However, civil cases against the police are on the rise, with 248 cases registered since 2020.
National police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi says 151 cases of assault that led to civil cases were recorded during 2011 and 2021.
“A total of 32 civil claims relating to harassment were reported during the same period, and 17 other civil claims were reported during that period,” she says.
Overall, they have received 200 civil claims, she says.
She says the police have won 100 claims and lost 37, while 63 are still ongoing.
She says the Namibian Police has paid a combined amount of N$2 753 476,89 in respect of all 37 civil claims.
According to Shikwambi, members of the public are encouraged not to hinder, undermine and/or insult officers who are there to execute their duty.
Arbitrary arrest and the unnecessary use of force are unconstitutional and illegal, Shikwambi says.
“The Namibian Police will obviously not and never encourage their members to contravene the Constitution of Namibia or any other laws of this country, while they the custodians thereof and is thus tasked with enforcement of and compliance with the very same laws,” she says.
She says defined structures are in place and individual members who engage in the abuse of power are dealt with procedurally.
Shikwambi last year told The Namibian that 248 civil cases have been registered against the police since 2020.
One of the recent cases was that of Windhoek mayor Sade Gawanas, who was allegedly forcefully arrested by the police at Okahandja Park.
In another incident, Mercedez von Cloete was humiliated and discriminated against for being a transgender woman, and was awarded N$50 000 in damages for pain and suffering.
The judge concluded that Cloete was unlawfully arrested and assaulted by a police officer, identified only as ‘constable Kavari’, after she had encountered him in a fast food outlet in Windhoek on 6 July 2017.
In 2020 alone, a total of 73 cases of alleged unprofessional conduct were opened against law-enforcement officers during the implementation of Operation Kalahari Desert.
‘LOW FIGURE’
Human rights activist Rosa Namises disputed the police statistics, saying the police’s relationship with the public is not amicable.
“Police brutality is not happening on the streets only, but also in the police holding cells. People have been beaten, and they die because of that,” she says.
She says the police are supposed to be protectors, but end up beating those they have power over.
“Police brutality comes because they think you don’t have a mind. The police think you cannot respond to them,” Namises says.
She claims the police’s Special Field Force unit have in the past beaten citizens and have entered townships to remove earrings from men.
“They are not held accountable. It happens within the walls of cells and prisons. When the police take women who have been raped and do secondary rape, they are not held accountable,” she says.
Namises says elite members of society receive special treatment from the police.
Lawyer Norman Tjombe says the figure of 200 civil cases against the police appears to be low.
“Considering we hear of the police killing, assaulting or unlawfully arresting and detaining people almost every day.
She was struck by a bullet and died at the scene when police officers trying to prevent the struggle kids from gaining entry to Swapo’s head office, fired off shots.
The police later claimed that people in the group had provoked the confrontation by throwing stones at police officers at the scene.
“It is certainly attributable that many people do not have the funds to seek legal assistance with potential civil cases, and thus these cases are adjudicated by the courts,” Tjombe says.
