Mr. Speaker. today I am introducing legislation which condemns the recent actions of the Government of South Africa which terminated an Americansponsored court suit seeking the release of prisoners captured during the 1978 raid on the Cassinga refugee settlement located some 150 miles within the Angolan border. During that raid the South African military forces killed over 600 Namibian refugees. many of whom were women and children. and further forcibly abducted more than 100 refugees from Angola and took them to a military internment camp near Mariental. 175 miles south of Windhoek. the Namibian capital. South Africa initially denied the existence of the detainees. but as the result of international pressure. finally conceded it was holding survivors of the raid on Cassinga. Although recently the International Committee of the Red Cross and certain relatives were allowed restricted visits. for several years no relatives or legal representatives were permitted to leave the camp.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees