From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:SOUTH AFRICA: POLICE PREFER INVESTIGATION BY TORTURE
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 17:54:42 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: SOUTH AFRICA: POLICE PREFER INVESTIGATION BY TORTURE


an inter press service feature

by gavin evans and eddie koch

johannesburg, dec 11 (ips) -- johannesburg's brixton police
headquarters has a ''truth room'' where policemen routinely
extract information from detainees through the use of
excruciating torture -- frequently at the exclusion of all other
forms of investigation.

according to a statement from a policeman working at the
brixton murder and robbery squad headquarters, torture is a
daily occurence there. this is backed by interviews with other
policemen and former policemen, lawyers and former brixton
detainees.

a former police officer said he recently witnessed torture
at brixton ''as often as five times a day''. in the townships
surrounding johannesburg, the brixton headquarters has reached
such notoriety that it has been dubbed ''die kak en betaal
plek'' (shit and pay place), ''the workshop'' and the ''house of
truth''.

according to police sources, detainees are brought into the
''truth room'' with their hands handcuffed behind their backs. a
police officer then puts a black sack over their faces and
another over their genitals, after which a bucket of water is
poured over them.

after shocks are administered, detainees lose control over
their bowels and bladders. during each shock they are permitted
to tap their feet, after which they are questioned.

their confessions, or statements, are draw up on the basis of
information supplied during the torture sessions.

in each case cited by the police sources, the information
supplied by policemen (who all asked not to be named) was
corroborated in detail by the detainees themselves, or their
lawyers.

in one case of armed robbery, suspect sunnyboy zondi was
beaten by the brixton police to the point where he was unable to
eat, help himself or move on his own.

zondi, 44, told the johannesburg regional court that brixton
policemen had hung him from a tree and applied electric shocks
to his genitals. after showing the court cuts on his wrists and
back, the magistrate ordered he be referred for immediate
medical treatment. (more/ips)


south africa: police (2)

south african police, however deny allegations levelled
against them. ''no court ever found that i, or any other
member of the unit, assaulted people. these allegations have
been going through the courts for 27 years and they are not
true'', said major landman, head of the field unit at brixton.

however, in several cases detainee confessions had been ruled
valid because their allegations of torture by brixton policemen
were upheld in court and some policemen have been convicted for
assault.

in august brixton constable eugene scheepers was convicted in
a johannesburg magistrate's court of assaulting a businessman,
falsely arrested for involvement in a drugs deal. he broke the
man's nose and was given a suspended sentence of a 500-rand
fine or three months imprisonment.

colonel staal burger, former head of brixton, was transferred
to the civil cooperation bureau -- a military hit squad -- after
the death of heavy weight boxer james meiring while in police
custody.

some members of the south african legal community feel that
police torture is getting worse. a prominent johannesburg lawyer
says, ''99 percent of the people i represent from brixton allege
they have been tortured.

''what is remarkable is that the details of their accounts
corroborate each other, suggesting very strongly that torture is
the preferred method of investigation at brixton. in fact they
don't seem to have many others''.

however, the police directorate of public relations claims
''the south african police has never condoned or tolerated
misconduct by its members'' although deaths in police detention
have continued.

''police torture is getting worse. i would like to think it's
the last kicks of a dying horse. if i knew the horse was dying,
it would be more tolerable'', says johannesburg attorney lawley
shein. (end/ips/ge/ek/ar/92)
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