Dungeons probe opens

An inquiry into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Swapo in exile will officially start in Windhoek on 1 September and is expected to continue until 10 December.This was announced by the joint committee of the Committee of Parents and the Truth and Justice Committee that is spearheading the process. In September last year, the two groups said a commission of inquiry was necessary because the Swapo leadership had refused to account for the disappearance of fellow Namibians in exile. This refusal, the groups claimed, in itself constituted a crime against humanity.Furthermore, they said the Swapo leadership refused to account for the whereabouts of the remains of allegedly murdered Namibian refugees. They also claimed that the party continued to slander and defame both the allegedly murdered refugees and the survivors of the dungeons.“The Swapo regime, which stands accused of crimes against humanity, presides over a purported democracy. This nation has been subjected to imperialist upon imperialist crimes since 1884,” the two groups said at the time.They enumerated the genocide perpetrated during German imperialism, the Bondelswarts massacre in 1922, the 1925 disarmament of the Herero and Baster people, the Old Location massacre in 1959, the Cassinga massacre in 1978, and the “mass murder of refugees” by Swapo in exile from 1966 to 1989.“It is imperative that all true facts are known on this last period of mass murder,” the groups stated.The conveners of the inquiry include a group from Kenya who were arrested in the 1960s, as well as former PLAN combatants and Swapo Youth League leaders from the 1970s, former Swapo detainees, the Break the Wall of Silence organisation, the Forum for the Future (FFF), NamRights, and the South African Khoisan Movement. The inquiry was also given special impetus by the South African Indigenous Peoples' Alliance (SAIPA). Other organisations invited to attend the opening include the Namibian government, the embassies of Germany, Angola and Zambia, Kenyan and Namibian churches, the Olaf Palme Foundation, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Hanns Seidel Foundation. The speakers at the opening ceremony, to be held at Gateway Conference Centre in Khomasdal at 10:00 on 1 September, will be Erica Beukes (chairperson of the Committee of Parents), Phil ya Nangoloh (executive director of NamRights), Zanzile Khoisan (author and senior journalist at the Cape Argus), and two others yet to be identified.The master of ceremonies will be John Amuthenu.The process will start with the collation of affidavits and documentary evidence by witnesses, individuals and groups. The actual inquiry is to start on 1 February next year and will visit Windhoek, Tsumeb and Otjiwarongo, Oshakati and Ondangwa, Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Gobabis, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, Mariental, Keetmanshoop and Karasburg, Lüderitz, as well as Platfontein in South Africa. The inquiry is the result of a resolution taken in September 2016 by the Committee of Parents and the Truth and Justice Association to call for an international probe into the Swapo dungeon saga.According to that resolution the inquiry is to investigate the disappearance of Namibian refugees, the killing, detention, torture, forced confessions of detainees, complaints from SYL and PLAN in 1976 against the Swapo leadership, the alleged involvement or complicity of foreign missions and instances, the John ya Otto inquiry and related matters. The joint committee stated that the terms of reference were based on the fact that there were no official accounts of what had happened, or of the whereabouts of possible survivors. The United Nations Committee Against Torture in December 2016 communicated with the Namibian government, insisting on an inquiry into the exile period, as well as the post-colonial period, which includes the Caprivi treason trial. The Khoisan Movement of South Africa is also preparing evidence of an alleged San massacre in Namibia and Angola.CATHERINE SASMAN

Dungeons probe opens

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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Dungeons probe opens

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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