DETENTION OF CHILDREN IN SOUTH AFRICA.

SEC. 1224. DETENTION OF CHILDREN IN SOUTH AFRICA. (a) Findings — The Congress finds that— (1) the Government of the Republic of South Africa under its system of apartheid repeatedly has detained black children without charge or trial, and has denied parental access to these children for extended periods of time; (2) the Detainees’ Parents’ Support Committee of South Africa has compiled information estimating that more than 25,000 people were detained since June 12, 1986, under state of emergency regulations, and approximately 10,000 of these were children, including some as young as age 10; (3) the Government of the Republic of South Africa has stated on numerous occasions that it has detained children without charge, and that on a certain day in December 1986, 256 children under the age of 16 were in detention; that on a certain 101 STAT. 1416day in February 1987, 281 children under the age of 15 were in detention; that on a certain day in April 1987, 1,424 children under the age of 18 were in detention; and that on a certain day in May 1987, 280 children under the age of 16 were in detention; and that as of June 2, stated that eleven children under the age of 16 were in detention; and as of October, 69 children under the age of 18 are still in detention; and (4) human rights groups in South Africa estimate that many more children have been detained under state of emergency regulations than the Government of the Republic of South Africa admits; (5) the state of emergency regulations allow for the detention of individuals without charge for an indefinite period of time; and (6) the United States Ambassador to South Africa Edward J. Perkins has stated that such detentions are “a most serious abuse of human rights, particularly so where detainees are children as young as 11”. (b) Policy.— The Congress hereby— (1) calls for the cessation of the practice of detaining children under 18 years of age without charge or trial in South Africa; (2) calls for the South African Government either to release all children in South Africa held under state of emergency regulations and other laws which authorize detention without charge or, in those cases where an internationally recognized criminal act has allegedly been committed, charge them and allow them their rights of a fair and public trial; (3) pending the release of the children, calls on the Government of the Republic of South Africa to— (A) permit the detained children immediate and frequent access to parents and legal counsel; (B) make public the names and locations of all the detained children; (C) provide the detained children with adequate food, clothing, and protection; and (D) permit a recognized, independent, and impartial international humanitarian organization to verify that the provisions of this section are being carried out and that the detained children are not being abused, tortured, or held in solitary confinement, and are not being held in detention in the company of adults; and (4) calls for the apprehension and trial of all those individuals who execute children by violent activities, including necklacing, and the cessation of these activities.