W.O. "Spyker" van Wyk, Special Branch torturer, named by Ms. Catherine Taylor, South African MP, as responsible for the death of Imam Abdullah Haron in detention. Col. C.J. Dreyer, until recently head of the Security Police for the Natal interior, now transferred to Port Elizabeth to replace Col. Goosen. Col. Dreyer was responsible for the interrogation of the Pretoria 12 (see E/CN.4/1270, para. 101) in a secret forest camp in the Transkei, and for the torture of two men kidnapped from Swaziland to Join eight others as the Pietermaritzburg 10 (see ibid., para 101). Col. P. Goosen, until August 1978 head of the Security Police in Port Elizabeth, including the team that led to Steve Biko's death in detention (see E/CN.4/1270, paras. 121-125). Lt. W.E. Wilson, member of the Port Elizabeth Security Police, believed to have inflicted the fatal injuries on Steve Biko. Mr. Jimmy Kruger, Minister of Police, Justice and Prisons since 1974, through the Soweto uprisings, and during the deaths in detention of the past few years. Col. W.M. du Preez, Commissioner of Prisons, responsible for the administration of the prison system, including the special restrictions on political prisoners.

- 36 Among other names of security police officers having taken part in their own interrogations, various witnesses mentioned Major Cronright at John Vorster Square, Major Olivier, Major Heystoek, Colonel Straegel, Col. Willie Fereira and his assistant Jack Kleinhans. According to further information received by the Group, Amnesty International has named members of security police as South Africa's "Chief Torturers". Two of these are Captain Arthur Cronright, Major Harold Snyman.52/ Mr. John David Jackson in his testimony named the following among the interrogators and torturers of Lungile Tabalaza, who died in detention in Port Elizabeth: Major de Jongh, Sgt. Nel, Lt. Vercuil, Major Snyman, Major Goosen and Lt. Wilkins. The last three he described as "already famous for their efforts on Steve Biko". According to information before the Group, in March 1978 South African police were facing 17 separate actions for damages brought by detainees or their next of kin under the Terrorism Act. Among these were cases brought by the widows of two men who died in detention, Mr. Steve Biko and Mr. Mapotla Mohapi;53-/ some of the accused in the Bethal Terrorism Trial including Mr. Johnson Ivan Nyathi, who was suing the Minister of Police for R10,000 for allegedly having been assaulted and pushed out of a window while in detention during 1977;24/ and an ex-detainee, Mrs. Mavis Magubane, who is suing the Minister for R8,000. The Group has also before it information on some prosecutions of policemen for the deaths of non-political detainees: 52/ Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 22 January 1978. 53/ Announced by Mr. J. Kruger, Minister of Justice, in the House of Assembly in reply to a question from Ms. Helen Suzman MP - Rand Daily Mail, 9 March 1978. 54/ Post, 24 February 1978.

- 37 (i) Three Zululand policemen were charged in August 1978 with the murder in July of a prisoner, Paulos Ngilosi Neane. They are alleged to have hanged, whipped, stoned and beaten Mr. Neane and another prisoner.55/ (ii) Six Orange Free State policemen were charged in August 1978 with the murder of Jankie !&hlomola Matobako. The policemen are alleged to have suspended Mr. Matobako and five other naked black prisoners by chains from the ceiling and subjected them to beatings and electric shocks. Mr. Matobako died eight days later.56/ According to information available to the Group, four policemen were convicted of murder during 1977; 22 of culpable homicide; 34 of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm; and 190 of assault. Twenty-three of these had been discharged from the force.7/ 55/ Rand Daily Mail, 19 August 1978. 56/ Guardian, 13 September 1978. 57/ house of Assembly Debates, (Hansard), 24 April 1978,