"The Stasi, the secret police, were legendary for their data files. Their work was based on instilling fear, and they induced stunningly amazing numbers of East Germans into informing on their neighbors. Something along the lines of 1 in 6 East Germans were informants, whether out of fear or out of approval of what the East German government was doing."
"Farisani ran afoul of the legendarily violent South African Police, and was not simply arrested for making statements about equality but imprisoned and subjected to torture not once or twice, but four times. US Lutheran leaders who knew of his plight raises a huge international stink, which ultimately led the South African regime to release him and expel him from the country, allowing him to be treated at the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis-St. Paul."
"The night before he was released, he told me that he prayed to die, so that he would be spared more torture the next day. When I heard the news today of yet another killing by ICE in Minneapolis, I could not help but think of Farisani. As I've watched the news from Minnesota, where I have more than a few clergy friends, I could not help but fear for them. More and more clergy are stepping away from benign statement"
Comparisons to oppressive secret police and violent state security forces illustrate how government agencies can create pervasive fear and cultivate informer networks. A West German pastor connected to East German colleagues reported the Stasi's legendary data files and an informant rate of about one in six citizens. A South African Lutheran pastor, T. Simon Farisani, endured repeated imprisonment and torture before international pressure secured his release, expulsion, and treatment at the Center for Victims of Torture. News of an ICE killing in Minneapolis evokes memories of past abuses and generates fear among clergy, who are increasingly reluctant to issue even benign statements.
Read at Emptywheel
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