Steven Biko

Re “S. Africa Officers May Seek Amnesty in Biko Slaying,” Jan. 28:

I’m sorry, murder is murder. Torture, torture. If compromise is mandated as South Africa rebirths itself as a progressive nation, its Truth and Reconciliation Commission must deal responsibly with the thugs who killed black resistance movement leader Steve Biko and countless others. Whitewashing these killers of their crimes sends the wrong message to warmongers of all persuasions.

To offer clemency to the murderers of Biko blurs the constraints of sensible social conventions.

Punishments must be devised to fit crimes. Instead of the firing squad or years of hard labor, why not condemn the slaughterers of Biko and others to hard time behind the bars of forced compassion for humanity. Each exonerated killer should be shackled to mercy and forced to labor on behalf of the needy, poor, infirm and the dying.

By toiling amid the pain and suffering unleashed by their own heinous actions, the spark of goodwill might be reborn in the cold hearts of these hellhounds. After years of such penitence, if a commission or jury judges a particular individual worthy, only then should he be allowed to go free.

JEFFREY ALLEN

Valley Village