7/28/2019 Father spent almost two decades in prison for crime he did not commit_Hazel Meda.pdf

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J u n e 1 5 2 0 1 3 S AT U R D AY S TA RNEWS10

RYAN GALLAGHER

IF YOU have followed the star-

tling revelations about the scopeof the US governments surveil-lance efforts, you may have

thought you were reading aboutthe end of privacy. But even whenfaced with the most ubiquitous of

modern surveillance, there areways to keep your communica-tions away from prying eyes.

First, instead of browsing theinternet in a way that revealsyour IP address, you can mask

your identity by using ananonymising tool like Tor or byconnecting to the web using a

Virtual Private Network. Addi-tionally, you can avoid Googlesearch by using an alternative

like Ixquick, which has solid pri-vacy credentials and says it doesnot log any IP addresses or

search terms or share informa-tion with third parties.

When it comes to sending e-

mails, if you are using a commer-cial provider that has been linkedto the Prism spy initiative, you

can throw a spanner in the NSAsworks by learning how to sendand receive encrypted e-mails.

PGP or its free cousin GPG areconsidered the standard for e-mailsecurity, and these can be used to

both encrypt and decrypt mes-

sages meaning you can thwartsurveillance unless you are un-lucky enough to have Trojan spy-

ware installed on your computer.Novice computer users learn-

ing how to use PGP or GPG may

find it daunting at first, but thereare plenty of tutorials online forboth Mac and Windows users that

can help guide you through theprocess. For journalists workingwith confidential sources, attor-

neys seeking to ensure attorney-client privilege, or others whosework requires secure communi-

cations, learning how to use PGPor GPG is an absolute necessi ty.Organisations seeking to protect

themselves from e-mail grabscould go one step further: theycould take more control of their

messages by setting up their owne-mail server instead of relyingon a third-party service, helping

ensure no secret court orders canbe filed to gain covert access toconfidential files. And if you need

to store private documents on-line, you can use Cloudfogger inconjunction with Dropbox.

For instant messaging and on-line phone or video chats, you canavoid Microsoft and Google serv-

ices like Skype and Gchat byadopting more secure alterna-tives.

Jitsi can be used for peer-to-

peer encrypted video calls, and forencrypted instant message chatsyou can try using an off the

record plug-in with Pidgin forWindows users or Adium for Mac.Like using PGP encryption, both

Pidgin and Adium can take a littlebit of work to set up but thereare tutorials to help ease the pain.

As for phone calls, if you wantto shield against eavesdroppingor stop the NSA obtaining

records of who you are callingand when, there are a few op-tions. You could use an encryp-

tion app like Silent Circle tomake and receive encrypted callsand send encrypted texts and

files, though your communica-tions will be fully secure only ifboth parties to the call, text or file

transfer are using the app. Otherthan Silent Circle, you could tryRedPhone for making encrypted

calls or TextSecure for sendingencrypted texts.

A new frontier of sweeping se-

cret surveillance is not a conspir-acy theory but a burgeoning real-ity. But it is not an Orwellian

dystopia at least, not yet. Toolsto circumvent government mon-itoring exist and are freely avail-

able.The onus is on us as individu-

als to learn how to use and adopt

them. Washington Post

How to shield your calls, chats andbrowsing from unwanted surveillance

HAZEL MEDA

FREE State welder Tshokolo Mokoena hasbig dreams for his 11-month old daughter,

Karabo. I would like her to be the minis-ter of justice. This all comes from what I

have experienced.

Mokoena spent 19 years in prison for a crime hedidnt commit. He and his friend Fusi Mofokengwere wrongfully arrested in April 1992, accused of

taking part in a shoot-out between an ANC Self-De-fence Unit and the Bethlehem police. Mokoena andMofokeng were convicted of murder and robbery

under the notorious doctrine of commonpurpose.

The real perpetrators of the crime confessedand were given amnesty by the Truth and Recon-ciliation Commission (TRC) in 1998. But the two

friends insisted they were innocent and told theTRC they couldnt confess to a crime they didntcommit, so they were sent back to prison.

Mokoenas first child was three years old when

he was arrested and he lost contact with her andher mother from whom he was separated for a

few years.It was tough. I found it difficult to cope, but I

accepted that I am not the first man to experience

this, he says.He had dreams of a happy family life, but it

seemed that dream would not come true as he was

moved to several different prisons and was unsuc-cessful in appealing against his conviction.

Mokoena and Mofokeng were released on parole

in April 2011 after a campaign by the community,churches, ANC members and the Wits JusticeProject.

Shortly afterwards, Mokoena went into a cloth-ing store to buy a jacket. One of the saleswomen,Percival Vangxa, caught his eye.

I was attracted to her at first glance, he says.He asked her for her phone number and what

time she finished work. They met later that

afternoon.I told her my history and she accepted it,

Mokoena says.

Their love for each other grew and Vangxa soonfell pregnant. Karabo was born in July.

I felt like God had answered my prayer. Its all

Gods doing, the proud f ather says.Although it had been years since Mokoena had

last held a baby in his arms, he adjusted easily to

fatherhood.Theres nothing difficult about it you justneed to take responsibility.

Mokoena is actively involved in raising Karaboand looks after her while his partner is at work onSaturdays.

Thats when I get to bond with my daughter. Ibath her, feed her and do everything for her.

The 52-year-old enjoys his role as a father, but is

not planning to have any more children.Age is not on my side really, so two kids should

be enough!

Mokoena has a criminal record and strict paroleconditions, which complicate his life. He has to no-tify the police whenever he leaves Bethlehem and

has to sign in at the police station every twomonths. The Wits Justice Project is continuing to

help Mokoena and Mafokeng in their appeals for afull pardon.

Despite these challenges, Mokoena is finally en-joying the family life he dreamed of, with littleKarabo the light of his life.

Mokoena does not expect any gifts this FathersDay. Instead, he will be taking his partner anddaughter out for breakfast.

Hazel Meda is a member of the Wits Justice Pro-ject, which investigates prison conditions and mis-carriages of justice. The project is based in the Jour-

nalism Department at the University of theWitwatersrand.

Father spent almost two decades inprison for crime he did not commit

THE routine misrepresentation of fathers asuseless on TV, in adverts and in booksbears no relation to real life, parents say.

Children in particular are bombardedwith the casual contempt of men in pro-grammes such as The Simpsons, Flintstones

andPeppa Pig.And the negative stereotype is reinforced

in adult shows such as Outnumberedand

Shameless, a Netmums survey shows.Many parents complain it amounts to a

form of discrimination that would cause

an outcry if women were treated in thesame way.

Almost half complained children were

surrounded by images of feckless fathers,

with more than a quarter attacking thesubtle form of discrimination and a fifthsaying mothers would not accept being por-

trayed the same way.More than half agreed society was

becoming more appreciative of how

important a dads role is and that fathersare much closer to their kids than inthe past.

Nine in 10 dads said they felt they wereworking harder than their own fathers to bea good parent.

The type of jokes aimed at dads wouldbe banned if they were aimed at women,ethnic minorities or religious groups.

Daily Mail

TVs feckless fathers give dads a bad name

Innocent pleas fell on deaf ears for 19 lost years while the culprits confessed to TRC and gained amnesty

FREE ATLAST:Tshokolo Mokoena salutes as he leaves prison after serving 16 years for a crime he did not commit.