Hornkranz, Kalahari spark million-dollar lawsuits

Allegations of a multitude of rights violations including excessive force against unarmed civilians by Operation Hornkranz and Kalahari Desert soldiers and police have led to a surge in lawsuits demanding millions in compensation.

This week lawyer Norman Tjombe filed three new cases with the Windhoek High Court related to operations Hornkranz and Kalahari Desert.

His clients are suing for more than N$1 million in combined damages arising from allegations of violent assaults, illegal arrests and damage to property. The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) has six cases in court currently, which could cost the state more than N$1.8 million in damages.

An additional five cases are currently in pre-litigation, the LAC confirmed.

In one case, Tjombe is representing two teachers who are suing on behalf of two minor cousins aged 14 and 15.

The claims against the police and army relate to an incident in early January, when the cousins say they were beaten and kicked by soldiers and police officers before being detained for eight hours.

Both suffered “severe injuries including lacerations and bruises” in addition to psychological trauma, the court papers state.

Another Tjombe client, Kyle Sullivan, is suing for N$173 000, claiming that in April last year he was severely assaulted by soldiers and police.

Eventually he was forced into a vehicle, driven around for an hour and then released, his lawsuit states.



Gang attack

An LAC client, 19-year-old Zelodia Tjazerua, has filed a N$375 000 lawsuit for alleged physical and emotional trauma, and the destruction of her cellphone, in the early morning hours of 28 April last year.

Tjazerua claims she was attacked near her home in Katutura's Damara Location after she had filmed police and soldiers “beating up a woman and several other members of her family”.

When they noticed her phone's flashlight, one of the soldiers ran towards her house, whereupon she fled inside and locked her security door.

Court papers state the soldier “threatened to destroy her house if she did not open the door. Fearing for her life, she opened the door”.





She claims she was dragged onto the street, where she a group of 10 soldiers and police proceeded to kick and beat her while she was lying on the ground.

Her phone was smashed before she was eventually allowed to return to her house, but not before allegedly being kicked in the crotch.



Violence

Johannes Nduwe's N$350 000 lawsuit, filed by Tjombe on Monday, arises from a claim that in January this year, he was assaulted by police officers and soldiers. Footage of the incident was distributed on social media, compounding the trauma of the assault, he states in court papers. He was also arrested, and released an hour later, he states.

Alexander Ngoma Afonso, assisted by the LAC, is suing the police and army for N$160 000 for an assault and arrest on a weekday morning in May 2019, during which his bag was illegally searched, his phone's data deleted and a laptop broken.

He claims he was ordered to stop by joint-operation officers and asked to give “his reasons for walking on the street.”

Afonso claims afterwards he was left lying on the side of the road, injured, while the group of soldiers and police left in an army vehicle.

LAC client Taleni Petrus Manja is suing for N$1 million, based on a claim that he was illegally assaulted by members of Operation Hornkranz on New Year's Eve 2018.

Three LAC cases are related to 24 April 2019, when a raid was conducted at the home of Brian Jaftha of Ganja Users of Namibia (GUN). Jaftha's colleague Borro Ndungula is suing for N$95 000, and an acquaintance, Haindere Paskalius, for N$63 000.

JANA-MARI SMITH