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Lothar Neethling
General Lothar Paul Neethling (29 August 1935, East Prussia – 11 July 2005) was chief deputy commissioner (second-in-command) of the South African Police in the apartheid era. A highly qualified scientist, General Neethling was alleged to have used police forensic laboratories for the production of poisons to kill anti-apartheid activists, and to have developed chemical and biological weapons for use against the black population in South Africa. He died of lung cancer in Pretoria, aged 69. War orphan In 1948, Afrikaners who were supporters of defeated Nazi Germany in World War II came up with a plan to adopt as many as 10,000 war orphans, in light of the horrendous circumstances they endured after the war. In the event, the German Children's Fund (GCF) managed to finance a group of only 83 orphans who arrived in Cape Town in September 1948. One of them was 13-year-old Lothar Paul Tietz, who was adopted by the GCF chairman, Dr J C Neethling. In turn Lothar Neethling, cutting hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. March 2021. Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/77489?rskey=dCKrg4&result=1 (accessed May 11, 2021) The term ''general'' is used in two ways: as the generic title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank. It originates in the Tudor period, 16th century, as a shortening of ''captain general'', which rank was taken from Middle French ''capitaine général''. The adjective ''general'' had been affixed to officer designations since the late Middle Ages, late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction. Today, the title of ''general'' is known in some countries as a four-star rank. However, different countries use di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz, along with numerous research centers and academic abroad centers. The system is the state's land-grant university. Major publications generally rank most UC campuses as being among the best universities in the world. Six of the campuses, Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Diego are considered Public Ivies, making California the state with the most universities in the nation to hold the title. UC campuses have large numbers of distinguished faculty in almost every academic discipline, with UC faculty and researchers having won 71 Nobel Prizes as of 2021. The University of California currently has 10 campuses, a combined student body of 285,862 students, 24,400 faculty members, 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vrye Weekblad
''Vrye Weekblad'' was a groundbreaking progressive, anti-apartheid Afrikaans South Africa, national weekly newspaper that was launched in November 1988 and forced to close in February 1994. The paper was driven into bankruptcy by the legal costs of defending its charge that South African Police General Lothar Neethling had supplied poison to security police to kill activists. It was relaunched in a digital format in April 2019 by Arena Holdings, with Max du Preez returning as editor and Anneliese Burgess as co-editor. A new edition is published every Friday on thVrye Weekbladwebsite. History ''Vrye Weekblad'' (literally ''Free Weekly'', with "free" as in expression of opinion) was started as a result of frustration on the part of Afrikaner journalists who thought that the mainstream Afrikaans-language and English-language media lacked the courage to take on the apartheid state in South Africa. The paper was collectively owned by the founder members, who included editor Max du P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dirk Coetzee
Dirk Coetzee (15 April 1945 – 7 March 2013) was co-founder and commander of the covert South African Security Police unit based at Vlakplaas. He and his colleagues were involved in a number of extra judicial killings including that of Griffiths Mxenge. Coetzee publicly revealed the existence of the Vlakplaas death squads in 1989, making himself a target of a failed assassination attempt. Early life Coetzee was born in April 1945 in Phokwane Local Municipality. His father was a postal worker. The younger Coetzee also worked for the postal service before becoming an investigator in 1969. Career Starting out as a constable in 1972, he rose through the ranks, and advanced his cause on secondment with the Rhodesian Armed Forces. He was promoted to captain in the security police and, in 1980, became the first commander of the secret police base on the Vlakplaas farm near Pretoria. In 1981, he was "assigned" to the murder of Griffiths Mxenge. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vlakplaas
Vlakplaas (trans. "shallow farm") is a farm 20 km west of Pretoria that served as the headquarters of counterinsurgency unit C1 (later called C10) of the Security Branch of the apartheid-era South African Police. Though officially called Section C1, the unit itself also became known as Vlakplaas. Established in 1979, by 1990 it had grown from a small unit of five policemen and about fifteen askaris to a unit of nine squads. The unit functioned as a paramilitary hit squad, capturing political opponents of the apartheid government and either "turning" (converting) or executing them. Vlakplaas farm was the site of multiple executions of political opponents of the apartheid government. The unit is known to have carried out the murders of Griffiths Mxenge in 1981 and the so-called " Chesterville Four" in 1986, among many others. C1 officers were also notorious for allegedly routinely defrauding the state, siphoning off government funds to pay agents or for their personal use. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Truth And Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa in 1996 after the end of apartheid. Authorised by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Desmond Tutu, the commission invited witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations to give statements about their experiences, and selected some for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution. The TRC was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa. Despite some flaws, it is generally (although not universally) thought to have been successful. The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation was established in 2000 as the successor organisation of the TRC. Creation and mandate The TRC was set up in terms of the ''Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act'', No. 34 of 1995, and was based in Cape Town. The hearing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Writ
In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are common types of writ, but many forms exist and have existed. In its earliest form, a writ was simply a written order made by the English monarch to a specified person to undertake a specified action; for example, in the feudal era a military summons by the king to one of his tenants-in-chief to appear dressed for battle with retinue at a certain place and time. An early usage survives in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia in a writ of election, which is a written order issued on behalf of the monarch (in Canada, by the Governor General and, in Australia, by the Governor-General for elections for the House of Representatives, or State Governors for state elections) to local officials ( High Sheriffs of every c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international scheduled air transport, air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth. ICAO headquarters are located in the ''Quartier international de Montréal, Quartier International'' of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, its infrastructure, flight inspection, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation. ICAO defines the protocols for Aviation accidents and incidents, air accident investigation that are followed by :Organizations investigating aviation accidents and incidents, transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. The Air Navigat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pik Botha
Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, (27 April 1932 – 12 October 2018) was a South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era, the longest-serving in South African history. Known as a liberal within the party, Botha served to present a friendly, conciliatory face on the regime, while criticised internally. He was a leading contender for the leadership of the National Party upon John Vorster's resignation in 1978, but was ultimately not chosen. Staying in the government after the first non-racial general election in 1994, he served under Mandela as Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs from 1994 to 1996, and eventually joined the African National Congress (ANC) after his resignation. Botha was nicknamed 'Pik' (short for ''pikkewyn'', Afrikaans for 'penguin') because of a perceived likeness to a penguin in his stance, accentuated when he wore a suit. He was not related to Prime Minister (later State President) P. W. Botha, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cockpit Voice Recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has become a misnomer—they are now required to be painted bright orange, to aid in their recovery after accidents. There are two types of flight recording devices: the flight data recorder (FDR) preserves the recent history of the flight through the recording of dozens of parameters collected several times per second; the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) preserves the recent history of the sounds in the cockpit, including the conversation of the pilots. The two devices may be combined into a single unit. Together, the FDR and CVR objectively document the aircraft's flight history, which may assist in any later investigation. The two flight recorders are required by international regulation, overseen by the International Civil Aviation Organizat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flight Data Recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has become a misnomer—they are now required to be painted bright orange, to aid in their recovery after accidents. There are two types of flight recording devices: the flight data recorder (FDR) preserves the recent history of the flight through the recording of dozens of parameters collected several times per second; the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) preserves the recent history of the sounds in the cockpit, including the conversation of the pilots. The two devices may be combined into a single unit. Together, the FDR and CVR objectively document the aircraft's flight history, which may assist in any later investigation. The two flight recorders are required by international regulation, overseen by the International Civil Aviation Organizat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 Air Disaster
On 19 October 1986, a Tupolev Tu-134 jetliner with a Soviet crew carrying President Samora Machel and 43 others from Mbala, Zambia to the Mozambican capital Maputo crashed at Mbuzini, South Africa. Nine passengers and one crew member survived the crash, but President Machel and 33 others died, including several ministers and senior officials of the Mozambican government. A board of enquiry blamed the captain for failing to react to the Ground Proximity Warning System. Another theory was that the crew had set the aircraft's VOR receivers to the wrong frequency, causing them to receive signals from a different airport, or even that a false beacon had been used to lure the crew off course. While there was widespread suspicion in other nations that South Africa, which was hostile towards Machel's government at the time, was involved in the incident, no conclusive evidence was ever presented to support that allegation. Crash :''All times in this article are local (UTC+2).'' Aircr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
