All news items
5 November 2014
The murder of Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa predictably led to angry calls for the re-introduction of the death penalty in South Africa. For both principled and practical reasons I do not believe the state should have the power to put to death those found guilty of serious crimes. Here is why.
South Africans who campaign for a re-introduction of the death penalty usually advance one of two...
3 November 2014
There is “something fundamentally wrong” in the way the home affairs department handles the repatriation of migrants, High Court in Pretoria Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann said on Friday.
“We have had the case of [Khalfan Khamis] Mohamed and the case of Emmanuel Tsebe, now we have the case of Edwin Samotse. Not only is it the same problem, but the failure to protect the...
31 October 2014
JOHANNESBURG, 31 October 2014 (IRIN) - When Elise M’s* 18-year-old daughter tried to kill herself with an overdose of pills last year, the ambulance that Elise called took them to nearby South Rand Hospital, in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville. But nurses at the hospital refused to admit her.
“They pointed to a sign on the wall saying non-South Africans have to pay R5,000...
31 October 2014
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) welcomed the Constitutional Court's order on Thursday that South African police investigate claims of torture against senior Zimbabwean officials.
“We are quite happy that the Constitutional Court has come out so strongly in favour of full implementation of South Africa's Rome Statute Act,” LHR co-ordinator David Cote said in a statement...
31 October 2014
The SAPS said on Thursday it will comply with the Constitutional Court's order to investigate claims of torture against senior Zimbabwean officials.
“In principle, this is the end of the matter. We are required to comply with the judgment,” national police spokesman Lt-Gen Solomon Makgale said.
“We only got the judgment today. Our legal team is looking at it.”...
31 October 2014
SA’s police must investigate allegations of torture by Zimbabwean authorities in the run-up to Zimbabwe’s 2008 election, the Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered.
The judgment broke new ground in SA’s international law obligations, ruling that even though the alleged torture was committed in Zimbabwe, by Zimbabweans, of Zimbabweans, the South African Police Service...
30 October 2014
The Constitutional Court in a landmark case ruled unanimously that the South African Police Service (SAPS) are obliged to investigate allegations of torture committed in Zimbabwe, which were reported to them.
In a judgment handed down on Thursday, the court held that “the SAPS had a duty to investigate crimes against humanity of torture allegedly committed in Zimbabwe…where the...
22 October 2014
Following numerous reports of abuse, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has asked the organisation to establish an office at the centre.
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, under pressure from Parliament to account for reported human rights abuses at Lindela Repatriation Centre, has invited the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to establish an office at the centre.
Last week the...
21 October 2014
Two London-based critics won't testify at the Seriti commission of inquiry, despite the commission saying that it will reissue their subpoenas.
Arms deal critics Paul Holden and Andrew Feinstein will not testify at the arms deal commission, despite the commission’s previous announcement that it would reissue their subpoenas.
It emerged on Monday that Holden’s subpoena...
21 October 2014
Hennie Van Vuuren, author and key critic of the arms deal, has declined to take the oath or give evidence at the arms procurement commission.
Hennie Van Vuuren is currently a researcher at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and co-author of The Devil in the Detail: How the Arms Deal changed everything.
Van Vuuren and co-researchers Paul Holden and Andrew Feinstein withdrew their...