NSHR Should Be Fair

To All PLEASE give a space in your brave newspaper for my voice to be added to the NSHR saga vis-a-vis the ICC case debate.

As a young Namibian outside the country, who has been closely following current events and happenings back home, thanks to e-newspapers like The Namibian, I would also like to make my three observations on this critical matter of serious public interest with international implications. I agree, no one is above the law.I am explicitly for peace, justice, fairness, human rights, social harmony and equitable treatment for all.Having followed the case of NSHR’s ICC case and the subsequent public reactions, some more hysterical than others, I would like to make the following observations.1.It is evidently clear that there is a deeply personal motive to the ICC case than what Mr Ya Nangoloh publicly claims.This is discernible from the voluminous statements and explosive writings as found on the NSHR website and other media reports.2.As a self-respecting African, I find it rather paradoxically strange, that another African, in the person of Ya Nangoloh, has consciously or unconsciously exposed himself to be suffering from a subtle form of self-inflicted racism and inferiority complex.For example, I for one, simply do not understand why he has to put the liberation struggle and our political independence on trial, well before the crimes against humanity committed against most African people by the white minority apartheid regimes.If Ya Nangoloh is, indeed, for real, I am not impressed! A case in point, why take the former President of Namibia, Sam Nujoma and three others to the ICC, and only later as an afterthought, half-heartedly remember to ask Jan De Wet, as a white former Bantu Affairs Commissioner in Namibia, to only ‘apologise’ to the Namibian people for the crimes of apartheid? This is a form of disguise, if not disgusting racism! Why simply not take both to the ICC, if you are for human rights for all? This proves the point I made in my first observation.No wonder the overwhelming majority of Namibians can clearly see through this pathetic moral confusion and selective ethical reasoning of Ya Nangoloh and his NSHR.What do the mutually agreed blanket amnesty and policy of national reconciliation declared before and after Namibia’s political independence mean to Ya Nangoloh and his likes? That just happens to be the historic and strategic choices made for/by Namibia, rightly or wrongly.Well, we can always change our minds, but reasonably! 3.Lastly, I have seen that most patriotic Namibians are getting sick and tired of hearing from the likes of Ya Nangoloh, and we are speaking out, loud and clear.Besides, we still have the unresolved crimes of the Herero Genocide, the Nama Genocide and many many massacres committed by our former white colonialists, who Ya Nangoloh appears to hold in high esteem and awe, judging from his half-hearted measures or no measure at all against them! My open demand to Ya Nangoloh, if he is serious about human rights and justice, take all the suspects to the ICC, right from the vicious Germans to South African racist colonialists, it will only be after having taken such a real bold move, that most of us may start to take you seriously.In the meantime, Mr Phil’s moral crusading agenda appears to be a farce, done at the expense of victims from both sides.My point is: Do not make a joke of human rights and justice, be fair to all! I am still for justice, peace, human rights and reconciliation for all, black and white! Armas Abdul Malik Shikongo Via e-mailI agree, no one is above the law.I am explicitly for peace, justice, fairness, human rights, social harmony and equitable treatment for all.Having followed the case of NSHR’s ICC case and the subsequent public reactions, some more hysterical than others, I would like to make the following observations.1.It is evidently clear that there is a deeply personal motive to the ICC case than what Mr Ya Nangoloh publicly claims.This is discernible from the voluminous statements and explosive writings as found on the NSHR website and other media reports.2.As a self-respecting African, I find it rather paradoxically strange, that another African, in the person of Ya Nangoloh, has consciously or unconsciously exposed himself to be suffering from a subtle form of self-inflicted racism and inferiority complex.For example, I for one, simply do not understand why he has to put the liberation struggle and our political independence on trial, well before the crimes against humanity committed against most African people by the white minority apartheid regimes.If Ya Nangoloh is, indeed, for real, I am not impressed! A case in point, why take the former President of Namibia, Sam Nujoma and three others to the ICC, and only later as an afterthought, half-heartedly remember to ask Jan De Wet, as a white former Bantu Affairs Commissioner in Namibia, to only ‘apologise’ to the Namibian people for the crimes of apartheid? This is a form of disguise, if not disgusting racism! Why simply not take both to the ICC, if you are for human rights for all? This proves the point I made in my first observation.No wonder the overwhelming majority of Namibians can clearly see through this pathetic moral confusion and selective ethical reasoning of Ya Nangoloh and his NSHR.What do the mutually agreed blanket amnesty and policy of national reconciliation declared before and after Namibia’s political independence mean to Ya Nangoloh and his likes? That just happens to be the historic and strategic choices made for/by Namibia, rightly or wrongly.Well, we can always change our minds, but reasonably! 3.Lastly, I have seen that most patriotic Namibians are getting sick and tired of hearing from the likes of Ya Nangoloh, and we are speaking out, loud and clear.Besides, we still have the unresolved crimes of the Herero Genocide, the Nama Genocide and many many massacres committed by our former white colonialists, who Ya Nangoloh appears to hold in high esteem and awe, judging from his half-hearted measures or no measure at all against them! My open demand to Ya Nangoloh, if he is serious about human rights and justice, take all the suspects to the ICC, right from the vicious Germans to South African racist colonialists, it will only be after having taken such a real bold move, that most of us may start to take you seriously.In the meantime, Mr Phil’s moral crusading agenda appears to be a farce, done at the expense of victims from both sides.My point is: Do not make a joke of human rights and justice, be fair to all! I am still for justice, peace, human rights and reconciliation for all, black and white! Armas Abdul Malik Shikongo Via e-mail