Court rules Imam Haron was tortured to death by apartheid police

The Western Cape High Court has ruled the 1970 inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist Imam Abdullah Haron be set aside, and found he died at the hands of apartheid police.

Judge Daniel Thulare handed down judgment in the reopened inquest of Haron on Monday, concluding Haron’s injuries were sustained by torture.

“The findings of Magistrate Koen recorded in the 1970 inquest number 50/70 dated 9 March 1970 as to the cause or likely cause of death, as to whether the death was brought about by any act prima facie involving or amounting to an offence on the part of any person, are herewith set aside.

“The cause of death is attributable to the cumulative effect of injuries under torture, in particular the combination of severe systematic physiological stresses including crush injury syndrome precipitated by blunt soft tissue injury,” Thulare ruled.

Thulare also ruled that the doctors who examined Haron will be refered to the South African Medical and Dental Council.

“The conduct of Dr Viviers, Dr Gosling, Dr Kosseaw and Dr Schwar deserve serious rebuke from the court and is referred to the South African Medical and Dental Council for
its attention.”

Judgement

In his 101-page judgement, Judge Thulare said it was clear the district surgeons who gave testimony at the 1970 inquest into Haron’s death weren’t truthful about his medical concerns, nor did they examine him properly.

Thulare said it was evident Haron was the victim of political torture and apartheid police who testified in the inquest lied about what happened to the Imam during his time in custody.

He said evidence that Haron’s cause of death as a result of a fall down the stairs was not credible and was rejected.

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Torture

Thulare said the apartheid police were responsible for Haron’s death.

“The security branch of the South African Police are held accountable for the acts and omissions leading directly to the death of Imam Abdullah Haron. The officers primarily responsible for brutality, torturing the Imam to death are Lieutenant Colonel Carel Johannes Freysen Pienaar, Major Dirk Kotze Genis, Captain Ebanis Jogiemus Johannes Geldenhuys and Sergeant Johannes Petrus ‘Spyker’ van Wyk.”

All these police officers have since died.

Thulare also mentioned other members of the apartheid police.

“As regards the roles of Johannes Burger, Sergeant Petrus Jacobus Rademeyer, Captain Pieter-Louis Malan and Sergeant Smith and the prosecutor JS Van Graan, the matters are referred to the DPP for a decision.”

Burger, the only surviving member of the then South African Police (SAP) who had contact with Haron during detention, claimed ignorance about the treatment of political detainees. However, having seen post-mortem drawings, Burger believed Haron died due to torture.

Haron, a political activist and Imam at Cape Town’s Stegman Road Mosque, was arrested on 28 May 1969 under the Terrorism Act, held in solitary confinement for 123 days, and subjected to near-daily interrogations.

The Imam succumbed to his death in police custody at Maitland Police Station on 27 September 1969.

Inquests

In May last year, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola formally requested the Judge President of the Western Cape Division of the High Court designate a judge to preside over the inquiry.

During the initial inquest, the Security Police testified Haron had slipped on stairs at the Caledon Square Police Station on 19 September 1969.

By the time of the reopened inquest requested by the Haron family, the two persons of material interest to Haron’s detention, Security Branch officers “Spyker” van Wyk and Dirk Genis, had died.

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