["The Police took me to the police station. They wanted me to say I was throwing stones.]

These are the words of eleven year-old Fanie Goduka, who was snatched off the street by South African Security Police and held in detention for 57 days. The mailing says since the State of Emergency was imposed a year ago, the government has escalated its war against children. The mailing says in the past year, more than 10,000 children under the age of 18 have been put in detention centers characterized by over crowded vermin-infested cells, disease-laden "sanitary" facilities, little or no exercise, and systematic starvation. The mailing says children who have been released tell of unspeakable abuse and torture: sexual victimization, solitary confinement, being kicked and beaten with sjamboks (whips) and rifle butts, nearly strangled or suffocated with hoods pulled over their heads, and subjected to electric shocks. The mailing says there are things that can be done -- that are being done right now -- to protect black children from police round-ups, illegal detention and torture. The mailing says there are things that can be done that are being done right now -- to help anti-apartheid activists get the legal representation they need. Now that the South African government has made terror its chief policy instrument, the work of the Southern African Project is more critical than ever. The mailing says the Project is the only American group that gives direct assistance to the defense of political prisoners. The mailing says we hire lawyers to defend them, pay legal and court fees, and supply technical assistance to these lawyers, including expert witnesses, forensic scientists and legal research. The mailing says during this year alone, the Southern African Project has: supported the defense of over 1,000 South African political prisoners, including children, church leaders and trade unionists; brought civil actions against police who opened fire on a peaceful march, killing 13 people and wounding 100 others; challenged the banning of political organizations and meetings; financed lawsuits attacking the powers granted the security forces by State of Emergency regulations; ran full page advertisements in seven of South Africa's leading newspapers demanding the release of detained children to help raise the consciousness of white South Africans who refuse to believe that children only eight years old are being thrown into prison as "threats to the security of the state." The mailing says our consciousness-raising is not limited to South Africa. The mailing says on June 25-26 we conducted a bi-partisan symposium sponsored by Representatives and Senators and other distinguished Americans at which children who had been detained told their stories. The mailing says the Symposium also heard from South African social workers, doctors, psychiatrists, lawyers and other anti-apartheid activists who have worked with these children about the serious physical and psychological damage they have suffered. The mailing says right now, your gift will provide legal help for those already imprisoned. The mailing discusses William Nathela, the Heilbron police station, law enforcement, terrorism, mass roundups, kidnappings, torture, and the taking of hostages.