Human Rights Violation Hearings — Durban — 1996-05-08

MR LAX: very much a device like this one here.  When Professor Gordon gave his testimony at the inquest Advocate Pitman was astounded at the hostility shown by Professor Gordon towards the legal representatives of the Haffajee family.  This was in sharp contrast to his earlier attitude when he spoke to Advocate Pitman in December.  To this day we have not been able to understand the hostility of Professor Gordon, nor the volte face in his attitude.  A large contingent of security police were present at the inquest, including one from Pietermaritzburg, with his informer colleague in tow.  Unlike the whites, who kept their distance during the breaks, the Indians would congregate near us and taunt us with remarks like, "Bloody terrorist.  He was a coward."  Considering the arrogance of their head, Colonel Francois Steenkamp, their conduct was not surprising, though vexing.  Discipline filters downwards from above.  Blunden's conclusion left no doubt that he was part of the country's repressive system, with its cowardly and spineless judiciary.  He accepted what the Security Police said, no matter how flimsy the evidence, and regarded the assertions by our counsel as either unsupported by evidence or mere speculation.  He agreed with the senior counsel representing the Security Police, Advocate Willem Booysen, that Hoosen faced the prospect of a long term of imprisonment, and that this motivated him to take his life.  Advocate Booysen was then a member of the Broederbond, and subsequently a Judge of the Natal Supreme Court and a resigned member of the Broederbond.  Whenever there is a death in detention of a political detainee that death is attributed to the most ludicrous of reasons - slipping on a bar of soap or stumbling down a flight of stairs.  Where a detainee appears to have taken his or her life the stock explanation is that the deceased preferred taking his or her life rather than go to prison for a long period.  How amazing.  There have been many thousands of persons sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for offences, both political and non-political, over the decades, yet we know of less than six deaths in detention which had the appearance of suicide.  But Hoosen had not even been charged, let alone tried and convicted, yet that is what the inquest Court did.  En route to finding a possible motive for the suicide he was, in effect, posthumously found guilty and sentenced.  The Professional Provident Society of which my brother Hoosen was a member refused to honour an insurance policy payable on his death to my parents.  They refused to make payment on the grounds that Hoosen had committed suicide, and that suicide within two years of the policy being taken constituted a ground for repudiating payment.  The attitude of the Professional Provident Society was carefully discussed with the family attorney and Advocate Pitman, and we came to the following conclusions.  We did not rule out the real possibility that Hoosen was murdered.  Even if Hoosen did take his life it was only done because he was compelled to do so by the unlawful action of others on him, and that is murder.  We did not, and do not for one moment, believe that the 60 wounds found on his body were sustained by him during two scuffles due to his reluctance to enter motor vehicles, both of which could never have totalled more than two minutes.  That explanation is a clumsy lie, but was given in the arrogant confidence that everything to the contrary would not be accepted by the inquest Magistrate.  We believe that if Hoosen did take his own life then he did so because he was so sadistically tortured that he sought refuge in death, rather than undergo further torture.  Based on this reasoning it was the unanimous opinion of our legal advisers that, in the claim against the Professional Provident Society, my father could claim that a "suicide" is not a suicide where a person is driven to taking his or her life because of unlawful conduct of others on that person.  That is called murder.  With a claim of this nature the onus would then fall on the Professional Provident Society to establish that Hoosen did commit suicide.  To prove that the Professional Provident Society would have to call most, if not all, those persons who gave evidence at the inquest.  It would have meant Hoosen's interrogators, one Taylor and one du Toit, would also have to enter the witness box and give their testimony all over again, and be cross-examined.  But on this occasion we would have a number of advantages.  The matter would be heard in the Supreme Court, hopefully before a Judge of integrity.  We would have before us the record of all the evidence given, and would therefore be in a position to spot inconsistencies and contradictions.  Witnesses who had lied would not remember all that they had said at the inquest.  The objectives of the action against the Professional Provident Society were twofold.  Firstly to compel the Professional Provident Society to honour the insurance policy, and secondly to highlight once again the circumstances surrounding Hoosen's death, the system of detention and interrogation, and the vast powers of the Security Police under the Terrorism Act.  Summons was issued in a hurry to avoid prescription, but we came up against an obstacle, a lack of funding to proceed with the matter.  The matter was raised with the Reverend Bob Clark of the Pietermaritzburg Dependants Conference, on which I served.  He considered the strategy of proceeding against the Professional Provident Society a good one, but try as we could no funding was available, not even from the Osingeni Trust, which was headed by our Chairman here.  The action had to be abandoned because my father could not afford the Supreme Court action.  The Haffajee family and friends have received no satisfaction of any nature regarding the circumstances which led to Hoosen's death.  Previously we did not have an opportunity to publicly express our gratitude and appreciation for the moral support and assistance we received from many organisations and countless people, many of them unknown to us, who identified with us.  We have wonderful friends and neighbours, and do not know what we would have done without them.  Hoosen's friends and colleagues were no less wonderful.  We remember the late Dr David Biggs, a quiet and unassuming person, for his bravery in the face of fascism, and Dr Motala for coming immediately when we needed his help, our attorney, Morgan Naidoo, for his commitment to justice, and of course the late Advocate Harry Pitman.  There is so much one can say about him.  He was one of the most courageous lawyers in the pursuit of justice.  It was his formidable reputation as a human rights lawyer which made us turn to him.  Without a moment's hesitation he plunged into the investigation surrounding my brother's death.  The efforts of Amnesty International in London were also very much appreciated.  The world is a better place because of such people.  Concerning the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, we were sorely tempted to join the families of Biko, Ribero and Mxenge.  However, we chose to come to this Commission because we agree with two of its functions.  We agree that there should be a record of all human rights violations and atrocities, and not just from 1960 only.  We agree that wherever possible there ought to be reparation to victims or their families.  Concerning the granting of amnesty to those who caused my brother's death, we are totally opposed to it.  Murderers, torturers and human rights abusers must be given no amnesty.  There can be no forgiveness for such people.  Hoosen was our ... (incomplete - end of Side B, Tape 8) ... and torturers must be hunted down, arrested, tried, and punished.  It is also of some concern to me that the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission meets in private.  This hearing here is open.  A perpetrator is free to attend and listen to this testimony and allegations.  There may be a few present here.  Similarly victims should be accorded the right to hear testimony of the perpetrators.  On behalf of the Haffajee family and friends of Hoosen we thank the Commission for giving us this opportunity of recording the circumstances surrounding Hoosen's death.  Thank you.