END CONSCRIPTION COMMITTEE P. 0. B O X 208 WOODSTOCK 7915 SOUTH AFRICA 26 February 1985 Dear Friend The End Conscription Committee (E.C.C.) is a broad front of organisations which have come together to oppose compulsory conscription into the South African Defence Force. The campaign is being waged nationally and aims to raise awareness of the militarisation of our society and to unite and mobilise as broad a sector of the population as possible. A brief history of the campaign is enclosed. Young people are most directly affected by conscription. They are often antagonistic to the S. A. D. F. and its role in defending Apartheid. They are therefore potentially open to the message of E.C.C. E.C.C. has decided to prioritise the International Youth Year campaign in 1985. In particular it is aiming to give a strong anti-conscription content to the npeacen theme. E.C.C. is taking up the I.Y.Y. campaign in two ways: firstly, through the organisation of the youth constituency against conscription and secondly, by participating in other I.Y.Y. structures. Presently E.C.C. is represented on the I.Y.Y. committees of both the United Democratic Front and the South African Council of Churches. The Western Cape E. C. C.'s plans for Youth Year are enclosed. We would greatly appreciate any assistance you might give us, in particular any resources. Anything received from you will be circulated to our branches in Johannesburg and Durban. We are also currently trying to raise finances through overseas agencies. Once again, any assistance which you could give would be appreciated. A budget application i3 attached. We look forward to working with you in the I.Y.Y. campaign and in the worldwide struggle against Apartheid. Yours in the struggle for peace MICHAEL EVANS Chairperson: END CONSCRIPTION COMMITTEE (WESTERN CAPE) t « G i l s ' End Conscription Campaign 227/9 Khotso House 42 De Villiers Street BOX 537 9nnnnnesburs Kengray 2100 Tel: 337-6796 ^ March 1988 Telex: 4-86519 S.A. Dear Friends I am writting to you to inform you about the trial of conscientious objector Ivan Toms, the recently held ECC National Conference and to provide you with an update of our activities over the last few months. Ivan Toms 1 Trial Ivan appeared in court on 29 February, in Cape Town, for refusing to serve a 21 day camp in the South African Defence force in November last year. His trial lasted four days and he was convicted and sentenced to 21 months in prison. He started his jail sentence on the night of 3 March. After being convicted by the magistrate, a number of witnesses appeared in mitigation of his sentence. The Anglican Bishop of Grahamstown, The Right Rev David Russell, told the court that Ivan was being obedient to his church and obeying the bible by refusing to serve in the SADF, and that he had the backing of the Anglican churchj. Another witness, Prof John Dugard, Professor of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand, argued that in terms of international law, conscripts faced a 'Waldheim dilemma1 by serving in the SADF. Conscripts who served in the townships or Namibia could find themselves arrested and prosecuted in 81 countries for the crime of aiding Apartheid, he said. Pastor Oswald Shivuti, Secretary to the Ovamboland Assembly in Namibia, told the court that in six years he had received 632 complaints of SADF mistreatment of civilians. He said that two white men had left a package at a bank in Oshakati, in Namibia last month, just before a massive explosion took place, which killed 26 people. South Africa has blamed SWAPO for the bomb blast. The trial received excellent press coverage in the newspapers around South Africa (See enclosed press clippings). Other aspects of the campaign in support of Ivan included vigils being held simultaneously the night befor the trial in Cape Town, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and Pietermaritzburg. On the whole, they were fairly well attended. A country wide picket was held the day after Ivan was sentenced. Follow up plans include protest meetings to be held by some of the branches around the country, a monthly fast on the day that Ivan was sentenced and support work for Ivan while he is in jail. As usual, we feel that any sort of support you could give ECC and Ivan would be very useful and appreciated. We believe that foreign pressure does have an effect on our government and it could help in reducing the time Ivan has to spend in jail. You could show your support for Ivan and his refusal to participate in the SADF by: * Writing letters of protest or sending petitions to General Magnus Malan, the Minister of Defence, at the following address: The Minister of Defence Box 47 Cape Town 8000 * sending copies of the letters to the following newspapers: The Editor The Editor The Cape Times The Star 122 St George's St 47 Sauer St Cape Town Johannesburg 8001 2001 * sending letters of support to Ivan at: 28 Bell st Kenilworth 7700 We will keep in touch with you and let you know how Ivan is getting on in Pollsmoor prison. ECC National Conference We managed to hold a conference attended by 150 delegates from our branches around the country. We have not held a conference since the State of Emergency was been declared , one and a half years ago. The conference therefor , was important in terms of rebuilding the national character of our campaign, which has tended to become regionally dispersed under the Emergency. The fact that we were able to hold a conference during the State of Emergency, albeit at a secret venue with delegates having secret travel plans, was an accomplishment. The major focus of the conference was on building a common understanding of our "new" focus on conscription. The State of Emergency regulations have restricted us from calling for an End to Conscription. Therefor, in the last year and ahalf we have focussed on the broad militarization of South African society and have tended to lose our sharp and clear focus of being opposed to conscription into the SADF. Our assessment was that we have not been as effective as we have been in the past and the feeling was that although we had faced harassment from the state, part of the problem was that our message was not as clear as it had been in the past. Therefor the Conference was important in bringing together the conceptual discussions that had been held in the different regions and forging a common understanding of our "new" focus on conscription. In essence, the "new" focus that emerged during the conference was that we need to address all of our constituencies in terms of how they are effected by conscription. In this focus, the most important constituency that we need to be getting to is the conscript. The conscript constituency is seen as consisting of the soldier, the veteran, and the person eligiable for service in the SADF. In order to reach the conscript, Conference felt that we needed to be providing them with information about the SADF and with a service. For example, we have decided to embark on 'Know your Rights' forums and the preparation of a 'Know your Rights' booklet to inform conscripts of their rights in the SADF. We will also be putting more emphasis on our Conscription Advice Services. Our "new" focus on conscription has implications for ECC as we need to become more representative of the conscripted community; we need to have more conscripts in ECC, especially those who have served in the SADF. To reach soldiers, our public spokespeople need to be people who can speak authoritatively about conscription and the SADF - those who have served in the SADF. While the focus does have implications for ECC and changes that need to be made in order to make ECC and its message more accessible to the conscripted community, we are still opposed to conscription into the SADF and the role of the SADF in South Africa and Southern Africa. The "new" focus on conscription was concretised at the conference in terms of a campaign that is planed to take place from April to August. The Campaign is called "Action for Alternative National Service". It will begin with a launch of a Know Your Rights Booklet that will be widely distributed amongst conscripts. The early phase of the campaign will focus on informing conscripts of their rights in the SADF. As the time of the August call up approaches we aim to lobby for realistic alternatives to miliatry service and engage in debate with different constituencies and with the state on the issue of conscription. We will also be involved in a number of substantial Alternative Service Projects demonstrating the sort of alternative service that should be avaliable to conscripts. At the time of the August Call-up we will embark on a number of protest actions. We aim to climax the campaign with a consultative conference flowing from which will be the presentation to the state a set of demands demanding realistic alternatives to service in the SADF. The Conference also resolved that we need to pay more attention to the role of the SADF in Southern African countries and in Namibia. We also felt that we needed to pay much more attention to research and to provide information about the SADF and its activities. Other sessions focused on our internal structures and the sharing of information between the different regions.