This is because charges of Police brutality are less serious than those of murder, attempted murder, high treason and sedition against more than 120 suspects detained in the Grootfontein prison.

This explanation was given by Deputy Prosecutor General Lourens Camper when approached for comment by The Namibian.

The high treason case will also take preference because there are people in custody, while the Police officers accused of torture are free.

Added Campher: "In one case we are sitting with accused as witnesses and vice-versa [in the other case]. To hold the [two cases] together will be chaos."

But the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), which represents 135 people who accuse the Police of torturing them, said it was not necessary to wait for the high treason case to be finished.

"It is very unfair to them to get the answer that they will wait until the finalisation of another criminal matter that has nothing to do with them," said the LAC's Beatrix Greyvenstein.

"Some of the guys who laid charges against the Police officers had [high treason] charges against them dropped. Many other clients were not even charged. I think it's unfair [that they have to wait so long]."

It is as yet unclear how long the high treason case will take. The case is already in its fourth year and has not yet come to trial. The eventual trial is expected to be very lengthy.

Campher contended that it was only logical for the case concerning "the more serious charges" to be dealt with first.

"This case is only a case of assault, assault GBH [grievous bodily harm] and common assault, not as serious as the other case of high treason," said Campher Suspects rounded up by the Police in the aftermath of the Caprivi rebellion were whipped with sjamboks, beaten with fists, kicked, had salt poured on their wounds and were forced to lie in water on the floor.

Campher said a preliminary decision on the matter had already been taken, but he would not reveal whether any Police officer would be prosecuted.

The dockets were finally handed to the Office of the Prosecutor General after years of to-ing and fro-ing between security forces and prosecutors.

The military initially wanted to conduct internal inquiries, arguing that whatever happened in Caprivi after the armed uprising was committed during the state of emergency, which fell under the Ministry of Defence.

But the army relented and agreed to hand Police cases over to follow civil proceedings.

After more than a year of investigations by the Police, the dockets were handed to the Prosecutor General, who referred the matter back for proper investigation.

By the middle of last year at least 11 Police officers had been linked to the campaign of beatings and torture.

The officers were not suspended while the investigations were conducted.

Government now faces lawsuits running into several million dollars, with former parliamentarian Geoffrey Mwilima, the most high profile suspect in the case, claiming compensation of N$1,5 million for beatings that left his body scarred and jaw broken.

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