De Klerk and the Rogue Cops : Needed: An international, independent inquiry on South African police

The latest charges are explosive: South African policemen are murdering black suspects, beating confessions out of some who have committed no crime and favoring supporters of the conservative Inkatha Freedom Political Party. These accusations are particularly credible because they come from an unlikely source--a white pathologist who is a staunch ally of the reform-minded President Frederik W. de Klerk.

Dr. Jonathan Gluckman based his conclusions on his examination of the corpses of 200 black torture victims. On the evidence of markings on the bodies, he concluded that 90% had been fatally beaten or shot by police officers.

Gluckman expressed his alarm privately to De Klerk. Then, after the killings continued, he courageously went public with his charges. He granted interviews to South Africa’s largest newspaper and to major U.S. newspapers. His action should help to end the slaying of innocent black South Africans.

De Klerk is not powerless to stop the killings. He could agree to an independent inquiry conducted under the auspices of the United Nations or another neutral body. Only a foreign-led inquiry can reassure a world made wary by previous revelations of police brutality and by law enforcement complicity with the Inkatha party, the chief black rival of the African National Congress.

A credible inquiry would need to ferret out the rogue cops who refuse to change as South Africa shifts from racial segregation to a non-racial democracy. If the investigation confirms the worst suspicions, charges should be filed against any culpable police officers.

The investigation must do more than uncover problems; it must also present solutions. Recommendations should include improving police investigative techniques in cases involving blacks to reduce a near-total dependence on confessions. That dependence may be tempting some South African police officers to get confessions by any means.

President De Klerk must get rid of rogue cops who kill at will. He must embrace new law enforcement leadership committed completely to change before he loses his opportunity to help create a new South Africa.