In November 1987 the authorities in Namibia decided to lift the permit system which applied in six districts, including the war zones, on the grounds that they were ineffective. However, various restrictions on movement remained in force and there were indications that new restrictions would be imposed. In spite of these controls and other controls on information, evidence of atrocities committed by the South African forces continued to mount.
Before November, under Proclamation AG 28 of 1985, people wishing to visit the Ovambo, Kavango, Kaokoland, Bushmanland, Eastern Caprivi and Hereroland East bantustans had to apply for police permits first. The regulations were used to hinder access to these areas by journalists, organisations monitoring abuses of human rights and others.
In spite of their repeal, the regulations were still being enforced in Eastern Caprivi, and a spokesperson for the South West Africa Territorial Force said that permits were still needed to enter Western Caprivi. He also confirmed that 'security check-ups' were carried out by the military 'when it is deemed necessary'. (FOCUS 58 pp.1.4; Star 16.11.87; Nam 15.1.88)
Although the permit system has been scrapped, other measures restricting movement in the war zones remain firmly in place, notably the dusk-to-dawn curfew in the Ovambo bantustan, and legislation providing for detention without trial, which also applies in other parts of Namibia.
ATROCITIES MOUNT
The ruthless enforcement of the curfew figured prominently in atrocities committed in the north of the country, as police and troops sought to contain the armed struggle.
In August Namibian church organisations and residents of villages in the northern war zones testified to a 'dramatic increase' in atrocities in the course of 1987. The Executive Committee of the Council of Churches of Namibia (CCN) issued a statement, noting with alarm 'the increase in the number of reported cases of overt harassment and violently over-reactive attacks by forces . . . upon members of the civilian population. These attacks often result in serious injury to the lives and damage to the property of these civilians'. Also in August a local newspaper drew attention to the 'seemingly numerous atrocities perpetrated against civilians'. In the course of the year mass meetings were held in the war zones, at which residents demanded that local military bases be closed down and the SADF withdraw from their areas. (See FOCUS 70 p.4, 72 p.10, 74 p.9; Nam 14.8.87; NCC 18.8.87)
Soldiers from the Okalongo base in the Uukwambi area were responsible for a series of assaults on several local villages. Similarly soldiers from the 119 Battalion stationed near Ogandjera were the cause of ongoing complaints by local residents. In the Kaokoland bantustan, forces identified as 'Koevoet' were accused of excesses against villagers in the Uukwaludhi area, and there were similar allegations against troops at several bases in the Ondongo, Oshushe Oshigambo, Onankali, Ombalantu and Omungwelume areas.
Residents of four villages in the Uukwambi area said that soldiers raided the villages, searching homes, breaking open suitcases and stealing people's belongings. Livestock was also stolen and on occasion shops were looted. People were beaten with palm sticks and there were attempts to rape women. In the Oshushe area soldiers evicted people from their homes, so that they could sleep in them. This was especially arduous in winter. (Nam 7.8.87)
Harassment was particularly intense in the Ogandjera area where soldiers from 119 Battalion intimidated villagers. In two incidents in July and August vehicles were stopped on roads in the Olunjinda area. Young people were forced to run for a kilometre up and down the road while older people were made to lie face-down in the road. In several incidents in September, drunken soldiers assaulted residents, moving from one homestead to another at night. Several women were subjected to indentcent assaults and attempted rape. The Ogandjera residents believed they had become targets of increased assaults in retaliation for attending a public meeting in March, which demanded the withdrawal of army and police from the area. (Nam 7.8.87, 18.9.87)
In the Uukwaludhi area of the Kaokoland bantustan, Koevoet members using palm branches beat local residents so severely that many were hospitalised. They also forced local women to undress in front of them. (Nam 28.8.87)
PATTERNS OF VIOLENCE
Reports in the Namibian and South African press, between mid July and the end of December 1987, confirmed that atrocities were not confined to these areas, but were widespread throughout northern Namibia. There were 41 reported incidents of atrocities of various kinds including the killing of alleged 'curfew breakers', assaults and rape. Press coverage is fragmentary and far from comprehensive: there is stringent censorship on the activities of troops in the operational areas of northern Namibia and reports which reach the press are incidental. (See NEW CENSORSHIP MOVES)
Although in many of the cases cited above, residents made complaints to the police or local authorities, only one of those reported resulted in charges being laid. There was no redress for the other victims.
Killings of 'curfew breakers' In five of the reported incidents, ten people were killed by 'security forces' supposedly enforcing the dusk-to-dawn curfew; one person was wounded. In late July, four people were shot and killed in the Engela la Kambonde area in the Ondonga region. Two of those killed were women, one of whom was carrying a child on her back. The deaths fuelled local anger at the curfew regulations. Three of the incidents including the one above took place near the Ondonga air base. In another incident troops from the Oshigambo base shot dead 64-year-old teacher, Johannes ENDJAMBA. According to his family he was on his way to visit a neighbour and he had left well before curfew. Local residents alleged that the soldiers concerned were heavily under the influence of liquor. (Nam 7/28.8.87, 18.9.87; WO 22.8.87, 19.9.87; WA 15.9.87)
Other killings In eight other incidents, civilians were killed by troops in circumstances which were less clear.
In July an entire family living in the Oshwanda/Okamwa area of southern Angola, was murdered in cold blood. Soldiers from an unspecified unit called at their homestead in early July and drank some home brew. They apparently returned later in the day, demanding more drink, and when none was available opened fire, killing the family.
Josef DUMENI, brother of Bishop Kleopas Dumeni of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, was shot dead in the same area in June 1987. (FOCUS 74 p.9; Nam 10.7.87, 11.9.87)
In a particularly horrific incident, two children were killed in the village of Oshana, in the Kwan yama area, in early November. Sara SHIGWEDHA was standing outside her homestead, with her four children aged between eight months and twelve years, when they were fired on from the air by a military helicopter. Two of the children, one of whom was an infant, died instantly. The others were hospitalised for bullet wounds. (Nam 11.12.87)
Shootings In two incidents, six people were shot but survived their injuries. Immanuel MUNDUKATA (26), an Ombalantu primary school teacher was shot when he broke away from a group of Koevoet members who were violently interrogating him about the presence of SWAPO guerrillas in the area. In the second incident drunken soldiers attached to 101 Battalion at the Oshigambo army base shot and seriously wounded Martha JASON and her four children aged between nine and 15 years, while interrogating villagers in the Oshushe area. According to a witness, five soldiers had arrived in the village with enough liquor to last the whole day. The drunken soldiers randomly opened fire, seriously wounding the five people. The soldiers also fired bullets into a car to prevent another resident from taking them to hospital. The Oshigambo army base is notorious for atrocities. In 1986 corpses of unidentified people were found in the vicinity of Oshushe, allegedly killed by the forces stationed there. (Nam 4.9.87)
Assaults, intimidation and torture The press reported 18 separate incidents in which people were assaulted, tortured, or intimidated by police or troops. In many of the incidents, people were assaulted in attempts to extract information about the whereabouts of SWAPO guerrillas. In July Koevoet members beat Jacobina AMUKUHU (37) of Okapanda, with clubs. They also seized her two-year-old baby from her back and dropped the baby violently on the ground. They questioned her about bicycle tracks near her home, allegedly those of SWAPO guerrillas active in the region. (NCC 20.7.87)
In early August, Achilles KALUNDE, who was on holiday in northern Namibia, was apprehended by three men in civilian clothing while visiting a shop at Endola in the Oshakati area. He was driven to a secluded spot nearby, blindfolded with his own shirt and beaten with rubber cords. He was accused of murdering the uncle of one of his assailants. He was later driven to another location where he was
