Issue No. 1 of 'Focus' bulletin, dated November 1975, detailing the intensification of political repression in Southern Africa, including mass detentions, torture, political trials under the Terrorism Act, and increasing use of banning orders. Specific cases, trials, and legislative actions in South Africa, Rhodesia, and Namibia are described.
Police brutality
3 Archival description results for Police brutality
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 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.