San take farmers to court

OVER a dozen members of the San community in the Omaheke Region are to sue Herero communal farmers who allegedly strung up two San members from a tree, using a car to pull the ropes, before releasing them.

They also allegedly threw another man into a thorn bush several times. The lawyer for the group, Norman Tjombe of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), said the incidents took place in December.Twenty cattle farmers from Talismanis, in the Rietfontein area near the border with Botswana, raided two villages – Donkerhoek and Sonneblom – and rounded up people, accusing them of stealing cattle.Tjombe said eight of the people from Sonneblom were accused of cattle theft and were detained in a storeroom at Houtpit.Some were allegedly beaten with sticks and kicked and punched while being forced to confess to cattle theft.While they were being assaulted, some villagers were forced to point out places where stolen cattle were found and to dig up the hides.Tjombe said some of the cases of cattle theft had allegedly taken place as far back as December 2002.”After assaulting Komsa Kortman, they tied a rope around his neck.They threw the rope over a branch of a tree and tied the other end to a car.[Then] they pulled or hoisted him up the tree – for about three minutes,” said Tjombe.The human rights lawyer said a Policewoman, who had been with the farmers throughout, stopped the hanging but told Kortman that he was stubborn and that they were hanging him because of that.An elderly man, Tcise Magoath, underwent the same treatment as Kortman, who is about 30 years old.Tjombe said he saw the badly bruised body of Kleinbooi Dawid who was thrown into a thorn bush five times.He is an old man and of slender build.After finishing with Sonneblom, they went to the next village.”They went to Donkerhoek and also assaulted virtually everybody in the village,” claimed Tjombe.Some of the people detained were taken to Talismanis where a traditional Herero court under a tribal leader convicted the accused of stealing cattle and ordered that the San community collectively pay six beasts for each of the three stolen cattle.Tjombe said his clients were further detained at the Talismanis Police station for one night, believed to be December 16, and were released the following day.Police have been reluctant to take up the complaints of the San people or to lay criminal charges.”We have instructions from 18 people that we saw to institute legal action against the culprits and the Namibian Police,” he said.Tjombe said they would insist that the Police officers institute disciplinary action against the Policewoman who accompanied the cattle farmers when the San villagers were rounded up.”But we also want to ensure that criminal cases are opened, properly investigated and prosecuted,” said Tjombe.The LAC will also launch a High Court application to have the decision of the tribal court overturned.Tjombe said they believed the court did not have jurisdiction to make that kind of decision and that the collective punishment of the entire village communities was unfair.”You cannot have collective punishment for an alleged crime,” he said.More similar civil lawsuits were likely to follow, he said.Comment could not be obtained from the farmers or the Police.The lawyer for the group, Norman Tjombe of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), said the incidents took place in December. Twenty cattle farmers from Talismanis, in the Rietfontein area near the border with Botswana, raided two villages – Donkerhoek and Sonneblom – and rounded up people, accusing them of stealing cattle. Tjombe said eight of the people from Sonneblom were accused of cattle theft and were detained in a storeroom at Houtpit. Some were allegedly beaten with sticks and kicked and punched while being forced to confess to cattle theft. While they were being assaulted, some villagers were forced to point out places where stolen cattle were found and to dig up the hides. Tjombe said some of the cases of cattle theft had allegedly taken place as far back as December 2002. “After assaulting Komsa Kortman, they tied a rope around his neck. They threw the rope over a branch of a tree and tied the other end to a car. [Then] they pulled or hoisted him up the tree – for about three minutes,” said Tjombe. The human rights lawyer said a Policewoman, who had been with the farmers throughout, stopped the hanging but told Kortman that he was stubborn and that they were hanging him because of that. An elderly man, Tcise Magoath, underwent the same treatment as Kortman, who is about 30 years old. Tjombe said he saw the badly bruised body of Kleinbooi Dawid who was thrown into a thorn bush five times. He is an old man and of slender build. After finishing with Sonneblom, they went to the next village. “They went to Donkerhoek and also assaulted virtually everybody in the village,” claimed Tjombe. Some of the people detained were taken to Talismanis where a traditional Herero court under a tribal leader convicted the accused of stealing cattle and ordered that the San community collectively pay six beasts for each of the three stolen cattle. Tjombe said his clients were further detained at the Talismanis Police station for one night, believed to be December 16, and were released the following day. Police have been reluctant to take up the complaints of the San people or to lay criminal charges. “We have instructions from 18 people that we saw to institute legal action against the culprits and the Namibian Police,” he said. Tjombe said they would insist that the Police officers institute disciplinary action against the Policewoman who accompanied the cattle farmers when the San villagers were rounded up. “But we also want to ensure that criminal cases are opened, properly investigated and prosecuted,” said Tjombe. The LAC will also launch a High Court application to have the decision of the tribal court overturned. Tjombe said they believed the court did not have jurisdiction to make that kind of decision and that the collective punishment of the entire village communities was unfair. “You cannot have collective punishment for an alleged crime,” he said. More similar civil lawsuits were likely to follow, he said. Comment could not be obtained from the farmers or the Police.