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The Sharpeville Six were sentenced to death in December 1985 because they were present at a protest where black collaborators were killed. In December 1987 the South African Appeal Court rejected their appeal for clemency. Southern Africa the Imprisoned Society (SATIS) responded with a big campaign of letters and postcards asking the British government to intervene. It held weekly demonstrations outside the South African Embassy. In the photograph are leading British trade unionists at the entrance to 10 Downing Street. After a huge international campaign the death sentence was commuted in July 1988.

The AAM mobilised widespread public protests in Britain in response to the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations in 1988. It called a press conference in London, addressed by Thabo Mbeki. The AAM’s President Trevor Huddleston and the General Secretary of the TUC, Norman Willis, met the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe. This poster advertised a day of protest on 21 March, when the AAM distributed half a million stickers with the slogan ‘Ban Apartheid: Sanctions Now!’.

Eighteen people prominent in British public life staged a symbolic protest against the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations in February 1988. AAM President Trevor Huddleston and TUC General Secretary Norman Willis met British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe to ask him to protest to the South African government. The bannings effectively outlawed all non-violent opposition to apartheid within South Africa.

AAM protestors led by Archbishop Trevor Huddleston and Labour MPs Joan Lestor and Bob Hughes protested against the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations at the entrance to Downing Street on 21 March 1988. The AAM asked supporters to mark the day by wearing ‘Ban Apartheid Sanctions Now’ stickers.

The AAM mobilised public opinion in Britain against the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations in South Africa on 24 February 1988. In the photograph Thabo Mbeki protests at a demonstration outside the South African Embassy. Immediately after the bannings AAM President Trevor Huddleston and TUC General Secretary Norman Willis met British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe to ask him to make representations to the South African government. The bannings effectively outlawed all non-violent opposition to apartheid within South Africa.

In 1988 the apartheid regime stepped up its repression of the South African trade union movement. This leaflet highlighted four cases where trade unionists were detained or put on trial. It also publicised the situation of trade unionists in Namibia.

Leaflet advertising a Latin American music night to raise funds for the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) in 1988. The concert was organised by Camden AA Group and Kings Cross Labour Party in central London.

Young AAM supporters at a vigil for the Sharpeville Six in front of Nottingham Town Hall on 13 April 1998.