WARDERS ASSAULT DR. ALEXANDER AND TWO OTHERS
From South Africa we have received a letter that contains the following brief but very grim news about Dr, Neville Alexander and two of his comrades in Robben Island prison, the Verwoerd regime's version of a Nazi concentration camp:
"You will be surprised to hear that Fikele Bam, Don Davis and Alexander were assaulted,
"In the past week, Neville was assaulted and his ear injured, for which he had to receive medical attention. The doctor will see him again this week,
"He and Fikele have laid a charge against the warders ooncerned,
"Now Neville and the four who saw the assault on him are placed in solitary confinement.
"The girls are not treated better either, They are placed in the lowest category, Category D. They can only get one letter in six months and one visit in the same period,”
Dr. Alexander, one of South Africa's most distinguished intellectual figures, was convicted together with ten companions April 15 on charges of "sabotage" under the country's fascist-like laws which make it.a crime to oppose the government!s official — policy of the most violent racism, [See World Outlook April § 24, ]
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The sentences ranged from five to ten years. Four of the victims were women.
The oase received enormous publicity in South Africa, but in other countries it scarcely received notice, being superseded by the Nelson Mandela case which came to trial later,
Efforts are being made to appeal the Alexander verdict but it has proved extremely difficult to find the necessary funds. The families of the defendants, moreover, are in dire need,
Among other political prisoners held in the island prison. off Cape Town are Nelson Mandela and Dennis Brutus,
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The assault on Dr, Alexander, Fikele Bam and Don Davis offers fresh confirmation of an exposure of conditions in the concentration camp by Colin Legum which appeared in the London Observer of May 51.
"Robben Island, formerly a leper colony, became a maximum security prison two years ago," Legum wrote. "There are 1,395 prisoners on the island, Of these 907 are political.
"The most prominent is Mr. Robert Sobukwe, the leader of the Pan-Africanist Congress, who led the demonstrations which culminated in the shootings at Sharpeville in 1960,"
A number of prisoners recently released, said Legum, have signed affidavits before commissioners of oaths in Cape Town, telling about attacks, . a
"A former prisoner says that on his second day on the island one of his companions was assaulted by a senior warder with a piskhandle, 'He was told to explain the injury as a razgor-cut acquired when his head was shaved,!
"tQne hot afternoon,! another says, ‘the agricultural span (team) was working near us. Minor assaults took place often so we did not take much notice when a warder started to hit one of the prisoners, but then we saw that he was being buried in a hole up to his neck, He called for water, for as usual not enough water had been brought, One of us walked across to give him water but before he got there P (a warder) began to "make water" into the man's mouth, !
"Another such incident is desoribed: ‘We saw a warder speaking to a political prisoner. This prisoner told us later the warder had said that if he told about the political organisation and the political activity he had at one time taken part in, he would be given.a lighter job, This. man refused to give any information, The criminal prisoners were then called and asked to dig a hole in which
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the man who had refused to give information was placed; he was then buried up to his neck in the sand, The warder then urinated into his mouth, The name of this prisoner is J.... ‘Other polttioal | prisoners said that this was often done to them,'
"One former prisoner states: 'A criminal prisoner, J, was much feared by the political prisoners, P, a warder, and a few other worders let him do what he liked, even encouraged him in his assaults on political prisoners, He and some other criminal prisoners would assault the political prisoners for sexual purposes and explain any resulting disturbance by saying that the political prisoners ware. forming organisations and trying to get them to Jjoin.!
"Similar allegations are made by another prisoner. 'T was kept in the new jail, t he writes in his affidavit. ‘Here oriminal and political prisonera were separated. In the old jail the two types were mixed up. With the encouragement of the warder young= looking prisoners were used for sexual intercourse by criminal prisoners. I was told about this by several prisoners but one in particular told me about it having happened to him, He tried to resist, fighting with the criminal prisoner involved, But t he result was that he was sent for six dayst: solitary confinement,
"one of the former prisoners states that not all the warders behaved badly, Another says that a new. commanding officer had been appointed on the island early in February, 1964, as a result of which 'tthings seemed to be improving a little,!"
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To help financially in appeal efforts in the. Alexander. case and in relieving the distress of the families of the prisoners, send funds to Franz J.T.Lee, 74 papeneen. Schwabstrasse. 22, West Germany.
In protest demonstrations call for the: dmmediate release. of all political prisoners in South Africa, Please list the. names of Neville Alexander, Nelson Mandela and Robert Sobukwe,
- And please give this case maximum publicity.