Vlakplaas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vlakplaas [ ˈflakplɑːs ] is the common name for the former special unit C1 - originally C10  - of the South African police at the time of apartheid . As a death squad, the secretly operating unit was responsible for numerous murders and attacks against opponents of the regime , most of whom belonged to the black population group. She also committed torture and " disappeared " an unknown number of political opponents . This happened, among other things, by burning, by blowing up the corpses several times or by burying them in secret mass graves on the premises of the headquarters of the unit. It was dissolved in 1993 after the end of apartheid politics. The unit's longtime head, Eugene de Kock , was convicted in 1996 of multiple murders and crimes against humanity .

history

Establishment and actions

Vlakplaas ( Afrikaans ; German roughly: "Flat Farm") is the name of a 44 hectare farm 20 kilometers west of Pretoria , in the area of ​​the city of Krugersdorp . The special unit C10 (later C1) of the South African police had its headquarters there since 1979. It saw itself as an anti-terrorist unit - the "C" stands for counterinsurgency - and operated undercover . Commanders were Dirk Coetzee from 1980 to 1981 , Jan Carel Coetzee in 1982, Jack Cronje from 1983 to 1985 and Eugene de Kock from 1985 to 1993. The boss was first Johannes Jacobus Victor, from 1980 Willem Schoon , who were also responsible for other political murders , such as the murder of Ruth First in Mozambique in 1982 .

Vlakplaas was a paramilitary reaction force that either "turned around" or killed opposition activists. The people “turned around” often had to carry out attacks themselves. Those who refused were killed, possibly with explosive belts . On the Vlakplaas farm, across the country and neighboring countries such as Lesotho , Botswana and Swaziland , numerous executions of opposition members took place. Human remains were disposed of by incineration, disposed of in a river, or dismembered by repeated detonation. Thousands of people were tortured in Vlakplaas. Numerous letter bombs were sent. The most famous murder victims include human rights attorney Griffiths Mxenge , who was stabbed to death in 1981, and his wife Victoria Mxenge , who was killed in 1985. She had recently given an eulogy for the Cradock Four , four UDF members who had been murdered by police security branch officers. The headquarters of COSATU and the South African Council of Churches in Johannesburg were bombed in 1987 and 1988, respectively. Bombs were also detonated in South African cinemas showing the film Cry Freedom . The Inkatha movement in Natal was supplied with weapons in the late 1980s to fuel the conflict with the African National Congress . These events, in which the former South African armed forces SADF were also involved, were investigated at the instigation of the judge Richard Goldstone . Some of the mercenaries trained in sabotage and murder carried out attacks on political opponents as employees of the KwaZulu police. Around 15,000 people fell victim to the conflict.

One of the co-founders of the unit was Dirk Coetzee, who led the action to murder Griffiths Mxenges. He was demoted in 1981 and had to leave the unit in 1986. In 1989 he confirmed the practices of the unit in the South African newspaper Vrye Weekblad , after public accusations had previously been made by a black informant . De Kock, whose nickname Prime Evil (for example: "The Urböse" or "Supreme Criminal") was, then tried to kill Coetzee in Mauritius with a letter bomb. He used the name of a lawyer friend of Coetzee as the return address. Coetzee refused to take delivery and returned the shipment. When the lawyer opened the broadcast, he was killed.

In 1993, with the end of apartheid, the unit was dissolved.

aftermath

In 1996 de Kock was sentenced to a total of 212 years imprisonment (including two life sentences) for multiple murders and other crimes. From 1995, the acts of unity were negotiated before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Numerous files had previously been destroyed. Coetzee was given amnesty by the TRC ; de Kock's application for amnesty was denied. Joe Mamasela, a black undercover agent, did not ask for an amnesty. De Kock accused high-ranking politicians and officials, including Presidents Pieter Willem Botha and Frederik Willem de Klerk , of having ordered the acts. However, these politicians were not questioned or even called to account by the TRC. Nonetheless, during the negotiations of the TRC, much new knowledge about the work of the unit came to the public. As a result, numerous bodies of previously missing people were exhumed in Vlakplaas .

In 2007 it was announced that the farm would serve as a health center. Here the healing power of plants used in traditional medicine should be studied. The cooperation between traditional Sangoma and orthodox medicine should be improved here. In 2013, Vlakplaas was part of the Liberation Heritage Route, which shows important stops on the way to ending apartheid. The farm can be visited.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission , (PDF; 1.9 MB; p. 38; English) accessed on October 22, 2012
  2. ↑ a b Testimony on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by MD Ras
  3. ↑ Details at artthrob.co.za (English), accessed on July 6, 2012
  4. ↑ report by Dirk Coetzee to Vlakplaas -actions ( Memento of 27 October 2009 at the Internet Archive ) (English) accessed July 31, 2012
  5. ^ Report from the TRC , accessed on August 2, 2012
  6. ↑ a b Reports and photos from the TRC meetings (PDF; 1.2 MB; English) accessed on July 6, 2012
  7. ^ The Role of Political Violence in South Africa's Democratisation . ( Memento of February 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; English) accessed on July 6, 2012
  8. ↑ a b Afraid of the smell of blood . In: Der Spiegel . No. 19 , 2006 ( online - Interview with Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela ).
  9. ^ A b Truth and Reconciliation - The Voice of 'Prime Evil' . BBC News
  10. ↑ a b Birgit Schwarz: In the heart of the whore . In: Der Spiegel . No. 24 , 1998 ( online ).
  11. ↑ Press release of the TRC 1998 (English), accessed on December 2, 2012
  12. ↑ Allister Sparks : Tomorrow is another land. South Africa's secret revolution . Berlin Verlag 1995, pp. 246-249
  13. ^ A South African Talks of Hit Team . In: New York Times , November 19, 1989
  14. ^ Murder orders came directly from President Botha. Berliner Zeitung of October 31, 1996, accessed on July 6, 2012
  15. ↑ Vlakplaas to become center for healing. Mail & Guardian , August 16, 2007
  16. ↑ Visits to Vlakplaas , accessed on February 7, 2016