text: 7.2,0 In otder to crlblnalLse an!l-apartheld pollrlcal act!v1ly' opponents of rhe Aparlheid syslcu were charged \Ji!h connon 1alJ clines' rather than pollEical offences. Accgrdingly, chere are inany Pollclcal activlsEs serving sentences for such offences as Publlc vlolence' atson' nurder and terrorLslr. 8,0.0 Since the adoption of the Declaretlons, the APartheid reghe has neLther 8lven lndlcatLgn of lntent to halt the Prac!1ce of detentlon wlthout trlal, nor has il sade a ca!egorlcal coltDitnen! to releas€ polltlcal detainees. llhat the reglhe has done Ls to lndlcaBe that the Perlod of detentLon in tetEs of secutlty energency regulacloirs vill be llolted to a renewable six rnonths and that detainees wil'1 acqulre Ehe !1ght to legal lepFesen!.rtion and a Eedlcal practioner of their owo chooslng. As such' the practice of detentlon wlthout trlal continues.Al44/963 Enqlish Page13 Consequently, theoverwhelming majority ofpeopleserving sentences for offences whichoccured inthecourseofthestruggle against Apartheid ~ereexcluded fromtheverynarrowdefinition ofpolitical prisoner used bydeKlerkinhis2ndFebruary speech. Hisinitiative islimited to thosepolitical prisoners convicted ofaffiliation withorfurthering theaimsofabannedorganisation. Assuch.theregime hassofaronly released approximately 72political prisoners, including Nelson Mande!a. (SeeAnnex1attached). 7.1.0 According tooralevidence received bytheMonitoring Group. andasestimated bymonitoring groupsinSouthAfrica. therearemorcthan 3000political prisoners inAp.:Lrtheid jails. Amongst these, ,~hereare currently approximately 350prisoners serving sentences forconvictions undertheSouthAfrican 5p.cur1ty legislation dealing withunrestrelated offences suchaspublicviolence, arsonandmalicious damage toproperty. (SeeAnnex2attached). 7.2.0 Inordertocriminalise anti-apartheid political activity, opponents oftheApartheid system werecharged withcommon lawcrimes. rather thanpolitical offences. Accordingly, therearemanypolitical activists serving sentences forsuchoffences aspublicviolence, arson, murder andterrorism. 8.0.0 Sincetheadoption oftheDeclarations, theApartheid regime hasneither givenindication ofintenttohaltthepractice ofdetention without trialnorhasitmadeacategorical commitment torelease political detainees. Whattheregime hasdoneistoindicate thattheperiodof detention intermsofsecurity emergency regulations willbelimited to arenewable sixmonths andthatdetainees willacquire therighttolegal representation andamedical practioner oftheirownchoosing. Assuch, thepractice ofdetention without trialcontinues. I••• Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld Library^/ 44/963 ElgIish Page 14 8.1.0 There are over 3OO detaj.nees !.ithout tria.L presenely held under rho Sr'rq ^i Fhoio^n-f i^^l--!ruding chj.ldren as young as l2 years old, Thlrty-
analysis: The text appears to be discussing the political situation in South Africa during the apartheid era, focusing on the treatment of political prisoners and the lack of accountability from the government. It mentions the use of common law crimes to criminalize anti-apartheid political activity, the detention of thousands of people without trial, and the limited release of political prisoners. The text also references the South African security legislation and the monitoring group's estimates of the number of political prisoners.