Over the last 2 days, 275 comrades from the Landless People's Movement
and the Soldiers Forum have been arrested in Johannesburg. The LPM is a
movement of both rural and urban landless communities who are fighting
forced removal and eviction from farms by the state. The Soldiers Forum is
a network of ex-APLA and MK (liberation struggle armed groups) soldiers
who have been badly treated after their integration into the new 'South
African National Defence Force'. They speak for many former liberation
struggle combatants who have basically been abandoned after devoting
their lives to the struggle for freedom in South Africa.

These arrests are clearly an attempt to stop protests at the World
Conference on Sustainable Development (WSSD) over the next two weeks.
The government has already denounced social movements who wish to
"embarrass the government". In order to stop mobilisation, Johannesburg
has been militarised. There are stop and search road blocks throughout the
city. As can be seen from the arrests, protest has been criminalised.

The first arrests happened when the LPM staged a march of 4000 people
on Wednesday. The Soldiers Forum comrades were arrested when they
tried to board a train to take them to Cape Town to protest. Yesterday
(Thursday the 22nd of August), more LPM people were arrested when they
protested the arrest of their comrades. One of those arrested was Ann
Eveleth, an American citizen who has been assisting the LPM as media
officer. We have received news that Ann Eveleth is now going to be
deported.

Those arrested have not been charged. Under South African law, people
who are arrested must be charged and appear in court within 48 hours. The
state is using this entire 48 hour period to hold the comrades. When the 48
hours stretches over a weekend (as it does for the comrades arrested
yesterday), they will be held for the whole weekend without trial. This is
clearly a legal form of harassment.

I am still sitting in Cape Town, where we are busy mobilising solidarity
protests for those arrested, but IndyMedia comrades in Johannesburg have
whatever details are available (these arrests have broken numerous
communications links).

We are calling for international solidarity. Protests at SA embassies. Spread
the word widely. I will secure info on where letters of protest must be sent to
in South Africa in the court of the day, and will communicate this
information to all of you. If anyone doesn't want to be on this list of emails,
please email me directly.

You can contact me at:  pvh@wfeet.za.net or +27 83 256 0457

You can contact Prishani of IndyMedia Jo'burg at
 prishani@union.org.za or +27 83 962 9760

Keep watching  http://southafrica.indymedia.org