Death Sentence - Anti-apartheid (1986) May 2026

: Sentences were heavily biased; data from 1982–1983 shows that 95% of those sentenced to death were Black. Black activists were often executed for killing white police officers, while white individuals rarely faced the same penalty for killing Black citizens. 2. High-Profile Cases and Campaigns (1986)

: In the mid-1980s, the state increasingly used the "common purpose" legal doctrine to sentence groups of activists to death, even if they were not directly responsible for a specific killing. Death Sentence - Anti-Apartheid (1986)

Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 99th Congress (1985-1986) : Sentences were heavily biased; data from 1982–1983

The use of the death penalty during the apartheid era (1948–1994) represents a intersection of judicial state-sanctioned violence and political repression. By 1986, South Africa was under a heightened State of Emergency, and the use of the death sentence as a weapon against anti-apartheid activists reached a critical peak. 1. The Judicial Weaponization of Execution High-Profile Cases and Campaigns (1986) : In the

: Between 1960 and 1989, approximately 134 political prisoners were executed by the apartheid government.

While the South African state intensified executions, the international community responded with legislative pressure.

3. International Response: The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act (1986)