‘Since the inauguration of the new government, nothing whatsoever has changed for the better. Rather, sufferings, detentions, brutal torture and the wanton violation of basic human rights are still the order of the day in Namibia’. With these words, Bishop Kleopas Dumeni of the Evangelical Lutheran Church summed up the continuing suffering of the Namibian people under the illegal South African occupation.
While the police and army have carried out most of their activities in secret, aided by strict restrictions on media reporting and entry to the war zones, an indication of the continuing violence against the Namibian people has been provided by some recent reports.
- On 26 July Bilha KAKAUNYA, who was pregnant, was raped by soldiers at Okando, also in the Oukwanyama region.
- Nahas Mukwaita NDEVAHOMA, the principal of the Oshea Junior Secondary School at Kongo in northern Namibia, was arrested at his home on 29 July 1985 by SADF soldiers and accused of being a SWAPO supporter. He was subjected to continuous beatings and was tortured.
- In August Vilho KASHIKA of Omutse in the Ondangua area was beaten by members of the police or army who arrived at his home in armoured vehicles.
- A 28 year old Namibian, Clemens NEWMAN, was beaten by Railway Police in Tsumeb on 11 August. He was also put in the boot of a car for ten minutes. He was admitted to hospital and later charged the police with assault.
- Members of the police Counter-Insurgency (COIN) unit, previously known as ‘Koevoet’, opened fire on a kraal near Okahau on the night of 26 August, beat up the owner, Johannes ELIAKIM, and stole money.
- On the same night, armed men broke into the home of Johannes ISHIDIMBWA, beat him and stole money and his vehicle. The men claimed that they were SWAPO guerillas, but Ishidimbwa recognised one of them as a member of the local 'security forces'. The men then abducted a neighbour, Josef ANDREAS, and held him prisoner in the back of a truck for the night.
- Sarah PAULUS and her 13 year old son Joel were assaulted by police COIN members on 1 September at Onanjokwe. She was repeatedly beaten and then half buried in a pit in the ground while the police interrogated her about the whereabouts of a SWAPO guerilla. She was hospitalised for ten days, while her son had to receive medical treatment for wounds on his back. Her husband, Markus PAULUS, disappeared on 4 September after visiting her in hospital, reportedly after being taken away in a police vehicle. The police did not respond to Sarah Paulus' requests for information, but after more than two months stated that he had been detained and released and that he had no further information on his whereabouts.
- On the night of 2 September, four uniformed men, allegedly members of the South West Africa Territory Force (SWATF), beat and raped Naomi VATILENI in the Odibo area of the Ovambo bantustan in the presence of her children.
- In the same week, Penda AUALA, the son of the late Lutheran bishop, Leonard Auala, and his daughters, Elina (20) and Thelma (17) were assaulted by COIN police in northern Namibia.
- In a rare prosecution arising out of atrocity committed by members of the Namibian occupation forces, two South African National Servicemen, David Luck Reed and Martin Cockeran, were convicted in the Windhoek Supreme Court on 15 October of murdering Sebastian LUKAS in northern Namibia. They were sentenced to 18 years' and 22 years' imprisonment respectively. According to evidence, the two men detained Lukas on 9 February 1985 for breaking the night curfew. They ordered him to squat on the ground and then opened fire on him with their automatic rifles.
- A 59 year old woman was brutally assaulted and tortured by soldiers at Onipa in the Ovambo bantustan on 22 October. Selma AWALA was tortured after her son Leonard (15) had been detained. She was forced into a pit in the ground and her arm was broken. Her son was detained for two weeks and then released.
Police and army terror has remained the principal method of repression in Namibia under the Multi-Party Conference administration. However, increasing use has been made of the courts and the legal process. Amendments to the Explosives Act, the Inquest Act and the Magistrates' Courts Act further extended the powers of the courts. An amendment to the Explosives Act approved by the Windhoek 'Cabinet' explicitly extended the judicial powers of regional courts to deal with petrol bombs and the communication of false information regarding explosives. The Cabinet also introduced a bill providing for the deportation of aliens from Namibia and requiring visitors staying for longer than 30 days to obtain a permit.
