Police cell oversight ‘non-existent’ in some regions – ombudsman

Namibia’s ombudsman says poor oversight of police holding cells by senior officers is allowing alleged abuse by officers to go unchecked.

He warned that regional commanders often only learn of alleged abuses when external inspections are conducted, allowing abuses to go unchecked.

“The reports from my officials on the ground are that it doesn’t look good,” Dyakugha told Namibian Sun.  

“There is a lot happening in those holding cells, including cases where police officers use force or beat inmates in the name of discipline,” he added.

The ombudsman described oversight of conditions in police holding cells by management, including station commanders, as “just non-existent”.

“Some of the regional commanders agreed with me, because some of the things they were also surprised about, simply because they do not go to the holding cells to see for themselves what is happening on the ground.”

Dyakugha expressed concern that structures intended to deal with police misconduct, including a standing committee between the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Inspector General, remain largely out of touch with the realities of conditions in cells.

The committee, established during the tenure of former Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga, meets quarterly and includes senior officials tasked with addressing complaints and misconduct involving police officers.

“The problem with some of these issues is that these officials from the inspector general’s office are just based in Windhoek," Dyakugha explained.

“They don’t really go out to the regions to see for themselves some of these challenges that my officials actually pick up on the ground.”

Troubling lack of oversight

The oversight gap prompted Dyakugha’s office to launch its own inspection programme, under which he and his inspectors personally visit police holding cells across the country.

“Last year I went to the south, and this year I have just come back from the north,” he said.

During oversight visits, Dyakugha requires regional commanders to accompany him through detention facilities so they can witness conditions first-hand.

“After visiting the cells, we sit down and brief them about our observations because many of them are not seeing these things themselves.”

He said some commanders appeared shocked by what they encountered during inspections.

He cited an incident at Rundu Police Station where detainees allegedly identified officers accused of assaulting them.

“The inmates were saying, ‘It is him, it is him who beat us,’ while the officer was walking with us from cell to cell,” he said.

“The officers from internal investigations and the legal department said those officials must be dealt with departmentally because they cannot behave like that.”

He also raised concern over allegations involving members of the Special Field Force, whom detainees accuse of assaulting inmates during operations.

“The management of police stations sometimes searches the cells and then calls the Special Field Force to conduct searches,” he said.

“According to the inmates, that is when they are beaten.”

Dyakugha confirmed that all cases identified during inspections are formally registered and investigated.

“Those officials must be held accountable because they cannot come here and beat people,” he said.