Political prisoners

The AAM organised a weekly vigil opposite the South African Embassy in the winter of 1963/64 during the trial of Nelson Mandela and his co-accused. Different groups – writers, actors, church people, politicians – took part each week. The campaign was run under the auspices of the World Campaign for the Release of South African Political Prisoners, set up in response to a UN General Assembly resolution passed in October 1963.

The AAM organised a weekly vigil opposite the South African Embassy in the winter of 1963/64 during the trial of Nelson Mandela and his co-accused. Different groups – writers, actors, church people, politicians – took part each week. The campaign was run under the auspices of the World Campaign for the Release of South African Political Prisoners, set up in response to a UN General Assembly resolution passed in October 1963.

In the 1960s the AAM used theatre to alert the British public to the increasing use of torture in South Africa. Actors like the National Theatre’s Robert Lang took part in this dramatised presentation of what it was like to be a political prisoner. Students from the University of London’s Society Against Racial Discrimination held a torchlight march to the event.

London students demonstrated in support of Nelson Mandela and other South African political prisoners in February 1964. This leaflet publicised a march preceding a dramatised presentation of prisoners’ lives organised by the World Campaign for the Release of South African Political Prisoners in Central Hall, Westminster. It was organised by University of London Union (ULU) Society Against Racial Discrimination. ULU later elected Nelson Mandela as its Honorary President.

This leaflet highlighted the death of Babla Saloojee, who was detained under the 90-day law, giving the South African police powers to hold political detainees for 90 days without trial. It quoted first-hand accounts of torture at the hands of the security police. The leaflet highlighted the sentencing of 44 people to death in 1963–64.

This petition was signed by nearly 200,000 people all over the world during the trial of Nelson Mandela and his co-accused in 1964. It was launched by the World Campaign for the Release of South African Political Prisoners, set up in response to a UN General Assembly resolution passed in October 1963. The campaign played a big part in preventing the death sentence being passed on the accused.

Five issues of this broadsheet were published by the World Campaign for the Release of South African Political Prisoners in 1964. The broadsheet reported on the world campaign to save the lives of Nelson Mandela and his co-accused in the Rivonia trial. The campaign played a big part in preventing the death sentence being passed on the accused.

Five issues of this broadsheet were published by the World Campaign for the Release of South African Political Prisoners in 1964. The broadsheet reported on the world campaign to save the lives of Nelson Mandela and his co-accused in the Rivonia trial. The campaign played a big part in preventing the death sentence being passed on the accused.