South African Institute for Maritime Research
South African Institute for Maritime Research (SAIMR or SAIMAR, pronounced /ˈsaɪmɑːr/)[1] is the name of a paramilitary organization that is believed to have performed clandestine operations to support white supremacy in Africa.
SAIMR first became publicly known during sessions of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) in August 1998.[2][3] A year before the second elections after the end of Apartheid, documents emerged implying SAIMR had a role in a plot to kill Dag Hammarskjöld, the UN Secretary-General, in 1961.[4]
Letters with SAIMR’s official letterhead were found during the TRC hearings. The letters suggested that MI6 and the CIA had agreed that Hammarskjöld should be removed, a suggestion both organizations denied.[5]
While conducting research on her 2011 book about the plane crash that killed Hammarskjöld, Susan Williams noticed that the original documents from the TRC have disappeared.[6]
A report by the United Nations prepared in 2014 noted that the details provided in the SAIMR documents lent some credence to theories that Hammarskjöld may have been assassinated, but noted that neither the authenticity of the documents nor their contents could be verified.[7]
The documentary Cold Case Hammarskjöld, which premiered in January 2019, brought renewed media attention to these claims.[8] The documentary discloses testimony from an alleged ex-SAIMR operative that SAIMR deliberately spread HIV among black people in Africa.
The documentary also claims that the mother of a young woman named Dagmar Feil tried to bring the killing of her daughter to the attention of the TRC, implying that her daughter had worked with SAIMR to spread HIV among black people and had wanted to make that public.
References
[edit]- ^ Apuzzo, Matt (27 January 2019). "Quest to Solve Assassination Mystery Revives an AIDS Conspiracy Theory". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ "TRC REVEALS POSSIBLE SA INVOLVEMENT IN UN CHIEF'S DEATH". Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. 19 August 1998. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017.
- ^ "BBC News | Africa | UN assassination plot denied". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
- ^ Lynch, Colum (1 August 2016). "U.N. to Probe Whether Iconic Secretary-General Was Assassinated". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021.
- ^ Ankomah, Baffour (March 13, 2019). ""We deliberately spread HIV/Aids in South Africa," Former Apartheid-era intelligence service officer confesses". New African Magazine. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Susan (2014). Who Killed Hammarskjöld? The UN, the Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-19-023-140-8.
- ^ United Nations (21 March 2014). Report of the Commission of Inquiry on whether the evidence now available would justify the United Nations in reopening its inquiry into the death of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 1759 (XVII) of 26 October 1962 (Report). United Nations. p. 30-33. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
- ^ Graham-Harrison, Emma; Rocksen, Andreas; Brügger, Mads (2019-01-20). "Coups and murder: the sinister world of apartheid's secret mercenaries". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
SAIMR- A number of documents and other media have been recovered from the archives thought lost by SAIMR. The included data provides links to -Mitre Corp(CIA), independent analysis and data interpretation organization, -MI6, British Intelligence direct action unit, during the 50's-90's. These references indicate agency awareness, and support of, the clandestine operations of SAIMR in concert with CIA, MI6 and other intelligence organizations to enhance control aspects of SA government.