This issue highlights intensified South African military operations in northern Namibia and southern Angola, including troop build-ups, air and land attacks, and damage to Angolan infrastructure. It covers the formation of the South West Africa Police (SWAP), the continued detention and reported torture of Kassinga detainees, and testimony from Ida Jimmy, a SWAPO political prisoner. The issue also details major political trials in South Africa, including those of Oscar Mpetha, Guy Berger, Devandiren Pillay, and various students and unionists. There are detailed accounts of new bannings, forced removals under the Group Areas Act, school repression, press censorship, and a complete list of detentions and releases under apartheid security laws.
Political executions
13 Archival description results for Political executions
This issue details South Africa’s continued occupation and military offensive in southern Angola (Operation Askari), systematic torture of detainees in Namibia, SWAPO trials, and the expansion of South Africa’s armed forces. Key topics include Ida Jimmy’s reduced sentence, Kavango detainees' torture affidavits, political trials involving ANC and PAC members, censorship enforcement, and high-profile detentions. It also highlights poverty in Namibia, with case studies revealing the state’s discriminatory benefit policies and extreme deprivation. Notable incidents include the Robben Island protest for elderly detainee release, the ‘roasting’ torture case in Kavango, and multiple political trials including that of Sister Mary Bernard Ncube.
This issue reports on the release of SWAPO leader Herman Toivo ja Toivo, his public reaffirmation of SWAPO's mission, and the continued detention of Kassinga survivors. It features court actions to free detainees, detailed lists of those imprisoned, and affidavits documenting torture and unlawful detention under Proclamation AG9. It covers new detentions, student protests, pass law convictions, school boycotts, the Alexandra bus boycott, forced removals, and increasing repression in Namibia and Venda. Major sections report on death in detention, political trials, abuses by security forces, and a growing list of detainees. The newsletter also documents the high-profile trial of journalist Gwen Lister and the deportation of British researcher Alun Roberts.