The press release says on June 9, 1984, the South African Special Task Force arrested and detained 37 people during a barbecue celebrating the release of 55 captives from the military detention camp at Cassinga where they had been held incommunicado for six years; about 100 people attended the peaceful celebration near Windhoek, the capital of Namibia; most of those arrested were leaders of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) based in Namibia and include SWAPO foreign affairs secretary Niko Bessinger; others arrested include Frans Kambangula, Immanuel Ngatjizeko and Gregor Makgone of the Namibian Council of Churches; two lawyers were also arrested and detained: Anton Lubowski,...
The press release says on June 9, 1984, the South African Special Task Force arrested and detained 37 people during a barbecue celebrating the release of 55 captives from the military detention camp at Cassinga where they had been held incommunicado for six years; about 100 people attended the peaceful celebration near Windhoek, the capital of Namibia; most of those arrested were leaders of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) based in Namibia and include SWAPO foreign affairs secretary Niko Bessinger; others arrested include Frans Kambangula, Immanuel Ngatjizeko and Gregor Makgone of the Namibian Council of Churches; two lawyers were also arrested and detained: Anton Lubowski, a white member of SWAPO, and Hartmut Ruppel, an attorney with Lorentz and Bone, the law firm which brought and defended the application for the release of the Cassinga captives. The press release says the 37 arrested are being held pursuant to Proclamation AG 9, which provides for indefinite detention without trial. The press release says the release of the 55 Cassinga captives that occasioned the celebration carne as the result of a lawsuit filed by correspondent attorneys in Namibia of the Washington-based Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; unfortunately, at least 100 other persons remain in detention at the Cassinga camp. The press release says on Monday, May 28th, those correspondent attorneys presented arguments before the Namibian Supreme Court contesting the continuing captivity of the remaining survivors of Cassinga, despite an April 27th order issued by the South African Minister of Justice Coetsee purportedly rescinding that court's jurisdiction to hear the application for release of the detainees. The press release says cables or telegrams protesting the new detentions and calling for their release, as well as for the release of the captives who remain in Cassinga, should be addressed to: H.E. Marais Viljoen, State President of South Africa in Pretoria and Hon. George Shultz, Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC.
