Death, Detention and Disappearance

A lawyer's battle to hold power to account in 1980s Namibia

David Smuts

ISBN:

9780624088790

Epub ISBN:

9780624088806

Publisher:

Tafelberg

Date Released:

August 2019

Price (incl. VAT):

R 370.00

Format:

Soft cover, 368pp


About this book:

In Namibia, the 1980s were a dark decade of human rights abuses by South African security forces. Justice David Smuts, then a young Windhoek lawyer, felt compelled to take on the system. His gripping memoir details several dramatic cases, including the freeing of detainees held secretly for six years, proving that torture was used to extract ‘confessions’ and that Koevoet knowingly killed citizens. He also takes a new look at the assassination of his close friend, SWAPO activist Anton Lubowski.

Readers say

‘An engrossing read, crammed with courtroom dramas and car chases to the border and back. A story about the battle for human dignity in the 1980s – inspiring for all who still live in history’s shadow.’

– Justice Edwin Cameron