The fundraising mailing discusses South African police firing into a peaceful demonstration by protesting students in Soweto on June 16; police opened fire, killing 13-year-old Hector Peterson; by the end of the week, more than 200 were killed. The mailing says confrontations between police and demonstrators are continuing to erupt all over South Africa. The police say that more than 300 have died and that 2,000 have been jailed - figures that probably are significantly understated. Security laws allow the government to hold opponents under house arrest or to imprison them without trial. Frequently opponents of apartheid are arrested and held in solitary confinement without access to lawyers...
The fundraising mailing discusses South African police firing into a peaceful demonstration by protesting students in Soweto on June 16; police opened fire, killing 13-year-old Hector Peterson; by the end of the week, more than 200 were killed. The mailing says confrontations between police and demonstrators are continuing to erupt all over South Africa. The police say that more than 300 have died and that 2,000 have been jailed - figures that probably are significantly understated. Security laws allow the government to hold opponents under house arrest or to imprison them without trial. Frequently opponents of apartheid are arrested and held in solitary confinement without access to lawyers or relatives. When released, their movements may be restricted and they may be forbidden to attend meetings or to write for publications. The mailing discusses Afrikaans, the Nationalist Party, legal assistance, emergency aid to those forced into exile, and The Africa Fund Research Department. [Note: the correct spelling of the name is Hector Pieterson.]
