69 Namibians detained in SADC prisons, repatriation sought

Sixty-nine Namibian citizens are detained in foreign prisons in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), where they are serving sentences for different offences, says the home affairs, immigration, safety and security ministry.

The ministry says as of 17 February, about 465 foreign nationals are currently detained in Namibian prisons, contributing to overcrowding in correctional facilities. Of those, 450 are from the SADC region and 15 are from other countries.

The ministry has called on parliament to ratify the SADC protocol allowing sentenced offenders to serve their prison terms in their home countries.

The draft SADC Protocol on the Inter-State Transfer of Sentenced Offenders, approved at the SADC summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in August 2019, aims to facilitate the transfer of prisoners across borders to serve sentences in their countries of origin.

Namibia signed the protocol on 18 August 2019.

At the ministerial committee of the organ meeting in July 2024, the SADC secretariat reported that as of May 2024, 11 member states had signed the protocol, but only Mauritius had ratified it.

During a National Assembly session on Tuesday, deputy minister of home affairs Lucia Witbooi said ratifying the protocol will allow prisoners to serve their sentences closer to their families.

She said the call for ratification is not only a matter of legal protocol, but also a matter of compassion, rehabilitation and social reintegration.

“Sentenced persons who serve their sentences in their home countries can be rehabilitated, resocialised and reintegrated into the community better than elsewhere.

Imprisonment in a foreign country, away from family and friends, may also be counterproductive as families are denied the opportunity to provide social support, which improves the likelihood of successful resettlement and reintegration,” Witbooi said.

“By allowing foreign inmates to return to their home countries, we can ease the overcrowding in some of our correctional facilities and also save the government funds that can be used by these offenders, as well as foster goodwill among our neighbouring nations,” she said.

Namibia’s current law regulating the matter – the Transfer of Convicted Offenders Act – provides for the minister responsible for correctional facilities to enter into agreements regarding the transfer of convicted offenders, subject to the ratification of such agreement by the National Assembly.

“In compliance with the provision of [the act], I request this August house to ratify the agreement on sentenced persons to give effect to the contents therein,” Witbooi said.

Namibian Correctional Service commissioner general Raphael Hamunyela yesterday echoed the call for ratification.

He said research reflects that contact with family contributes to the success of rehabilitation efforts.

“One of the benefits of this protocol is to allow those foreign inmates to serve their sentences in their countries of origin. It will be beneficial to our space and resources to enable us to realise the mandate of ensuring humane custody of inmates,” Hamunyela said.

Namibia recently signed bilateral agreements on the transfer of convicted persons with Angola and Zambia.

“These bilateral agreements would not be necessary if all SADC member states signed and ratified the said protocol,” Hamunyela said.

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