Contradictions emerge in Govt’s Caprivi testimony

A KEY part of the official version of how five Caprivi high treason accused were brought from Zambia to Namibia in August 1999 is contradicted in Government documents filed in the High Court to defend damages claims against the authorities.

The conflicts originate in Government pleas in response to damages claims lodged by five of the 120 Caprivi high treason suspects. They are set to return to the High Court at Grootfontein today for the continuation of proceedings in their case.The five are among 13 treason accused who have challenged the High Court’s jurisdiction over them.They claim they were unlawfully abducted from outside Namibia when they were brought into the country to be charged and prosecuted.The 13 are set to hear today whether Judge Elton Hoff will uphold their claim that the High Court should decline to exercise the power to try them because they were brought before the court through a breach of international law.The five are: Thaddeus Siyoka Ndala, Charles Mafenyeho Mushakwa, Moses Limbo Mushwena, Oscar Nyambe Puteho and Martin Siano Tubaundule.They are each claiming N$650 000 from the Ministers of Defence and Home Affairs for alleged unlawful arrest and detention and for alleged mistreatment while in detention.Their damage claims account for half of 10 civil suits lodged against the authorities by current and former treason accused.Other claims made for brief sessions at the High Court in Windhoek last week.The 10 cases are, in turn, part of 135 civil claims against Government functionaries that have been filed by people who were detained – allegedly unlawfully while also having been assaulted or tortured.They are a sequel to the August 2 1999 armed attacks at Katima Mulilo that plunged the Caprivi Region into an almost month-long state of emergency.Seven of the claims were settled out of court last year on confidential terms.They include probably one of thorniest cases – brought by former parliamentarian Geoffrey Mwilima, who was the victim of widely publicised assaults and torture while in Police custody at Katima Mulilo in August 1999.In the case of the Ndala group’s civil suits, the damage claims have been preceded by a hearing – although in a forum other than the criminal court – in which the official version of some of the issues have already been outlined in sworn testimony before court.The result is that the version related to the High Court at Grootfontein, and the one set out in court papers filed on behalf of the Ministers of Defence and of Home Affairs, do not match.Ndala, Mushakwa, Mushwena, Puteho and Tubaundule were brought to Namibia on August 7 1999 from Zambia, where they had been detained in June 1999 – allegedly as illegal immigrants.They came to Namibia in a Namibian Police vehicle in which two Police officers, Inspector Karel Theron and Chief Inspector Erasmus Shishanda, had collected the group at an airfield at Sesheke.Both the Police officers related this version under oath in late October, when they testified during the hearing on the jurisdiction challenge.They said they had collected the five – plus another treason suspect who has since died – at Sesheke, drove with them across the border into Namibia and then to the Mpacha Military Base.There they had handed them over to the Namibia Defence Force.In their damage claims, the five also identified Theron as the officer who – they said – arrested and detained them at Sesheke.They also accused Theron and other unnamed Police officers of having colluded with Zambian government officials to get the groups to be “unlawfully” returned to Namibia.This series of events is denied in the pleas of the Ministers of Defence and Home Affairs.It is specifically being denied that Theron arrested the group at Sesheke, according to court papers.They also state that the group handed over at the Wenela Border Post to members of the NDF – another contradiction of the evidence heard by Judge Hoff so far – after being arrested by the Zambian Police at Sesheke – is in conflict with the official versions.The Ndala group’s civil claims were presented in the High Court last Monday as one case.Five other cases, in which former high treason suspects against whom charges were withdrawn on May 2, claim between N$350 000 and N$800 000 from the Minister of Home Affairs, or from that Minister and the Minister of Defence and were also consolidated into one action.The cases are now set for a hearing in the High Court on a date that will not clash with the hearing of the high treason case.A suitable date will have to be found for the Ndala group’s case, Legal Assistance Centre lawyer Beatrix Greyvenstein – who is representing the ten plaintiffs – explained last week.They are set to return to the High Court at Grootfontein today for the continuation of proceedings in their case. The five are among 13 treason accused who have challenged the High Court’s jurisdiction over them. They claim they were unlawfully abducted from outside Namibia when they were brought into the country to be charged and prosecuted. The 13 are set to hear today whether Judge Elton Hoff will uphold their claim that the High Court should decline to exercise the power to try them because they were brought before the court through a breach of international law. The five are: Thaddeus Siyoka Ndala, Charles Mafenyeho Mushakwa, Moses Limbo Mushwena, Oscar Nyambe Puteho and Martin Siano Tubaundule. They are each claiming N$650 000 from the Ministers of Defence and Home Affairs for alleged unlawful arrest and detention and for alleged mistreatment while in detention. Their damage claims account for half of 10 civil suits lodged against the authorities by current and former treason accused. Other claims made for brief sessions at the High Court in Windhoek last week. The 10 cases are, in turn, part of 135 civil claims against Government functionaries that have been filed by people who were detained – allegedly unlawfully while also having been assaulted or tortured. They are a sequel to the August 2 1999 armed attacks at Katima Mulilo that plunged the Caprivi Region into an almost month-long state of emergency. Seven of the claims were settled out of court last year on confidential terms. They include probably one of thorniest cases – brought by former parliamentarian Geoffrey Mwilima, who was the victim of widely publicised assaults and torture while in Police custody at Katima Mulilo in August 1999. In the case of the Ndala group’s civil suits, the damage claims have been preceded by a hearing – although in a forum other than the criminal court – in which the official version of some of the issues have already been outlined in sworn testimony before court. The result is that the version related to the High Court at Grootfontein, and the one set out in court papers filed on behalf of the Ministers of Defence and of Home Affairs, do not match. Ndala, Mushakwa, Mushwena, Puteho and Tubaundule were brought to Namibia on August 7 1999 from Zambia, where they had been detained in June 1999 – allegedly as illegal immigrants. They came to Namibia in a Namibian Police vehicle in which two Police officers, Inspector Karel Theron and Chief Inspector Erasmus Shishanda, had collected the group at an airfield at Sesheke. Both the Police officers related this version under oath in late October, when they testified during the hearing on the jurisdiction challenge. They said they had collected the five – plus another treason suspect who has since died – at Sesheke, drove with them across the border into Namibia and then to the Mpacha Military Base. There they had handed them over to the Namibia Defence Force. In their damage claims, the five also identified Theron as the officer who – they said – arrested and detained them at Sesheke. They also accused Theron and other unnamed Police officers of having colluded with Zambian government officials to get the groups to be “unlawfully” returned to Namibia. This series of events is denied in the pleas of the Ministers of Defence and Home Affairs. It is specifically being denied that Theron arrested the group at Sesheke, according to court papers.
They also state that the group handed over at the Wenela Border Post to members of the NDF – another contradiction of the evidence heard by Judge Hoff so far – after being arrested by the Zambian Police at Sesheke – is in conflict with the official versions. The Ndala group’s civil claims were presented in the High Court last Monday as one case. Five other cases, in which former high treason suspects against whom charges were withdrawn on May 2, claim between N$350 000 and N$800 000 from the Minister of Home Affairs, or from that Minister and the Minister of Defence and were also consolidated into one action. The cases are now set for a hearing in the High Court on a date that will not clash with the hearing of the high treason case. A suitable date will have to be found for the Ndala group’s case, Legal Assistance Centre lawyer Beatrix Greyvenstein – who is representing the ten plaintiffs – explained last week.