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.

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 54 details condemnations of Namibian security legislation, torture and overcrowding in prisons, living conditions for Black Namibians, mass arrests of SWAPO leaders, ongoing township protests in South Africa, youth and student trials, and political detentions under apartheid. It features extensive evidence from the Namibian Bar Council challenging the legitimacy and brutality of the state's policing and detention laws, while also documenting high-profile trials and growing resistance movements.