Govt wins treason assault claims case

THE first full High Court trial on damages claims against the Minister of Home Affairs because of the alleged assault and torture of suspects in the Caprivi high treason trial has ended in a victory for the Minister.

In a judgement given in the High Court yesterday, Judge Louis Muller ruled against the damages claims that two of the men charged in the continuing treason trial, Kisko Sakusheka and George Liseho, had lodged against the Minister of Home Affairs to claim compensation for allegedly being unlawfully arrested by the Police and assaulted and tortured by Police officers some nine years ago.Judge Muller’s ruling is the first judgement to be given by the High Court on any of the more than 100 civil claims that were filed against Government in the wake of alleged widespread human rights abuses by members of Namibia’s security forces after surprise secessionist attacks at Katima Mulilo on August 2 1999 shattered the peace in the Caprivi Region.Sakusheka claimed N$60 000 from the Minister of Home Affairs for allegedly being assaulted by Police officers in April 2000.The Home Affairs Minister was the Minister responsible for the Namibian Police at that time.Liseho claimed N$20 000 from the Minister for alleged unlawful arrest. He also claimed N$300 000 for allegedly having been assaulted by Police officers.The Minister defended the case, and during the trial the Police officers accused by the two men all denied the accusations Sakusheka and Liseho had made against them.Sakusheka claimed that he was assaulted by Police officers after his arrest at Makanga, a village some 70 kilometres southwest of Katima Mulilo, on April 15 2000. He claimed he was punched with fists, struck with rifle butts and beaten with a sjambok at Makanga, and after being transported to the Katima Mulilo Police Station, was again beaten until he collapsed.Liseho claimed he was first arrested on November 3 1999, assaulted by being beaten and sjambokked, and then released the next day. On March 2 2000, he was again arrested and again assaulted, with several of his teeth knocked out in the process and a gun pointed at his head and its barrel shoved into his mouth at one stage, Liseho claimed. Judge Muller remarked in his judgement that he had his suspicions about Sakusheka and Liseho having indeed been assaulted by the Police – but on the evidence before him, he could however not make such a definite finding.The Judge stated: ‘It is common knowledge that the insurrection occurred on 2 August 1999 at Katima Mulilo and that several suspects were rounded up from that time until much later. It is also common knowledge that a treason trial in which the plaintiffs and approximately 120 others were criminally prosecuted commenced several years ago and is still in progress. It is also common cause that civil claims were instituted by some of those accused persons because they were severely assaulted. I have a suspicion that (Sakusheka) and (Liseho) might have been assaulted. However, this Court can only depend and rely on the evidence before it. I also have to be cautious that some of the accused persons in that criminal trial do not jump on the bandwagon and claim huge amounts of money because of alleged assaults.’Judge Muller stated that he was not convinced that Sakusheka had been assaulted as he had testified: ‘He definitely aggravated the manners of assaults on him and the effects thereof. In his evidence he also differed in respect of who assaulted him and when.’He also commented: ‘On the evidence of (Sakusheka) I cannot make a finding that he was not a credible witness. However, I find it difficult to rely on his version. The probabilities are also not in his favour.’The same applied to Liseho, Judge Muller indicated. He stated that on Liseho’s claim, he also had suspicions about assaults. He however had to rely on all the evidence put before him. In that situation he could not come to any other conclusion than that Liseho did not manage to discharge the onus to prove his claim, he stated.George Coleman represented the Minister on instructions from the Office of the Government Attorney. Legal Assistance Centre lawyers Lynita Conradie and Toni Hancox represented Sakusheka and Liseho.