A Common Purpose: The Story of the Upington 25

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Moving
Review: Durbach is truly one of the century's greatest women. Amidst the overwhelming power of the repressive apartheid State she joined with her fellow lawyers to resurrect the power of the rule of law. The personal toll of making a difference in that time and under that regime was extraordinary. This book is an inspiration for young and old lawyers alike, as well as anyone who believes that injustice has to be accepted.

Rating:
Summary: A "criminal" case that will make your blood boil
Review: Over a decade has passed since the end of apartheid in South Africa, yet it seems longer ago that such a nightmare actually existed in the modern world. Reading this book, which relates just one example of the many wrongs endured by the majority of inhabitants of that country, is guaranteed get your blood boiling all over again.

Originally published in Australia as "Upington: A Story of Trials and Reconciliation," Andrea Durbach's book recounts her role as a lawyer in the murder trial of 25 residents of Pabellelo, a black township in Upington, South Africa. After a peaceful meeting in November 1985, during which residents complained about such township conditions as "issues of house rents and the use of alcohol by schoolchildren," a group of youths made their way to a soccer field, disrupting a game. A confrontation with police ensued, and, for the next three days, local law enforcement clamped down on local unrest, at one point shooting and killing a pregnant woman. Responding to unfounded rumors of an officially sanctioned town-wide gathering, 3,000 inhabitants assembled and were then violently dispersed by police. In the subsequent melee, police fired tear-gas canisters into the crowd. A black police officer, with a past reputation of cruelty and corruption, was flushed from his nearby home and assaulted by a mob, ultimately killing him.

Twenty-six residents were arrested. Evidence tied only three or four of them directly to the scene of the crime; five of the accused were actually arrested when they "volunteered" for the lineup and were then selected by alleged eyewitnesses. To avoid the problem of the complete lack of evidence--not to mention the inconvenience of numerous alibis--the Upington 25 (minus one of the accused who pled separately) were tried under the doctrine of "common purpose." Most frequently used against, say, a group of bank robbers when one of them commits a murder during the course of the crime, the South African justice system extended the doctrine to allow that participation (or even mere attendance) in a crowd is evidence enough for "criminal liability" or "commitment to action" for any illegal acts that might result.

Ultimately, all 25 were convicted of murder, 14 of them (including a 60-year-old grandmother) received the death penalty--and the case instantly became an international cause celebre. During the late 1980s through 1991, during the dying days of apartheid, Durbach and her colleagues persisted in battling the outcome of this farcical "show trial." They, along with the accused, are true heroes against an oppressive system. Still, writing from her new home of Sydney, Australia, Durbach is able to reflect on past events with an admirable mix of sensitivity and detachment.

Yet the true villain of the book is Jan Basson, the justice of the Upington Supreme Court who presided over the trial. Although Durbach is remarkably even-handed in her treatment of this rogue, the facts speak for themselves, and the reader closes the book with the belief that there must be a special place in Hell for such callous, mindless tyrants.

Even though the trial's outcome and South Africa's destiny is known from the start, "A Common Purpose" is still a page-turner that recommends itself to any reader who cares about racial justice and social democracy.