10 years on Robben Island

‘We never submitted meekly’ __

Indress Naidoo, a leading member of the African National Congress
(South Africa), visited Canada and the United States where, among other
activities, he addressed the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid in
New York. While in Toronto he was interviewed by the Tribune.

I come from a family which has
participated in the struggle for at
least three generations. My
grandfather was a founding
member of the Indian Congress in
the latter part of the last century
and was jailed 14 times; my

grandmother wasimprisonedona *

number of occasions.

My father as a young man
studied under Mahatma Ghandi in
India and, upon his return to
South Africa took an active part
in the 1922 mineworkers’ strike.
Again, in 1951: he was active in the
pacifist campaign launched by the
Black people in South Africa. He
and my mother have been jailed
many times for their part in the
s _

My two brothers and two sis-
ters have all been to jail for their
activities in South Africa. Both
my sisters have been forced to
live in exile.

My political activities started in
1952. In 1955, during the historic
Congress of the People, where the
Freedom Charter was adopted, I
played a role in organizing this
meeting. Since then I have been
very active in the legal aspect of
our struggle.

Since its formation in 1913, up

to 1960, the African National
Congress (ANC) worked to bring
about a peaceful change in the
country. However, throughout
this period the reaction of the ra-
cist regime was to kill our people.
Thousands of South African pat-
riots were killed. Our history is
one of racist troops and police
shooting down our people
whenever they protested the ter-
rible conditions and fought for

change.

ANC and Armed Struggle

Added to this, the ANC was
banned in 1960. (By the way, the
South Aftican Communist Party

was banned in 1950.) Ten-

thousan@é ANC members were
locked up during the ‘“‘state of
emergengy”’ without access to

courts amd cut off from the out-—

side world. Many of our leaders
were banned, banished and re-
stricted.”

The ANC had to decide the
next step, It was no longer a legal

organization. It could no longer |

have legaldemonstrations, put up
posters or conduct any activities.

indress Naidoo, ANC member,
life long fighter against apartheid.
The minimum jail term for putting
up a poster was now five years,
maximum 10 years.

The ANC discussed this new
situation throughout the country.
After a lengthy discussion, we
decided with a very heavy heart
we must take up arms against the
regime. We were forced to
choose: either submit to the
tyranny of the regime or to stand
and fight. We chose to fight.

_. In 1961, the ANC announced
its military wing — ‘‘Umkhonto
We Sizwe’’, Spear of the Nation.
It began military operations
throughout the country which
were welcomed by the people.

We carried out acts of sabotage
regularly. Many hundreds of our
youth were recruited and send
outside the country for military
training. I was one of those re-
cruited to work inside South Af-
rica in the underground move-
ment.

I participated in many acts of
sabotage. By 1963, the racist
Police had infiltrated an agent into
our unit and in April myself along
with two comrades were trapped
and arrested at the scene of an
explosion. We were assaulted
very badly. I was shot in the pro-
cess.

We were taken, along with two
others picked up at their homes,
to the police station. On the first
day of our arrest we were very:
heavily tortured. We then met the
notorious Colonel Swanpool
(then Lieutenant Swanpool) who
is responsible for the murder of
many of our comrades. He is an
out and out brute who boasts pri-

Be

Under the 90-day detention law a person may be “detained” of an.

infinite number of 90-day periods without recourse to the courts.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 17, 1978—Page 10

vately to his friends about those
he has murdered.
They applied electric shocks to

our fingers and toes. They placed —

wet canvass bags over our heads
and strangled us. They beat the
soles of our feet with rubber ba-
tons. They also play what is cal-
led “‘rugby”’ with us; 12 to 15
burly policemen would ring a
room, they would punch us, kick
us and dive tackle us from one
policeman to another.

One of our comrades was dang-
led out of the sixth floor window
by his feet and they threatened to

. drop him unless he talked. They

held by one leg then only by the
pants. It was just when his pants
were about to rip did they bring
him inside.

We appeared in court and the
whole world could see what con-
dition we were in. The police

claimed we were injured during —

our arrest when we resisted. But
they could not explain how the
two comrades picked up at home
were injured. .

Our trial was short, only eight
days. The three of us arrested at
the scene received 10 years each
imprisonment. The two comrades
arrested at home were acquitted.
However, during our trial the
90-day detention law was passed
by which persons may be ‘‘de-
tained”’ for an indefinite amount
of 90-day periods without any re-
course to courts. The two com-
rades were immediately arrested
under that law.

One comrade was released
after 90 days. The other was re-
detained, but fortunately he,
along with two others, escaped

and left South Africa. I met him ©

recently after 15 years. I was
shocked. He is a physical wreck.
He is forced to obtain regular
medical treatment as a result of
those tortures 15 years ago. |

This is the type of regime we
have. This is what they do to our
people.

(At this point Naidoo listed
several cases of persons killed in
detention and the way the police
and authorities explain it. In one
case South Africa’s parliament
was told: ‘‘An unidentified man
died at an undisclosed time of an
undisclosed cause at an undis-
closed place ...”’

In another case police claimed
the prisoner had jumped from the
10th floor window of a police sta-
tion. However, pathologists re-
ports showed his eyes had been
put out, his testicles crushed and
his fingernails and toenails pulled
out. And yet the regime says he
jumped froma 10th floor window!

Naidoo also showed _ the
Tribune photos of another mur-
der victim who the police claim
had fallen out of a chair and bro-
ken his back. The photos, which
were clandestinely taken and
smuggled out of the country,
clearly show torture marks all
over the body.)

In 1963, as we know, the regime
brought in the 90-day detention
law. In 1965 they found this law
insufficient and brought in the
180-day law. In 1967, they even
found this law insufficient and
brought in a new law — the Ter-
rorism Act.

Thousands of our people have
been detained under these laws.
At this very moment there are

Prisoners of the apartheld system are constantly subjected to severe

tortures, both physical and psychological.

hundreds in jail under these
clauses. The brutalities and tor-
tures that take place during these
detentions are unspeakable.

On Robben Island

Let me tell you something
about Robben Island, a prison is-
land seven miles off the coast of
Cape Town. It was once a leper
colony. Today it is one of the
most notorious prisons in the
world. ;

It is here some of our greatest
and best-known leaders are im-
prisoned. From 1963 to 1970 con-
ditions were terrible. Some of the
worst forms of brutality would
take place here. Comrades were
buried neck-deep in the sand and
left the whole day long in the sun.
Guards would taunt the suffering
prisoner: “‘Coolie, do you want
water?’’ They would then urinate
on them.

Here I want to mention one
guard, in particular, Pit
Klienhans. This brute was one of
the chief culprits that perpetrated
these tortures and atrocities on
us. They would handcuff a pris-
oner and suspend him from the
ceiling with his toes barely touch-
ing the ground leaving him hang-
ing like a piece of meat the whole
day long.

They would drag prisoners be-
hind horses all the way from the

quarry, a distance of about a mile. °

We were working at hard labor
there, back-breaking work. We
were required to do a certain
quantity a day, failing which we
were very heavily punished.

Mass assaults were common.
Thirteen or fourteen warders,
armed with batons and accom-
panied by police dogs would at-
tack, beating prisoners indis-
criminately. ;

The Fightback

We ANC members never sub-
mitted meekly. We fought the au-
thorities in every possible way we
could think of and in 1965 we went
on a massive hunger strike. ~

I should explain that the camp
was divided into three parts: the
first where Nelson Mandela and
about 30 other leaders were kept.
The second section where we, the

rank-and-file were kept, we num- ©

bered some 1,500: The third sec-
tion contained our comrades from
Namibia.

Our hunger strike lasted five
solid days. We ate nothing but

LC TO LR ER AROS NAR LW INEM OR SEN

TSN DE aL AE

were forced to continue working
at the quarry. The discipline
among our members was the best

you could find. We wanted to see ~

the commanding officer. Their
reaction was: ‘‘We don’t care. If

you want to die, it’s your busi--

a)
!

ness!’” We won, and the com-
mander came to see us. This was
a moral victory for us.

Since then not a year has pas-
sed without some form of cam-—
paign — hunger strikes, work.
boycotts, petitions. We would
complain to visitors who came to

the Island, especially the Red —
Cross which played a very impoz- ~

tant role.
Our people never forgot for one

_ moment that their leaders were on

Robben Island and in other jails
throughout the country. They
constantly demanded our uncon-

~ ditional release, they campaigned

for better treatment for us. >
The third factor in improving
our conditions was the interna-
tional campaign. The socialist
countries, the third world coun-

tries and the progressive forces in —

the capitalist countries never for-

“got us. International organiza-

tions such as the United Nations
and the Red Cross pressured the
racist regime on our behalf.
These three factors played an
important role in bringing about

some change in conditions on —

Robben Island. The open brutal-
ity I spoke of has stopped. But a
new type of torture, psychologi-
cal torture, has been introduced.

Newspapers, radio and other ~

means of communication are bar-
red. Letters are heavily censored,
removing all information and
facts. We are totally cut off from
the outside world. Even such
scientific wonders as man landing
on the moon were kept from us.

The fighting spirit of our'com-
rades is nevertheless the best. I
served my 10 years to the day. I’m
proud to have served alongside
some of our best-known leaders,
some of our heroes. This 10 years
was the greatest education of my
life.

Next week: Naidoo describes
conditions upon his release from.
Robben Island, the role of the
West in bolstering the regime and

the international campaign to ends —

apartheid in South Africa.

ONT OT a RO I LAE Bie I