Police whipped boy, rights body claims

A 16-year-old boy from a village in the Ondangwa area is bearing the scars of a savage sjambok assault in which a Police Sergeant from Ondangwa took part, the National Society for Human Rights claimed yesterday.

Hofeni Angomo Ikolola was chained to a pillar at Ekondo cuca shop at the village of Oshigambo, some 20 kilometres north of Ondangwa, near the end of last month after he was accused of housebreaking and theft, the human rights organisation claims in a media statement released yesterday. He spent a night being chained up and has “accused his captors of having repeatedly whipped him indiscriminately in an attempt to force him to confess to the alleged crime of housebreaking and theft”, which are crimes he has denied, the NSHR claimed.An Ondangwa-based Police Sergeant and three residents of the village, including a local businessman, are accused of assaulting the boy, it was alleged.The Sergeant “allegedly not only supervised Ikolola’s GBH (grievous bodily harm) ordeal, but also actively took part in the atrocious act”, the NSHR’s statement quoted a representative of the organisation at Oshakati, Festus Shaduva, as saying.According to the NSHR, Ikolola was admitted to the Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital on April 25 to be treated for injuries from the alleged assault, and was discharged from the hospital on April 29.Photos the organisation has distributed with its press release show a young man with several linear scars, which appear to be in the process of healing, criss-crossing his face, back and arms.According to the NSHR, the Police’s Station Commander at Ondangwa has “strongly condemned the incident”, and vowed to launch a thorough investigation to ensure that the alleged torturers of Ikolola are brought to justice.The Commanding Office of the Police’s Public Relations and Liaison Division, Chief Inspector Hieronymus Goraseb, could not confirm the alleged incident yesterday, but said he knew of the NSHR’s statement on the matter.It is not Namibian Police policy that Police officers take part in beatings of the sort claimed by the NSHR, and such an incident is seen in a very serious light, Goraseb said.He said incidents such as the claimed assault on the boy could not be tolerated and would have to be properly investigated by the Police’s Complaints and Discipline Unit.He spent a night being chained up and has “accused his captors of having repeatedly whipped him indiscriminately in an attempt to force him to confess to the alleged crime of housebreaking and theft”, which are crimes he has denied, the NSHR claimed.An Ondangwa-based Police Sergeant and three residents of the village, including a local businessman, are accused of assaulting the boy, it was alleged.The Sergeant “allegedly not only supervised Ikolola’s GBH (grievous bodily harm) ordeal, but also actively took part in the atrocious act”, the NSHR’s statement quoted a representative of the organisation at Oshakati, Festus Shaduva, as saying.According to the NSHR, Ikolola was admitted to the Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital on April 25 to be treated for injuries from the alleged assault, and was discharged from the hospital on April 29.Photos the organisation has distributed with its press release show a young man with several linear scars, which appear to be in the process of healing, criss-crossing his face, back and arms.According to the NSHR, the Police’s Station Commander at Ondangwa has “strongly condemned the incident”, and vowed to launch a thorough investigation to ensure that the alleged torturers of Ikolola are brought to justice.The Commanding Office of the Police’s Public Relations and Liaison Division, Chief Inspector Hieronymus Goraseb, could not confirm the alleged incident yesterday, but said he knew of the NSHR’s statement on the matter.It is not Namibian Police policy that Police officers take part in beatings of the sort claimed by the NSHR, and such an incident is seen in a very serious light, Goraseb said.He said incidents such as the claimed assault on the boy could not be tolerated and would have to be properly investigated by the Police’s Complaints and Discipline Unit.