Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.
About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1987)
PAGE 14 — The Georgia Bulletin, March 19, 1987 Priest Details Torture, Filthy Cell During So. African Detention BY BILL PRITCHARD WASHINGTON (NC) - An American missionary described three months of detention in a crowded, filthy southern African cell less than 12 feet square as “mental torture.” That was in addition to physical torture by his jailers and interrogation by white South African police officers during his in carceration in Transkei, a tribal homeland carved out of eastern South Africa. Mariannhili Father James Lee Casimir, Paulsen, in a March 14 telephone interview with National Catholic News Service from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, described his jailers as “animals” and worried over the fate of a female Transkei co-worker jailed about the same time he was. Father Paulsen, 51, said he never considered dying in jail as "probable” but "it was a possibility.” When he was tortured, during the Father Paulsen ...in 1971 photo week after his Dec. 17,1986, arrest, the priest said he feared that his torturers were insufficiently trained to know how far they could go before killing him. But “the first thing is that detention in itself is mental torture,” he said. Father Paulsen, who grew up in Detroit, also said he felt the “power of prayer” from family and supporters back home dur ing his imprisonment. “There was a real force and a power going on that 1 could cut with a knife,” he said. The missionary said Transkei police wanted him to reveal the whereabouts of two young black South Africans who had had been given temporary accom modation at his parish in the town of Tsolo. He said he did not know whether the young men were involved with South African rebels. He said he had allowed them to stay at the request of a university student he knew. The student told him they were friends trying to get away from violence in South African townships. A senior Transkei official was quoted as saying in late January that the mis sionary was being held in connection with an in vestigation involving an in dividual allegedly involved in an attack on a police sta tion. Father Paulsen said that in Transkei, a tribal homeland recognized as in dependent by South Africa, being a member of or sym- pathetic to the banned South African opposition group, the African National Congress, brings a mini mum five years imprison ment. The missionary said he was arrested Dec. 17, soon after having lunch at the home of Bishop Andrew Z. Brook in Umtata, Trans- kei's capital. He said “a sixth sense” prompted him Old Sarge Army-Navy & Civilian Surplus • Canvas • Boxes • Rain Wear • Boots • Military Collectors Items • Camping Equipment "GI Surplus Your Best Buy” 5316 Buford Hwy., Doraville Old Sarge Army-Navy Surplus you R/ Mndepeofeit Insurance # aqent . 4400 Peachtree Road, N t Atlanta, (.a 40426(404) 261 '212 ‘'The only insurance people you 'll ever need" Brunetti & Mazzetta, F*.C. ATTORNEYS AT LAW 404-521-1808 Suite 2308 Harris Tower; 233 Peachtree St., Atlanta, Ga 30303 General Practice Corporation, Contracts, Business, Personal Injury, Real Estate, Wills, Immigration, Domestic Relations. International Law. Italian, French & Spanish spoken. GEORGIA BULLETIN Ads Bring Results! Special Offer To Catholic Congregations Come visit Arlington Memorial Park anti consider our special offer on full memorial estates in the lovely Calvary-Catholic section or in the new Sunrise Chapel Mausoleum This is an exclusive offer for those people wish ing to arrange lasting memorials on a pre-need basis. For more information, call or visit one of our counselors today. A rliiKJlon »jcmonul|>n\ 201 Mount Vernon RoadN.W.. Atlanta, C.A .40428 (-4O-1) 25v<rSO to give the bishop’s secre tary the numbers of the U S. consulate in Durban, South Africa, and Mariann hili provincial headquar ters in Detroit “just in case.” "Ten minutes later I was detained,” he said, after stopping at an Umtata drugstore. Father Paulsen said officers forced him to drive to security police headquarters where his car was later spotted by Bishop Brook, covered with a tar paulin. He said police officials denied any knowledge of his whereabouts when the bishop asked. Father Paulsen said he was tortured once for near ly two hours in the first few days of his detention. He did not give a date. Here is his description of the incident: “I was taken into ... a kit chenette. They said 'take off your clothes.”' He was handcuffed naked and told to lie on his stom ach on the floor. A wet canvas bag with a small amount of water in side was put over his head and the mouth was drawn around his neck. “You can't breathe very well" in that situation. Then the police question ed him about the two youths and other matters. When he didn't answer, they would shake the bag, forcing water into his nose, choking him. After they took the bag off he was “wheezing and coughing like you swallowed water down the wrong pipe.” The missionary said the first or second day after his arrest, prior to the torture session, he was visited by Climer Moving & Storage Moving??? When It’s Your Move Let Us Know Quality work done, that will not be underpriced. Free Estimates, References Call Ron Climer, Owner 493-9153 Located in Christ The King Parish 9 1 LM," Pi‘» <•»•/ o Jill, rati Alfredo Avino. Pro Clerical Garments Altereo & Repaired Also Choir Robes. Confirmation Robes. First Communion Dresses & Suits 233-6643 Tuxodo Festival Shopping Contor 3655 Ro.w.ll Rd. Suit* 202 The Piano Tuning Company featuring "Total Piano Carol" Tuning — Repairs Rebuilding Refinishing *Over 30 yrs. exp.* P.C. Boyd, 458-3858 >5.00 Off With This Ad two white men identified by other prisoners as mem bers of a police unit called the “Cambridge group,” based in East London, South Africa, He said he believed the of ficers were “trying to con nect me with the ANC." One officer, referred to as Naude by other prisoners, said ‘“Father, there’s no sense prolonging this ordeal, just lay the cards on the table,”’ the missionary recalled. The other, known as Von Weg, said ‘“Look, don’t be playing around because we've had a file on you since 1983, ” Father Paulsen said. The priest worked in South Africa from 1966 to 1971. He was assigned to Transkei in 1978. He said that Von Weg also told him ‘“I would like to put your head in the toilet and flush it.'” Father Paulsen said that he felt relieved once he realized what the South Africans were after. “I know I'm clean, there's no way they can con nect me up as a member of the ANC,” he said. The missionary said he was confined with two or three other prisoners in the cell during the three months in prison. "If you were lucky, you got out to the shower every two weeks' he said, adding that inmates were never let out for exercise. There was “a toilet inside the cell” but “no sink,” Father Paulsen said. The cell was supplied with one liter of water (slightly more than one quart) daily which the priest and his fellow in mates were to use for drink ing and washing. The diet was cooked corn meal three times daily. Father Paulsen said he slept on a filthy, old blanket “crawling with fleas” and which had been urinated and vomited on. The blanket shed so much that he got “some kind of respiratory problem.” “But after three months you get used to it,” he said The priest said he is ex tremely worried about the Umtata diocesan youth worker, Nomonde Matiso, arrested Dec. 14, 1986, and still in detention as of March 16. “Hers is an unknown name. She doesn't have an embassy to back her," ... Father Paulsen said. Father Paulsen said he believes Miss Matiso has been questioned by a Capt. Mfawze, whom the priest described as having a reputation for brutality. He said he was informed she had been tortured repeated ly during the first half of her detention. He described Miss Matiso, in her early 30s, as an “excellent" youth worker who has come through a lot of hard and lean times. That included an eight-year struggle against a hostile educa tional bureaucracy to com plete the last three years of high school, he said. Father Paulsen said he was told on March 2, nine days before his release, that Miss Matiso was in the same prison at Kei Bridge. Transkei. He said the information came from a Sgt. Madikize- la, who wanted him to see Miss Matiso and have her “tell the truth." The missionary said he refused to see the woman, fearing it would weaken her will to resist police pressure.
