South Africa grants parole to apartheid death squad leader

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By LYNSEY CHUTEL

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The South African government Friday granted parole to Eugene de Kock, the head of a covert unit for the apartheid state responsible for dozens of deaths, saying it is in the interest of national reconciliation. But those who knew de Kock's victims are struggling to accept his release.

Eddie Makue, who worked for the South African Council of Churches when de Kock bombed its headquarters in 1988 injuring 19 people, is ambivalent about the announcement that de Kock has been granted parole.

"It's mixed feelings, which is something we've gotten used to as South Africans," Makue told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Makue, now a member of South Africa's parliament, said he accepted Justice Minister Michael Masutha's reasons for granting de Kock parole but struggled to accept the harm de Kock and his unit had inflicted on their prisoners.

FULL story at link.



FILE - In this Sept. 14, 1998 file photo, Eugene de Kock, the head of a covert police unit that tortured and killed dozens of people, attends an amnesty hearing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in Pretoria, South Africa. Eugene de Kock, a death squad leader for the apartheid state, has been granted parole after two decades in jail, the South African government announced Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File)

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150130/af-south-africa-killers-parole-87122e782f.html

[secondwind]

1. white privilege ??

[ck4829]

2. He's a serial killer who found his release through state sponsored terrorism

Last edited Fri Jan 30, 2015, 12:58 PM - Edit history (1)

Brought up in a strict and extreme nationalist (and most definitely racist) environment, so he was taught to dehumanize at an early age
Tried to join the South African Defence Force - Rejected
Tried to join the police - Rejected
So he founded his own paramilitary organization, Koevoet, which had actions so extreme that even the SADF did not like it
It then became C1 and the rest of the story is what this article is about

He's 65 years old, people can change, but it's hard to say if he has.

[MisterP]

3. PM Stefan Löfven better practice ducking

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Williamson#Other_incidents_possibly_linked_to_Williamson

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Widow and Archbishop Tutu's comments:

Sandra Mama, widow of Glenack Mama who was killed by De Kock in 1992, said she thought the minister was right in granting parole.

"I think it will actually close a chapter in our history because we've come a long way and I think his release will just once again help with the reconciliation process because there's still a lot of things that we need to do as a country," she told the BBC.
...
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who chaired the TRC, said the decision to release him represented a milestone on South Africa's road to reconciliation and healing.

"I pray that those whom he hurt, those from whom he took loved ones, will find the power within them to forgive him. Forgiving is empowering for the forgiver and the forgiven - and for all the people around them. But we can't be glib about it; it's not easy," Archbishop Tutu said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-31054912

[Judi Lynn]

5. This will never be right. No reconciliation over this monster's release.

He needs the rest of his life alone to remember his treatment of human beings when he still lived among them.