The team of investigators‚ lawyers and human rights advocates behind last year’s reopening of the 46-year-old inquest into the murder in police custody of Ahmed Timol is appealing to South Africans for information relating to eight more atrocities allegedly perpetrated by apartheid-era police.
The eight cases under scrutiny are the alleged "suicides" in police custody of Neil Aggett‚ Hoosen Haffejee and Babla Saloojee‚ the alleged "accidental" death of Matthews Mabelane‚ the alleged "natural" deaths of Nicodemus Kgoathe‚ Solomon Modipane and Jacob Monnokgotla‚ and the disappearance and murder of Nokuthula Simelane following her abduction by the Security Branch in 1983.
Nobody applied for amnesty to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in respect of their deaths.
In its final report the TRC recommended these and other cases be investigated for purposes of prosecution‚ but nearly 20 years later scant progress has been made‚ the lawyers say.
After many years of campaigning by the Timol family‚ the inquest into the death of Ahmed Timol was reopened last year‚ and the inquest finding altered from one of suicide to murder at the hands of police.
The team that supported the Timol family‚ including representatives of the Foundation for Human Rights‚ Legal Resources Centre‚ Khulumani Support Group and law-firm Webber Wentzel‚ internationally reknown detective Frank Dutton‚ advocate Howard Varney‚ and the nephew of the late Ahmed Timol‚ Imtiaz Cajee‚ says it is now applying its collective mind to more travesties of justice.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said he viewed the initiative as part of the TRC’s "unfinished business".
"The families of the victims have waited far too long for justice. Information leading to the resolution of these cases will bring closure and healing not only to these families‚ but also to the nation. It will contribute to developing a caring and compassionate society‚ besides preserving the memory and dignity of those who laid down their lives for our democracy‚" Tutu said.
TimesLIVE
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