S. Africa Police Torture Prisoners, Doctor Says

A white doctor Thursday accused South African police of continuing to torture black prisoners, using such techniques as the “helicopter treatment” in which a detainee is handcuffed to a pole and swung back and forth.

The accusations came from Wendy Orr, who was removed from her post as visiting doctor attending to detainees after she and 44 others won a court injunction in September to stop police in Port Elizabeth from assaulting detainees.

Orr angered some of her fellow medical practitioners by her allegations, but said then, “It ultimately became clear to me that, unless I made a stand and did something about the plight of the detainees, I would be compromising my moral beliefs and my perception of my professional responsibility.”

On Thursday, lawyers acting for her handed 93 new affidavits to the Port Elizabeth Supreme Court alleging a variety of tortures and brutality by the police during interrogations.

The affidavits, which were shown to reporters, tell of whippings and assaults, and say that one man was forced to eat splinters from a pick handle broken during an assault.

Ivy Gcina said in her affidavit that she was hit across the face, struck behind the knees so that she fell over, and taken to a toilet and sprayed with tear gas.

One detainee, Leslie Mangcolywa, said he was twice subjected to what is known as the “helicopter treatment.” He said he was made to crouch; a length of wood was placed behind his knees; he was handcuffed, with his arms passing under the wood and his hands in front of his shins. He was then lifted and suspended between two tables.

“One’s whole weight is suspended on one’s wrists held by the handcuffs and the back of the knees,” he said in the affidavit.

There was no immediate response from authorities on the allegations.

2 Cameramen Charged

In another development Thursday, a court charged two cameramen for a British television agency with inciting a riot in a black homeland, their lawyer said. It was the most serious charge filed so far against journalists working for a foreign news organization.

Roger and Patrick Lucey, white South African brothers working for World Television News, spent two nights in jail before they were released Thursday after posting $40 bail, said David Dyson, an attorney for the London-based company.

The Luceys were arrested Tuesday under the Riotous Assemblies Act in Moutse, a tribal district 60 miles northeast of Pretoria. Dyson said they were charged at a brief court appearance in Grobersdal, near Moutse, with inciting public violence, and were ordered to appear again in January.

Many of Moutse’s 120,000 residents, from the North Sotho tribe, oppose being annexed into a black homeland for the rival Ndebele tribe. When rioting followed a Monday protest rally against the annexation, the Luceys went the next day to interview tribal leaders.

While the Luceys were in Moutse, violence resumed between police and the local people. The brothers began filming the throwing of rocks and use of tear gas, said Maredi Chueu, a Parliament member in the black homeland of Lebowa for North Sotho people. He said he was with the Luceys at the time.