Third mass grave found at Eenhana, mystery deepens

A THIRD mass grave has been found near a former South African military base at Eenhana in the Ohangwena Region.

The Commander of Police in the Ohangwena Region, Deputy Commissioner Armas Shivute, told The Namibian that the grave was uncovered yesterday by Police officers, Defence Force troops and workers of a road construction company who are expanding the Eenhana sewerage dams. Shivute said the third grave was 200 metres from the second one.The first mass grave was discovered by construction workers on November 8, and the second was found the next day, only metres away.Remnants of uniforms said to be same type worn by former Plan combatants (Swapo’s armed wing) were found in the first two graves.The Star newspaper in South Africa on Monday quoted a soldier, who asked to be known only as Badenhorst, as saying that he knew of at least five mass burial sites near the Eenhana base.Badenhorst said that the biggest grave he saw at Eenhana had about 18 bodies.Yesterday, Deputy Commissioner Shivute said: “My people are working hard with the searching and I hope that we will find some more.”He said investigators of the Forensic Unit, led by Dr Paul Ludik, visited Eenhana on Monday to start their investigation.They will try to establish how many skeletons are buried in the graves, their gender and whether they were combatants or not.At the weekend, President Hifikepunye Pohamba, former President Sam Nujoma, Safety and Security Minister Peter Tshirumbu Tsheehama and Defence Minister Major General Charles Namoloh visited the site.President Pohamba appealed to anybody with information on the people buried there, and the circumstances of their death, to come forward without fear of recrimination.Meanwhile, two civil society organisations have issued statements on the discovery of the mass graves.The Director of the Legal Assistance Centre, Norman Tjombe, said unless Namibians start dealing with the human rights violations that occurred before Independence, the country’s future will continue to be “punctuated by the violent and ugly past”.”Had we had a principled and determined process of establishing the extent of the human rights violations, the whereabouts of those who disappeared, and a manner to right the wrongs of the past, these mass graves would have been discovered some time ago, the families of the dead hopefully would have had an opportunity to come to terms with it, the dead received a proper burial, and the nation moved on on a moral standing that is beyond reproach,” Tjombe said.He said he and his organisation supported the President’s call that those with information about the mass graves must come forward to help identify the dead.”That should, however, not end there, as all human rights violations of the past must be exposed and be dealt with in an appropriate manner – a process which should start healing our past,” Tjombe said.”Notwithstanding the amnesty laws that were passed in the last hours before Independence, I suggest that the authorities must seriously consider the prosecution of those involved in this mass murder.Those amnesty laws will in any event not withstand a constitutional attack, as they were not designed for the purposes of facilitating peace, but to protect those who were involved in gross human rights violations,” the statement said.The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) repeated its call upon Parliament to pass a law instituting a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) to investigate violations of human rights during the 23-year war for Namibian Independence.”The proposed law should compel relevant persons to testify.Those who come forward with accurate information about the aforementioned human rights violations should be granted immunity, while those who tell lies should be prosecuted,” the NSHR statement read.It also calls upon all warring parties during the liberation struggle to disclose the manner and locations where the bodies of soldiers were disposed of.”Both the SADF and Plan committed untold atrocities in the context of the liberation war,” NSHR executive director Phil ya Nangoloh said.”It is, however, unfortunate that the ruling Swapo party has so far not seen the importance of a TRC and has rejected it.It is therefore hoped that all Swapo officials, including Governor Nghaamwa, would now appreciate the significance of our call for a TRC,” added NSHR spokesperson Dorkas Phillemon.Shivute said the third grave was 200 metres from the second one.The first mass grave was discovered by construction workers on November 8, and the second was found the next day, only metres away.Remnants of uniforms said to be same type worn by former Plan combatants (Swapo’s armed wing) were found in the first two graves.The Star newspaper in South Africa on Monday quoted a soldier, who asked to be known only as Badenhorst, as saying that he knew of at least five mass burial sites near the Eenhana base.Badenhorst said that the biggest grave he saw at Eenhana had about 18 bodies.Yesterday, Deputy Commissioner Shivute said: “My people are working hard with the searching and I hope that we will find some more.”He said investigators of the Forensic Unit, led by Dr Paul Ludik, visited Eenhana on Monday to start their investigation.They will try to establish how many skeletons are buried in the graves, their gender and whether they were combatants or not.At the weekend, President Hifikepunye Pohamba, former President Sam Nujoma, Safety and Security Minister Peter Tshirumbu Tsheehama and Defence Minister Major General Charles Namoloh visited the site.President Pohamba appealed to anybody with information on the people buried there, and the circumstances of their death, to come forward without fear of recrimination. Meanwhile, two civil society organisations have issued statements on the discovery of the mass graves.The Director of the Legal Assistance Centre, Norman Tjombe, said unless Namibians start dealing with the human rights violations that occurred before Independence, the country’s future will continue to be “punctuated by the violent and ugly past”.”Had we had a principled and determined process of establishing the extent of the human rights violations, the whereabouts of those who disappeared, and a manner to right the wrongs of the past, these mass graves would have been discovered some time ago, the families of the dead hopefully would have had an opportunity to come to terms with it, the dead received a proper burial, and the nation moved on on a moral standing that is beyond reproach,” Tjombe said.He said he and his organisation supported the President’s call that those with information about the mass graves must come forward to help identify the dead.”That should, however, not end there, as all human rights violations of the past must be exposed and be dealt with in an appropriate manner – a process which should start healing our past,” Tjombe said.”Notwithstanding the amnesty laws that were passed in the last hours before Independence, I suggest that the authorities must seriously consider the prosecution of those involved in this mass murder.Those amnesty laws will in any event not withstand a constitutional attack, as they were not designed for the purposes of facilitating peace, but to protect those who were involved in gross human rights violations,” the statement said.The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) repeated its call upon Parliament to pass a law instituting a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) to investigate violations of human rights during the 23-year war for Namibian Independence.”The proposed law should compel relevant persons to testify.Those who come forward with accurate information about the aforementioned human rights violations should be granted immunity, while those who tell lies should be prosecuted,” the NSHR statement read.It also calls upon all warring parties during the liberation struggle to disclose the manner and locations where the bodies of soldiers were disposed of.”Both the SADF and Plan committed untold atrocities in the context of the liberation war,” NSHR executive director Phil ya Nangoloh said.”It is, however, unfortunate that the ruling Swapo party has so far not seen the importance of a TRC and has rejected it.It is therefore hoped that all Swapo officials, including Governor Nghaamwa, would now appreciate the significance of our call for a TRC,” added NSHR spokesperson Dorkas Phillemon.