Leonard Natange SHEEHAMA (25) was sentenced to death on 21 April after being convicted of murder in a trial which once again highlighted assault and torture by the armed forces. Sheehama was convicted on the basis of contested statements obtained from him while in custody. The charges arose from three bomb explosions in Walvis Bay and were heard before Justice Tebbutt of the Cape Supreme Court. Since Walvis Bay is administered as part of South Africa's Cape Province the South African regime may refuse to include Sheehama among those prisoners eligible for release under the UN independence plan.
Sheehama, whom the prosecution alleged was a PLAN combatant, first appeared in court on 16 July 1988, just a week after his arrest in northern Namibia. He faced five counts of murder and two charges under the Internal Security Act. The alleged offences occurred during 1986 and 1987: a bomb explosion at the Atlantic Meat Market in August 1986; an explosion at the Walvis Bay Post Office on 12 November 1987; and another later the same day at the administrative offices in the town's segregated black township, Kuisebmond.
Sheehama was arrested on 9 July by members of 101 Battalion patrolling near Okalongo. One of the participating officers, Lieutenant Robert Hillhouse, admitted under cross-examination that Sheehama was tortured on the directions of one Captain Ben Venter. Electric shocks were applied to him to force him to talk. Under such pressure he claimed to have thrown away a pistol before his arrest but this was not found in spite of an extensive search. Soldiers kept him in the vicinity overnight — tied to a Casspir armoured vehicle.
Admissions elicited during cross-examination of Hillhouse and other members of the occupying force revealed not only systematic abuse of detainees but also the inherent unreliability of information obtained in this way. Another officer concerned with the interrogation of Sheehama, from 12 July onwards, was Lieutenant A J J du Plessis of the Security Branch based in Oshakati. During early 1987 du Plessis was responsible for a number of detainees who said they had been tortured. Sara TEOFILUS was so badly assaulted that she miscarried. In spite of bleeding heavily and being in severe pain she was locked in a cell throughout a weekend and only taken for medical treatment the following Monday. After care at a military sickbay she was returned to custody and further terrorised by police until she provided a statement in which she falsely implicated one Samuel ANDREAS in the Atlantic Meat Market explosion. Andreas, a mini-bus driver, was detained and assaulted and held even after it became clear that Teofilus' evidence was unreliable. At the time of Andreas' detention, eye-witnesses reported that members of Koevoet assaulted him even before taking him away and then returned to burn down his home.
Sheehama's defence challenged du Plessis on the circumstances under which he claimed to have carried out interrogations. They stated that Sheehama was held throughout by Koevoet and that this was being covered up because the reputation of the police unit meant 'it would not have looked good in court'.
This was confirmed in part when du Plessis conceded that he had not taken Sheehama to the Oshivello military checkpoint, as he had earlier claimed, but that Koevoet took him there and he joined in his interrogation.
Other evidence was given by two unnamed state witnesses, one of whom testified that Sheehama, a childhood friend, had confessed to him.
In February 1989 Justice Tebbutt ruled that statements made by Sheehama were admissible as evidence against him. Sheehama's lawyer argued that, in addition to the torture, there were various irregularities in the way the statements were recorded and he questioned the competence of the official who took them down. The judge's decision in this matter was crucial as apart from Sheehama's own statements there was no direct evidence by the state against him.
During evidence in mitigation, Sheehama's lawyer asked the court to take into account the UN independence plan for Namibia with its provisions for an end to hostilities and the release of political prisoners. Actions such as Sheehama was charged with carrying out had only been committed because of the prevailing war. Justice Tebbutt intervened to say: 'If I was to take the changing circumstances and the war situation into consideration then I can just as well acquit the accused.'
However, on 21 April Sheehama received five death sentences for the August 1986 attack and was also convicted of sabotage under the Internal Security Act for the other two explosions. Lawyers were granted leave to appeal and also allowed to lodge a 'special entry' — a procedure by which legal irregularities in the trial may be challenged. Sheehama was moved to Pretoria Central Prison after sentence.
