Security police carried out a raid on SWAPO offices in Windhoek on 7 February 1980, arresting five SWAPO members. According to the Divisional Commissioner of Police for Namibia, Brigadier Dolf Gouws, the swoop was made on the orders of the head of the security police, Lieutenant Colonel van der Merwe. The five men were taken into custody under the terms of Proclamation AG9 which allows for 30 days detention without charge. They are Mr. D. DIAMANUS, Mr. J. OUSEB, Mr. B. SIMON, Mr. M. BOOIS and Mr. H. BEUKES.
Mr. OUSEB was previously detained in June 1979, and Mr BEUKES was only recently released after a court case brought against the authorities by his wife. According to a SWAPO spokesman, the Security Police took the keys of the SWAPO offices and also confiscated large quantities of documents.
Reports indicate that detainees held under AG9 are frequently subjected to torture. One former detainee told IDAF that different strategies are used by the South African security forces to break detainees' resistance. People held under AG26 are not subjected to physical violence but are put under severe psychological pressure, being forced to resign from SWAPO when in detention, kept in solitary confinement, or forced to make statements. He believes that the police select whom to assault and whom to "persuade" when first arresting people. Those held under AG9 can be detained for up to 30 days without restrictions imposed on interrogation. The pretext for arresting people under AG9 is that they are to be kept at a police station in order to establish their identity. There they may be tortured, and after 30 days can be re-detained under AG26.
STOP PRESS: 5 SWAPO members arrested on 7 February 1980 at SWAPO offices in Windhoek were reported to have been released on 14 March. It is not clear, however, whether Mr H Beukes, who was reported to have been one of those arrested, is still in detention. Another man, Mr Josephat Uhaha, whose arrest was not reported, is apparently among those released. The other four men are Mr B Boois, Mr D Diamanus, Mr Ouseb and Mr Simon.
