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EUGENE DE KOCK - The Soldier We Left Behind.
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| Eugene de Kock told the TRUTH |
My curiosity
about Eugene de Kock started a number of years ago when I read a book called A Human Being Died that Night by Pumla
Gobodo-Madikizela. It was a story of
forgiveness and Archbishop Tutu stated that it was ‘A book that tugs at our
humanity, compassion and integrity’. While I lay in hospital reading that book, a
passion was born. I did research, went
through the court case records, the TRC and read everything I could about
Eugene de Kock. For me, there was
something fundamentally unjust about his case and I decided to do something
about it.
After about
nine months of research, I wrote Eugene de Kock a letter, mentioning that I
thought that his cause was worth fighting for.
It was months later that I received his reply.
“Don’t
waste your time and energy on me. I am a
lost cause”.
For me, and
for many others, there is no cause greater than getting Eugene de Kock pardoned
and sent home. It is much, much more
than just freeing a man from prison. It
is about forgiveness, compassion and reconciliation of an entire nation. It is
about doing the right thing. It has become
my passion. Nothing is impossible in South
Africa. If Nelson Mandela could become
our President, then Eugene de Kock can be given a pardon.
Countries
go to war to fetch one of their own or to revenge one of their own people. Armies promise their soldiers that they will
not be left behind. It is our fault that
one of our own, Eugene de Kock, was left behind. It is our fault that the born-free people
don’t know who he is. It is our fault that
so many people have forgotten him. Bad
things happen when good people turn away.
We turned away. Many SA police
and soldiers cannot move on with their lives because they remember that one was
left behind. An unconditional release
for Eugene de Kock will not only affect him, but will heal many lives. It will be the last door to be slammed shut
on apartheid and it will open the door to a more compassionate and united South
African nation.
Eugene de
Kock is the ONLY South African trialled and sentenced for crimes against
humanity after 45 years of apartheid. He was employed by the previous
(Apartheid) government and executed orders handed down to him by his superiors.
Not one of his superiors stood trial or were sentenced. He has now spent 20
years in a high security prison. He fought
bravely for his country, a product of the apartheid system, and then he was
thrown into prison for the deeds he received bravery awards for. Eugene resents what he has done and is
remorseful - unlike the old Nats, he does not think apartheid was a policy
mistake; he thinks it was a crime. His
previous employers, the Cabinet Ministers and Presidents, denied any knowledge
of his work. This is a blatant lie as I
have seen photographs of a Cabinet Minister decorating his chest with medals
for bravery.
According
to the law, a life prisoner has the right to apply for parole after 13 years,
although not the right to receive parole.
The latest parole hearing was denied by the Minister of Justice and
Correctional Services because Eugene de Kock’s profile had not been completed
correctly, and because the families of the victims had not been consulted. This is just an excuse to deny parole.
He has
asked forgiveness from the families of the victims, and he has been forgiven by
many, some from as early as 2003. The
latest forgiveness and recommendation for his release has come from the Mama
family. This has been all over the media
for the last two weeks. I am not a
lawyer, but I do think that the involvement with the families of victims was
not part of the procedure when Eugene de Kock was sentenced, so I believe that
it should not have affected his parole hearing.
However, Eugene de Kock asked to see the victim’s families without it
being forced on him.
With regard
to the correct completion of his profile…this is the responsibility of the
Department of Correctional Services and has nothing to do with what Eugene de
Kock did or did not do. This part of the
reason for denial of his parole is completely out of his hands as it was not
his responsibility. Surely, the Correctional Services have had
more than enough time to correctly complete an inmate’s profile after so many
years of the inmate applying for parole? Once the Correctional Services has rectified
their negligence of the completion of his profile, there should be no reason
why it cannot be brought before the Correctional Services Parole Board
immediately. Why should he have to wait
another year, as stipulated by the Minister of Justice and Correctional
Services, before he can again apply for parole?
Another
argument that I want to discuss is that Eugene de Kock was imprisoned as a
common criminal and not as a political criminal. For this reason, politics should not be taken
into account when addressing his parole.
Either he is treated like any other criminal as he is imprisoned as one,
or he is elevated to that of a political criminal if politics is going to
affect his parole. No one can have his
cake and eat it, not even the SA government.
The case of
Eugene de Kock cannot be judged without taking the context into account. It was war and atrocities were committed by
every side during the struggle. Eugene
de Kock was the fall guy, the scape-goat and in my opinion, the trade-off
between the National Party and the ANC.
The ANC negotiated EVERY SINGLE one of their people out of prison, but
the National Party allowed one person to pay so that the Cabinet Ministers and
those in command could walk away well-financed and free.
Please
click the link below to find our FREE EUGENE DE KOCK Facebook group. We invite you to join us. Warriors respect
one another, even previous enemies. Our
group have members from every group and country involved who were previous
enemies. We all want to put that war to
rest but cannot do that until our last soldier is released from prison. We are
requesting a Presidential Pardon for Eugene de Kock, or at the very least, an
unconditional release. He deserves
compassion and forgiveness. He has
served his time. He has paid, and paid,
and paid…for the crimes of an entire government! This is not fair and it is not just. Either all are punished or all are set free.
When asked
why a mass murderer like Eugene de Kock should be freed on his own FB page, Jacques van Heerden answered thus:
How many ANC bomb planters were released with the inception of the New
South Africa?
Eugene de Kock was a soldier who acted on the instructions of senior
officers in the Police who in turn received their instructions from Parliament.
I'm not sure how familiar you are with internal control mechanisms in
the SAP and SADF in order to draw explosives and weapons from logistical
magazines.
If you are familiar with the old SAL/ SADF, you will know that not even
a pin leaves a store without an authorization, or in Military terms, without a
signal.
I mention this, because it would have been impossible for Eugene de Kock
(EdK) to draw amongst others, explosives from a magazine without any
authorization from higher command.
What makes his crime so inexcusable?
He executed people, who were at the time considered as terrorists. It is
important to note my words, "at the time". Depending on where you
found yourself they were either Freedom Fighters or terrorists.
If one has regard for some of the crimes that were committed by the
"enemy" of the time, bombs in restaurants, in movie houses, shopping centres,
necklacing of people accused of being police informers to mention but a few.
His actions, sanctioned by the apartheid government, were to eliminate
those threats, which he did. He was given countless medals for his "good
work" in safeguarding the people of South Africa. Medals received for
action taken which later landed him in jail, when his masters turned their back
on him.
Where do we draw the line! Let us call EdK a murderer of the Apartheid
regime.
What do we call the late President Nelson Mandela? Bearing in mind that
he ordered amongst others the Church Street Bomb, the Amamzimtoti shopping
Centre bombing to name but a few? Did the late President Mandela apologize to
the people of South Africa for those killed and maimed by the bombings he had
ordered?
EdK and many former apartheid policemen went so far to reconcile and
seek forgiveness for what they have done during apartheid. However, they are
and will always be villains. No matter what they do, there seems to be a
section of society/politicians who refuse to forgive them.
How do we put the past behind us if we are not prepared to clean the
slate?
The past is water under the bridge, ashes in a fire. No matter what we
do, we will never undo what happened in the past.
We cannot call a bullet back, nor can we undo a land mine that was
planted on a civilian farm road that killed a farmer and his child.
We can however move forward together, with better understanding of our
past thus ensuring not to repeat the mistakes of the past!
If you would like to sign a petition requesting a Presidential Pardon, please click on the link below:
"We
can never justify the past, but we should never forget that he was and still is
one of us." - Dr. Piet Croucamp.
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