FT923-10377
_AN-CG4B3AAFFT
920730
FT 30 JUL 92 / ANC warns on detainees
By MICHAEL HOLMAN
JOHANNESBURG
THE African National Congress (ANC) yesterday warned that South African
security force members who assault people in their custody face prosecution
under 'a future democratic government'.
The warning follows a pathologist's accusation at the weekend that police
had killed scores of detainees in recent years. Since the claim, a further
two men in police custody have died, one in a police station.
The police came in for further criticism this week when the Goldstone
commission of inquiry into political violence said the force had failed
effectively to prosecute perpetrators of violence on black commuter trains.
The commission said it had been unable to say who had been responsible for
the killings, adding that 'victims were members of various black ethnic
groups'.
The police, meanwhile, launched a 'peace offensive' yesterday to restore
their authority in black townships around Johannesburg.
Mr Hernus Kriel, the law and order minister, said 5,000 police and troops
would take part in the 'stabilisation' operation in 16 townships.
Some of these are sliding into anarchy. Between July 1991 and April this
year, 138 people have been killed and 261 injured.
Mr Cyrus Vance, the UN envoy visiting South Africa, yesterday held talks
with Mr Nelson Mandela, the ANC leader, and later toured Boipatong, the
township where 42 residents were massacred last month.
Mr Vance returns to New York tomorrow.
The Financial Times
International Page 3