Word: idaf
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Dates: during 1983-1983
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...question is the International Defense and Aid Fund for Southern Africa (IDAF), an organization with committees in 10 countries that provides legal assistance to South Africans accused of political "crimes" and financial aid to their families...
...United States branch of the IDAF is housed in the basement of the Harvard Epworth Church in Cambridge. Though the group has no official ties to the University, its president is the Rev. Peter J. Gomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, and Nancy Randolph, special assistant to President Bok, is a member of the board of trustees...
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 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...
...Carstens puts it, the IDAF is essentially wothwhile. "How can you measure success in these conditions?" he asks. "It's a humane task that we're performing. At the very least, we say to people: 'You are not alone...