m - DISA

dominate In South Africa.
In these terms, the recommendations of the
Rsbls commissioners are largely understandable.
For society con only be maintained in ite current
fom through the us» of ever-increasing repression
end control. Commissions of Inquiry such as those
heeded by wlehmhn end Riaftert dealt with sspects of
control of Motions of the working class; the Rabie
report dials with ths other aids of a funds—ntally
undemocratic society , namely rapreeelon.
Having said this, hoaavar, a littla more could
hava bssn expected of tha fteble Commission - at lsast
as far as tha protection of detainees is concamad.
within their terms of reference, tha commissioners
ara bound to justify and legitimate datsntion for
tha purposes of interrogation: as tha rsport argues.
this is probably tha most important way in which tha
pellca gather information. But tha coaalsalonars
could still hava looked at tha possibility of
protecting dstalnees from security police bent on
obtaining lnforeatlon. John Ougerd, director of
tha University of Wlteatarsrond's Centre for Applied
Legal Studies, hea looked et this question in regard
to the conduct of British police in northern Ireland.
He point* out that in 1978, the European Court of
Huasn Rights condeaned various fores of interrogations
used by the British es 'inhuman end degrading
treetsant', in violation of the European Convention
on Husan nights. Partially in response to this,
British authorities atteapted to counter allegations
of aantal tortur* of dete'inees: a detainee may not be
held for sore than 5 days for purposes of
lnterroget ion.
Moreover in teres of the 1979 Bennett Coesittee
Report into Police Interrogation Procedures in
Northern Ireland, ehich today guides police
conduct, detainees are allowed vleits from
their leeyersefter 48 hours, interrogations
era to be aonitored by closed-circuit TV,
police "interviews should not lest longer
then the interval between noioal seal times,
or extend over eaal breaks, or continue after
aldnlght except for urgent operational reasons'.
(John Ougard, writing in the Sunday Tlese,
07.02.8ZJ.
f Surely it would not heve been too such to
bxpect a Commission heeded by an Appeal Court
Judge to exealne the effects of prolonged solitary
confinement. For even If detslnees are not tortured
or eaaaulted In a direct physical earner, aeny
claim that detention in solitary conditions la a
form of torture. The recent ceeee of Sea Kikins
and Thoznmile Gqesthe - both admitted to psychiatric
wards ss s result of prolonged detention - occurred
efter Rabie had completed hie report. So did the
adeisslon for observation of awaiting trial prlsonara
Mthenjene end Keye, both of whoa had been in detention
for long periods before appearing In court. But if .
the Rabie Coasissloners had wanted to look at the
effects of detention, they could heve studied a
trial which took piece in tha Eastern Cape Supreme
Court during 1976. The first state witnsss in thtsw
proceedings wes Vuyo Bsleni of Port Elizabeth, who
told the court thet while in detention he hed tried
to cut his wrists end area with e razor blede. The
witness then stood down, end ess adaltted to the
Fort Englend Hental Hospital for observetlon. A
few days later, tha eedlcal superintendent of that
hospital reported thet Vuyo Beleni had gone Into e
pyechotic state, ripped off hie clothes, snd now
needed peychletrio treatment.
Ouboequently, the ouperintendent of the Tower
•ante! hospital testified that ha had 'certified* .
Beleni, whoa ha classified as a hysteric, not
fully rasponslbls for his actions. The aadlcel
superintendent explained that in detention, effinitios
built up beteeen detainees and their captors: the
fact that Vuyo Bsleni was unwilling to give evidenoe
•gainst his friends, but waa required end expected to
do eo by police.and the court, could heve led to his
breekdawn.
There ere other esses of eental disintegration
which can bs laid at tha door of the systsa of
detention and interrogation: Vuyo Bslenl*s ie given
es one example which should heve alerted tha Rabie
Commissioners to the dangers of the system es it
exists. Given that tha Terrorism Act explicitly
authorises detention in solitary conditions, the
Reble commissioners could have proposed thet this
not bs permitted becauss of its dengerous effects
on the aantal health of detelnses. Without even
alleging thet physical torture Is s component of
'interrogation techniques, it can be suggested that
those people found by inquests to have committed
suicide in detention were driven to this by e
combination of solitsry confinement end Intense
interrogation. fteble*e report does nothing to alter
this ss the usual manner of extracting information
from detainees by security police.
Regarding the regular end persistent sllsgetions
of physical torture and assault es e method of d
intarrogating detainees, Rabie does nothing to deel
with the oft-expressed belief thet thie doee indeed
happen. It ie vary difficult to prove - In e legal
sense - that detainees era torturwd and aesaulted.
The whole system of detention is e closed, self-*
perpetuating one, with no group of people
Independent of tha state having the right of access
to detainees. In e few cases - especially where
detainees heve died - clear indications of easeult or
torture have emerged. But in general, the veil of
secrecy which Is one feature of tha detention system
has prevented Independent scrutiny of Interrogation
techniques.
Tekw, for example, tha Inspectorate of detelnees
which then-police minister Kruger met up af tar the
death of Steve Biko - end which tha Rabie report
pute forward ea a *nae* proposal to protect detelnees.
The inspectorate is responsible only to the Minister -
end reports to hie on a confidential basis. In one
recant case, e detainee complained to Transvaal
Inspector teuton that he had bean tortured while
under interrogation. In the subsequent trial, tha
detelnee * now charged - subpoenaed Houton to
produce the documents in which the complaint had
been recorded, wbuton refused to produce the
documents, claiming that eectlon 6(6) of the
Terrorism Act Justified the withholding of tha
documents from the defence teem. Huch the same
happened in regard to statements wade to
magistrates by detainees alleging aeaaulta. fteble'e
proposals do not alter the cloead, eelf monitoring
nature of the detention system.