Word: idaf
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Most observers of South Africa consider the justice system to be a sham. But given this fact, both Gomes and Carstens believe the IDAF has successfully worked within the system and helped bring about what Gomes calls "a fair number of acquittals or sentence reductions...
Still, the IDAF has powerful advocates in Washington. Sen. Paul E. Tsongas (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate ad hoc monitoring group on Southern Africa, is a sponsor of the organization and has worked closely with Carstens in the past. At Carsten's suggestion, Tsongas and other members of Congress "adopted" political prisoners in South Africa to whom they corresponded and lent moral support...
Gomes believes the IDAF is unique. "There is lots of talk about South Africa with little direction or focus," he says. "The IDAF provides those missing ingredients...
...IDAF, by providing funds for lawyers, serves a "priceless" function, Gomes says. Because most South Africans tried for political crimes have little money, they have difficulty obtaining lawyers, since there is no free public defense in South Africa. The IDAF, says Gomes, offers the necessary financial stimulus...
Still, the vast majority of Blacks tried for political crimes are convicted and given the maximum sentence applicable to their "crime". Gomes admits that if the IDAF made a short run balance sheet of its success and failures, ceasing activities would seem "a perfectly pragmatic action...