Of en, e e utio
of polit I te io
re op it 0 i ou
ach ye r, h ndred and
ometi tho of p ople
in Africa ar e eeu ed i out
h vi ny ort of trial-people
often Ii in in oppo ilion are
or su p�cted of upporting
rebel. Over the p t year alone,
hundred ve been killed by
soldiers in extraj dicial execu
tions in uritania, Somalia and
Liberia. ADd in Chad, Pre ident
Hi ein Habre ordered the e -
ecutions of ome 300 untried
political pri one the day before
he fled the country last Decem
ber.
Governments often jUitify the
use of the death penalty by
aying it i the only way to fight
violent crime nd by dra ing on
popular upport to back them up.
"But in Africa, el e here, that
rgument just doe n't tand up,"
Amnesty Intern tional aid.
The number of murder in
Bot ana and Nigeria did not
drop with the death penalty, ac
cording to sludie -in the latter
the number of homicides actual
ly increased over 18 years. And
in Sudan and Nigeria, where ex
ecution have been held in
public, the supposed shock ef
fect ha not curbed the number of
murders.
"The death penal ty as it is
now practiced in most African
countrie wa imported wi th
coloniali m and the arguments
still used to justify it are from
that era as well," Amnesty Inter
national said. "The recent politi
cal reform in some countries
iDOl d a ia ca tal
, pun It ent, a e we b pe
other governments wtll follow."
orld."
La t year, three African
countrie - amibia, Sao Tom
nd Principe and Mozambique
bo lished the de. tb pe It y in
their co tltutions, move that
are no being con idered in An
gola and Guinea-Bi au. Cape
Verde bas been aboli tioni t since
i independence in 1975.
Executio have all but been
abolished iD eight other
countrie , including Senegal,
To 0 and Cote Invoire where tbe
death penalty exist only for ex
ceptional crimes or b not been
used at all for more than 10
years.
Africa
by their government in dozens
of African countrie each year.
La t year lone, Nigeri e
ecuted more than 120 people,
mostly by firing squad. And in
Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisi , and
M uri tius-countrie where ex
ecutions h d stopped-they have
been revived. South Africa ha
announced this ye r that it will
tart executing people again, and
in Uganda and Egypt the cope
of the death penalty ha been
broadened.
"In some countries the killing
J
I - Cbaraes of utlDyleveled a.alD 'U.S. aUon, AlrmaD AppreDtlce Adul Hakeem Sbabeed (left), of
I St. Geore.e, S.C., a d Sea a Appre tlee J�me Mo of Columbus, Oblo, bave beeD dropped. Tbe
I ,Navy aid tbere w re proble I wltb the oDly wltDe . Alle.aUoDs of sabatoae aDd mutlDy to support
Iraqi PresldeDt Sadda Du 10 were made olely becau e we are Black Muslim , .ald Sbabeed.
-The Blacks who kill and
wound each other are inmates of
de Klerk '5 own apartheid in
stitutions - hostels, Bantus
tans, etc. The Zulu King
Goodwin ZweUthini knows of
no war between his subjects and
those of any other tribe.
And Nelson Mandela and
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi
deny that their respective or
ganizations - ANC and IN
KATHA - are at war with any
other group in South Africa. The
people hacking one another to
death are inmates of de Klerk's
hostel and Bantustans over
which Mandela and other
African leader have no say.
Hence Mandela' rejection of de
Klerk's invitation ....
De Klerk's invitation to Man
dela is divisive. Mandela and
Buthelezi are both averse to the
prevailing violence and. have
recently met to agree on doing
everything to' appeal to tbeir
respective memberships to'
desist from any acta of "Black
on Black violence" .
ANC and PAC recently met in
Harare, Zimbabwe for the ame
rea on, to form" United Front of
Black gain t apartheid. All
African decry the violence, and
are in accord that de Klerk's
regime should bring peace to the
country. But de Klerk won't
budge, won't halt the
carnage .... He alone has. the,
power of law and order to end
tbe violence. But he doe n't be
cau e only Blacks die from these
acta of violence.
This past eek in New York
City, Chri Hani, ANC' leader
of the ANC military wing,
Umkhonto We Siz e (The,
People'a Spear) told his audien
ces th t ANC would train and
help the di mayed African of
the "township" to defend tbem-
r- .
M.and la reject
deKlerk' invitation!
By D lei MarGleD
NNPA Corre99nU'"
The past week-end's news
flash from South Africa that
Mandela has rejected President
de Klerk's Invitation to dilcuss
ways and means of ending the ,
current spate of violence ln.
African "townships" shouldn't
lurprlse anyone.
The glob I ma.. media's
slanting of new from South
I - Africa is causing anxiety
everywhere. Sooner or later,
tI�il slanting of news will bring
about a breat in relations be
tween European 'and African
South Africans.
On Sunday, April 30, news,
came through from South
Africa, loud and clear, that
ANC's Deputy President, Nel-
. son Mandela rejected outright
President F. W. de Klerk's in
.vuatlon for the two leaders to
attempt together to solve the
enigmatic problem of "township
violence" that has caused the
country thousands of slain and
wounded Blacks.
The news shouldn't surprise
,anyone. Recently, Mandela
. made a fresh ultimatum to Pmi
dent de Klerk that ANC would
break away from tb� envisaaed
negotiations if de Klerk's
regime failed to halt tbe killings
in, tbe Blac ' ahettos around
Johannesbura. Since 1986, this
. genocide bas raged furiously be
tween Black facllou. But de
· Klerk's police and militia are
victims of the apartheid-
· oriented violence.
IT'S PREPOSTERQYS and
· foolish to attribute the e cluhes
as "Bl ck-on-Blact" or simply
· "tribal" faction fightl, because
there are no rival Black group
in South Africa.
.
selves. But the pollee force op
poses thi move. Chri Hani
said, "In principle we don't in
tend to fight INKATHA. They
aren't our enemy. Fighting IN
KATHA isn't in the interest of
the people �f South Africa."
. IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
Chris Hani said, "I don't know
why there is a rush to lift sanc
tions against South Africa." He
advised U.S. officials to consult
with Black South African group
in South Africa before acting.
He emphasized that Black in
South Africa and 'everywhere
else aid tftat sanction
shouldn't be lifted.
Since Mandela's release, de
Klerk ha only criticized ANC;
urged it to suspend its arms
truggte chip; asked Ii to end
violence in the country, and did
nothing to end the major pillar
of apartheid. ,
De Klerk ha done nothing to
stop rigbtwin Afritans from
forming Black 'murder quad
and bruraltz aticn of BLacks
around the country. Whilst
ANC, PAC and INKATHA has
pi n - democratic plans - for
a future Soutb African non-ra
cial conatitution, de Klerk and
bi� henchmen bave nothing of
the sort. One wonders why de
Klerk's "friends", "allie" nd
propagandists want him to be
"rewarded" for his "reforms"
hen he h not freed a single
African - not even Archbishop
l>eamond Tutu - from the
slavery of apartheid.
Understandably, Mandela
rightly rejects de Klert's invita
tion hicb is divisive and s pi
clous ....
opponents. "
hasn't topped even though ome
government le ders .y they op
po e the death penal ty or have
themselve once been on death
row as former political op
ponents, tI Amnesty lntemation I
said.
LAST YEAR, 114 govern
ment opponent llegedly in ...
volved in coup attempts ere
executed in three countries
alone-Sudan, Ethiopia and
Nigeri --often after secret trial
where tbey could not even
choose their own I wyers. This
year, 12 suspected rebels in
R wanda were. e ntenced. to
death, all of them after their
lawyer withdrew following
anonymo deatb threats.
"Such trial are often nothing
more tb n a leg I veneer for the
........ o ... ··.-uv ent'� d io rid
�r'�·.,.opponent by n em, "
Amnesty International said.
THE ORGA IZATION
which oppo es the death penalty
cro the board as the ultimate
cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment- aid the death penal
ty is inevitably unfair and has no
special power to curb crime.
And a a nishment that cannot
.1)e:i·l1weClCIG, it .
me�Mitiillll!lIQIl
Don'
L
Africa
tarve
Here's how you can help
The following organization are among thol accepting tax-deductible donation for
African famine relief, which you should de Ignate on your check.
Arlcar.
Afrlcare Hou.e
440 R Str.et, N. W.
Wa.h�ngton, D.C. 20001
American Frl.nd. Servlc. Commltt ••
1501 Cherry St.
Philadelphia, P.nn. 18102
Am rlcan J wl.h World Service
1280 Avenue of the America.
New York, N.Y. 10104
American Red Cro ••
PO Box 37243
Wa.hlngton, D.C. 20013
Catholic Relief ervlce.
Socl.1 Mlnl.trle. Offlc.
305 Ichlg.n Ave.
Detroit, Mlch, 41221
Church World rvlce
PO Box 818
Elkhart, Ind. 48515
(Epl.cop.l) Pre.ldlng BI.hop'. Fund
for World Relief
115 econd Ave.
New York, N.Y. 10017
Oxfam America
115 Broadw.y
Bo.ton, M •••. 02111
U.S.Commltt •• for the United Nation.
Children'. Fund (UNICEF) ...
333 E. 38th t.
New York, N.Y. 10011-
t