WHEN I heard about the remains found at Eenhana, I had a moment of silence and I grieved, because I am convinced that these were the innocent Namibians who were killed – not just those who stood up against oppression, but who stood for justice and kept the principles of our liberation struggle.
I also immediately thought of the mothers who gave birth to them. I thought of parents and relatives who are still waiting for their beloved ones, not knowing what happened to them.I also had an immediate flashback to the father of my two children, wondering whether he was not one of them.Not that I think that he was killed by the South African Army.Because he was imprisoned by Swapo and was not released with a group on 12 May 1989, nor was he part of the group of 16 who were repatriated by UNHCR 06 August 1989.Adam Boetieman Witbooi informed me that he went to the North with UNHCR/RRR (by then he worked for UNHCR) to receive Namibians who were repatriated from Angola.He informed me that Frans Teister (the father of my two children) was also on the list of people whom they were suppose to receive).When they arrived there was no sign of these people or at least the team could not find them.When the High Commissioner of South Africa talked about the remains recently found in Eenhana, I had a flashback to the Lubango dungeons, Minya Base to be specific.I thought of Sonia Kadikwa, a young girl who fell sick while we were beaten up and isolated from the rest of the women on allegations of planning to overthrow the guards and escaping.Sonia Kadikwa fell sick while we were in isolation and was taken away from us.We did not see Sonia again.One morning while on our way to lay bricks, we saw her clothes under a tree.We started asking questions that we did not have answers for.Did she die, was she buried here? But why strip her? Worst of all was when a relative of Sonia came to us after we were released, searching for her, it was a very difficult moment.I also thought of Si Martha Angula who fell sick during that same period – no one knows what happened to her.I immediately thought of a day in April 1989, When we had a visit from the President of Swapo at Minya Base.In his speech addressing us, he said: “You delayed the struggle and you betrayed the nation.You will be put on Freedom Square and the people of Namibia will decide what to do with you”.He was also very proud of the 1st April 1989 encounter, saying: “for the last time my gallant fighters defeated the enemy”.Little did I know that it was the beginning of horror.The Swapo President, Mr Sam Nujoma, asked a question – who is going to vote for Swapo and who will vote for the enemy, your bosses? There was a complete silence, you can imagine, surrounded by the army with the Commander-in-Chief.Just think what was going through our minds.A few of us replied and said we are going back to Namibia because we are Namibians.The President responded, saying that we did not understand the question.He repeated the question, and at that moment the soldiers behind him moved forward …I thought then, I have just heard that Namibia is about to be independent; do I have to die now? A strong voice came from one of the inmates: “President Nujoma, you are surrounded by graves of innocent Namibians (whose deaths) you did not witness, but the grave you are about to create, is what you will witness and you have to answer to our parents and the nation; remember we are innocent”.There was complete silence afterwards.Coming back to Eenhana, I was wondering how these people died: how were their last moments, what did they say, how were they killed, and that’s why I tell a long story.I would like to thank the High Commissioner of South Africa, who reacted so positively when he learned about the remains of people discovered.And who has, in a way, pledged the support of his government if requested by the Namibian Government.These are very painful moments that open wounds, he said.In our case (Namibia) it is the reluctance of the political leadership to deal with the past.This is a direct challenge for the political leadership.It does not exclude civil society and the public at large from assisting the government to set up a truth commission as a process to deal with our past.We need to take a participatory and inclusive approach to develop a policy to address our past collectively.South Africa and Namibia share a common history, that of Apartheid.This history has spin-offs.South Africa oppressed and killed Namibians brutally.Some of the remains discovered recently are evidence of these cruelties.They had no right to kill or even to oppress.Swapo, on the other hand, had its own dungeons in Angola (Lubango), Tanzania and Zambia.People went missing while under the care and detention of Swapo.People were kept in dungeons, suffering severe human rights abuses and ill treatment.Swapo accused these Namibians of being spies of the apartheid regime.South Africa should also come clean and tell us the names of the people they recruited as agents to spy on Swapo.They have started their process of healing and Namibia also needs to do this.The United Nations is not exempt from all this.They gave the mandate to South Africa to rule Namibia and they are equally responsible for the spin-offs of this decision.The UNHCR should also tell us who was repatriated and who not and why.I can remember that we forced our way into being repatriated.UNHCR did not want us to come back to our country, first, apparently concerned about our safety, but they later admitted that they cannot part ways with Swapo at that stage, but they failed to help Swapo to advise as to how to deal with the dungeon issue.I attended an international conference in New York on conflict prevention and I constantly reminded the UN how they failed Namibians.Equally, I reminded them about this at a national training workshop on the same topic in Windhoek.Regarding the International Committee of the Red Cross, when we told them in Lubango that there were still people in the dungeons, they ignored us.After we returned they went back to Angola in a so-called search for these people, even then we offered our assistance as we know the areas of the dungeons, but they ignored us and left with Swapo.I wish they had a different mandate and approach.Let the African Union do what it claims to stand for.It is good that we have a SADC tribunal here in Windhoek, let us make good use thereof to the benefit of all citizens.Pauline Dempers WindhoekI thought of parents and relatives who are still waiting for their beloved ones, not knowing what happened to them.I also had an immediate flashback to the father of my two children, wondering whether he was not one of them.Not that I think that he was killed by the South African Army.Because he was imprisoned by Swapo and was not released with a group on 12 May 1989, nor was he part of the group of 16 who were repatriated by UNHCR 06 August 1989.Adam Boetieman Witbooi informed me that he went to the North with UNHCR/RRR (by then he worked for UNHCR) to receive Namibians who were repatriated from Angola.He informed me that Frans Teister (the father of my two children) was also on the list of people whom they were suppose to receive).When they arrived there was no sign of these people or at least the team could not find them.When the High Commissioner of South Africa talked about the remains recently found in Eenhana, I had a flashback to the Lubango dungeons, Minya Base to be specific.I thought of Sonia Kadikwa, a young girl who fell sick while we were beaten up and isolated from the rest of the women on allegations of planning to overthrow the guards and escaping.Sonia Kadikwa fell sick while we were in isolation and was taken away from us.We did not see Sonia again.One morning while on our way to lay bricks, we saw her clothes under a tree.We started asking questions that we did not have answers for.Did she die, was she buried here? But why strip her? Worst of all was when a relative of Sonia came to us after we were released, searching for her, it was a very difficult moment.I also thought of Si Martha Angula who fell sick during that same period – no one knows what happened to her.I immediately thought of a day in April 1989, When we had a visit from the President of Swapo at Minya Base.In his speech addressing us, he said: “You delayed the struggle and you betrayed the nation.You will be put on Freedom Square and the people of Namibia will decide what to do with you”.He was also very proud of the 1st April 1989 encounter, saying: “for the last time my gallant fighters defeated the enemy”.Little did I know that it was the beginning of horror.The Swapo President, Mr Sam Nujoma, asked a question – who is going to vote for Swapo and who will vote for the enemy, your bosses? There was a complete silence, you can imagine, surrounded by the army with the Commander-in-Chief.Just think what was going through our minds.A few of us replied and said we are going back to Namibia because we are Namibians.The President responded, saying that we did not understand the question.He repeated the question, and at that moment the soldiers behind him moved forward …I thought then, I have just heard that Namibia is about to be independent; do I have to die now? A strong voice came from one of the inmates: “President Nujoma, you are surrounded by graves of innocent Namibians (whose deaths) you did not witness, but the grave you are about to create, is what you will witness and you have to answer to our parents and the nation; remember we are innocent”.There was complete silence afterwards.Coming back to Eenhana, I was wondering how these people died: how were their last moments, what did they say, how were they killed, and that’s why I tell a long story.I would like to thank the High Commissioner of South Africa, who reacted so positively when he learned about the remains of people discovered.And who has, in a way, pledged the support of his government if requested by the Namibian Government.These are very painful moments that open wounds, he said.In our case (Namibia) it is the reluctance of the political leadership to deal with the past.This is a direct challenge for the political leadership.It does not exclude civil society and the public at large from assisting the government to set up a truth commission as a process to deal with our past.We need to take a participatory and inclusive approach to develop a policy to address our past collectively.South Africa and Namibia share a common history, that of Apartheid.This history has spin-offs.South Africa oppressed and killed Namibians brutally.Some of the remains discovered recently are evidence of these cruelties.They had no right to kill or even to oppress.Swapo, on the other hand, had its own dungeons in Angola (Lubango), Tanzania and Zambia.People went missing while under the care and detention of Swapo.People were kept in dungeons, suffering severe human rights abuses and ill treatment.Swapo accused these Namibians of being spies of the apartheid regime.South Africa should also come clean and tell us the names of the people they recruited as agents to spy on Swapo.They have started their process of healing and Namibia also needs to do this.The United Nations is not exempt from all this.They gave the mandate to South Africa to rule Namibia and they are equally responsible for the spin-offs of this decision.The UNHCR should also tell us who was repatriated and who not and why.I can remember that we forced our way into being repatriated.UNHCR did not want us to come back to our country, first, apparently concerned about our safety, but they later admitted that they cannot part ways with Swapo at that stage, but they failed to help Swapo to advise as to how to deal with the dungeon issue.I attended an international conference in New York on conflict prevention and I constantly reminded the UN how they failed Namibians.Equally, I reminded them about this at a national training workshop on the same topic in Windhoek.Regarding the International Committee of the Red Cross, when we told them in Lubango that there were still people in the dungeons, they ignored us.After we returned they went back to Angola in a so-called search for these people, even then we offered our assistance as we know the areas of the dungeons, but they ignored us and left with Swapo.I wish they had a different mandate and approach.Let the African Union do what it claims to stand for.It is good that we have a SADC tribunal here in Windhoek, let us make good use thereof to the benefit of all citizens. Pauline Dempers Windhoek
