This issue covers the 'Pretoria Twelve' ANC trial, the SASO-BPC convictions, banning orders, detentions, and deaths in custody. It reports on police impunity legislation, the status of Robben Island, the banning of Winnie Mandela to Brandfort, the Red Cross Geneva protocols, and ongoing Rhodesian executions and repression. Includes special coverage of ANC underground structures, student trials, and international legal developments.
This issue highlights torture and political repression in Namibia, including sworn affidavits of electric shock torture and abuse of detainees like Bernadus Petrus. It covers arrests of SWAPO leaders, police crackdowns on rallies, and controversial security laws such as AG9. South African topics include trials, bannings, deaths in detention (e.g., Steve Biko, Rick Turner), Goch Street shootings, and Spring Six sentencing. Other topics include educational repression, press censorship, Rhodesian executions, guerilla warfare, and the seizure of banned organisations’ assets.
This issue covers the major treason trial of 12 alleged ANC guerillas, repression under martial law in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), escalating political trials in South Africa, continued security legislation abuses, and numerous detentions and bannings. It includes detailed reports on the use of torture, child detentions, the settlement of civil suits like the Steve Biko case, and bans imposed on legal defenders like Priscilla Jana. Reports on trials span across Transkei, Ciskei, Namibia, and Botswana. Also included are conditions in resettlement camps like Dimbaza and Ilinge, treatment of political prisoners on Robben Island and Kroonstad, and censorship cases involving journalists.
This issue covers school boycotts and the violent repression of student protest in South Africa, particularly in the Cape and Transvaal provinces. It details political trials, including the ANC guerrilla trials, the imprisonment of journalist Msekeli Mgijima, and union repression cases. Detentions under various security laws are documented, including hunger strikes, torture allegations, and the death of a Transkei official in custody. The newsletter features an interview with SWAPO President Sam Nujoma, highlighting repression in Namibia, including new police units, forced removals, and militarization. Also covered are conditions in Robben Island, internal exile, and the targeting of student activists and civic leaders. A large section lists detainees and political prisoners.
Issue 37 provides detailed reporting on repression in the Ciskei bantustan, the South African invasion of Angola (Operation Protea), political detentions, bannings, student and trade union trials, and prison conditions. It includes first-hand accounts, trial updates (including those of Oscar Mpetha and ANC guerillas), figures on political prisoners, juvenile detentions, and restrictions on journalists. Reports also highlight police violence, attacks on press freedom, and widespread protest against 'independence' imposed on Ciskei.
This issue reports on the tightening of apartheid security laws following the Rabie Commission, including proposed new terrorism, subversion, and sabotage laws. It details intensified repression across South Africa and Namibia, mass detentions, psychological torture, political trials, and restrictions on the press. The issue also includes a major review of the South African Police, extensive political trial updates (including Barbara Hogan, Oscar Mpetha, and SWAPO guerrillas), and the arrest and detention of many students, trade unionists, and church workers. Notably, it reports hunger strikes and deaths in custody, and increasing international protest against detention conditions.
Issue 43 provides in-depth coverage of labour repression in South Africa, including mass strikes, police violence, dockworker and miner disputes, and the suppression of the General Workers Union. It documents political trials of ANC members, including those of Barbara Hogan, Alan Fine, and others, with graphic accounts of torture. The issue includes updates on detentions and preventive detention under the new Internal Security Act, the massacre at Oshikuku (Namibia), SWAPO activities, and constitutional reforms aimed at entrenching apartheid. A full list of political detainees and those who died in custody since 1963 is also included.
This issue covers the imposition of strict military censorship in Namibia by the SADF, the deaths of detainees including Kasire Thomas and Johannes Kakuva, mass arrests under Proclamation AG9, forced labour of prisoners, torture trials and revelations, and systemic suppression of opposition to apartheid-era constitutional reforms. It highlights SWAPO resistance, the banning of the Namibia Report by Archbishop Denis Hurley, police raids on churches, the Mawaala sabotage trial, and trials of numerous ANC activists. A statistical roundup of detentions and court cases also illustrates escalating state violence.
Issue 49 focuses on violent repression of SWAPO activism in Namibia during the UN Secretary-General’s visit, the ongoing arrests and torture of activists, and bans on key political figures. It includes detailed lists of restricted and detained persons, coverage of constitutional resistance through the UDF’s launch, and increasing detentions of students and trade unionists in South Africa. It also highlights the torture of detainees, psychiatric abuse, and the use of treason trials to suppress dissent. The issue documents major political trials, mass protests, state censorship, and population clearances in the Kavango region of Namibia.
Issue 50 covers the widespread rejection of South Africa’s new constitution by black communities, intensified state repression through arrests, treason trials, and censorship. It documents the brutal crackdown on the United Democratic Front (UDF), mass arrests in Namibia’s Kavango region, detentions of students and clergy, torture, trials under the Internal Security Act, and township resistance. The issue also includes coverage of Inkatha violence, the banning of political meetings, police shootings, and hanging secrecy policies. An obituary for Alex Hepple is included.