Eugene de Kock

Eugene de Kock
Eugene de Kock in 1997
Born	(1949-01-29) 29 January 1949 (age 75) South Africa
Other names	Prime Evil
Occupation	Member of the South African Police (SAP)
Known for	Role in the apartheid-era counter-insurgency division of the SAP
Criminal status	Paroled
Awards	Police Cross at Sevran
Conviction(s)	Crimes against humanity
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment

Eugene Alexander de Kock (born 29 January 1949) is a former South African Police colonel, torturer, and assassin, active under the apartheid government. Nicknamed "Prime Evil"^[1][2][3] by the press, De Kock was the commanding officer of C10, a counterinsurgency unit of the SAP that kidnapped, tortured, and murdered numerous accused terrorists from the 1980s to the early 1990s. C10's victims included members of the African National Congress.

Following South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994, De Kock disclosed the full scope of C10's crimes and acknowledged the loss the families suffered of the victims he was instructed to murder, while testifying before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 1996, he was tried and convicted on eighty-nine charges and sentenced to two concurrent life terms plus 212 years in prison.^[4] Since beginning his sentence, De Kock has accused several members of the apartheid government, including former State President F. W. de Klerk, of permitting C10's activities. In 2015, he was granted parole.