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Whose Blood Waters Whose Freedom?

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Whose Blood Waters Whose Freedom? Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien Department of Anthropology and African Studies Arbeitspapiere / Working Papers Nr. 122 Godwin Kornes Whose blood waters whose freedom? Gegenerinnerungen in der namibischen Interniertenfrage 2010 The Working Papers are edited by Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Forum 6, D-55099 Mainz, Germany. Tel. +49-6131-3923720; Email: [email protected]; http://www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de http://www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de/workingpapers/Arbeitspapiere.html Geschäftsführende Herausgeberin/ Managing Editor: Eva Spies ([email protected]) Kurzzusammenfassung Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist der Umgang mit schweren Menschenrechtsverletzungen, die die ehemalige namibische Befreiungsbewegung und gegenwärtige Regierungspartei Swapo im Ver- lauf des bewaffneten Unabhängigkeitskampfes gegen Südafrika begangen hat. So kam es zwi- schen 1966 und 1989 im Verlauf mehrerer Parteikrisen im sambischen und angolanischen Exil zu internen „Säuberungen“ gegen vermeintliche Spione und Konterrevolutionäre, verbunden mit zahlreichen Fällen von Folter, extralegaler Hinrichtung und „Verschwindenlassen“ durch die Si- cherheitsorgane der Swapo; rund 1.000 Menschen gelten weiterhin als vermisst. Während Nami- bia 1990 die politische Unabhängigkeit errungen hat und die ehemalige Guerilla seitdem eine Politik der Nationalen Versöhnung ausgerufen hat, kämpfen die Überlebenden der Folterlager und die Angehörigen der „Verschwundenen“ weiterhin um die Anerkennung ihrer Schicksale und um eine Aufarbeitung der Verbrechen. Ihr Engagement trifft dabei auf eine Politik der selektiven Erinnerung durch die Regierungspartei, die durch die Konstruktion einer patriotischen Ge- schichtsschreibung das Monopol über die Interpretation der Vergangenheit für sich beansprucht. Diesem Herrschaftsgedächtnis setzen die Opfer der Swapo ihre Gegenerinnerungen entgegen. Ein Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit liegt in der Analyse jener Diskurse und Strategien, durch die die beteiligten Akteure in den Arenen von Politik und Zivilgesellschaft anhand der umstrittenen Ver- gangenheit die Aus- und Neuverhandlung nationaler Identität betreiben. Abstract This thesis examines the conflictive discourse on severe violations of human rights committed by the Namibia’s former liberation movement, Swapo. Engaged in guerrilla warfare against the South African apartheid regime between 1966 and 1989, Swapo in exile was rocked by a series of inner party crises which led to countless cases of torture, extralegal executions and enforced “disappearances” of Swapo cadres by the hands of the party’s security apparatus; approx. 1.000 people are still missing. This episode of the liberation struggle is commonly known as detainee issue in Namibia. Following its victory in the country’s first national elections after Independence in 1990, the Swapo-led government pronounced a Policy of National Reconciliation, accompanied by a general pardon for war crimes committed by both sides. Since then both survivors of the Swapo prison camps and relatives of the “disappeared” are struggling for recognition of their his- tories, rehabilitation, and institutionalised reconciliation. Their active remembrance of the crimes thus confronts Swapo’s practice of selective memory, their counter-memories challenge the party’s pursuit of a patriotic history and its officially proclaimed narrative of the liberation struggle. While also contextualising the construction of heroic narratives in Namibia with well researched developments in neighbouring Zimbabwe, this thesis has its focal point in the analysis of dis- course and strategies employed by relevant actors in politics and civil society, who are being in- volved in the process of re-/negotiating national identities, memory, and political subjectivities. Der Autor: Godwin Kornes, M.A. 2003-2010 Studium der Ethnologie, Kulturanthropologie und Komparatistik in Mainz und Uppsala, Schweden. Abkürzungsverzeichnis ANC African National Congress BWS Breaking the Wall of Silence CATS Citizens for an Accountable and Transparent Society CCN Council of Churches in Namibia COD Congress of Democrats CP Committee of Parents DTA Democratic Turnhalle Alliance DELK Deutsche Evangelisch‐Lutherische Kirche in Namibia ELCIN Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia ELCRN Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation FFF Forum for the Future ICC International Criminal Court (Internationaler Strafgerichtshof) ICJ International Court of Justice (Internationaler Gerichtshof) IGfM Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte LAC Legal Assistance Centre MPLA Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola NGO Non‐Governmental Organisation (Nichtregierungsorganisation) NID Namibian Institute for Democracy NSHR National Society for Human Rights OAU Organisation of African Unity OPC Ovamboland People’s Congress OPO Ovamboland People’s Organisation PCN Parents Committee of Namibia PLAN People’s Liberation Army of Namibia PUM Patriotic Unity Movement RDP Rally for Democracy and Progress SADC Southern African Development Community SACOD Southern Africa Communications for Development SWA South West Africa /Südwestafrika SWANLA South West African Native Labour Association SWANU South West African National Union Swapo South West Africa People’s Organisation Swapo‐D Swapo Democrats SYL Swapo Youth League TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission UDF United Democratic Front UN United Nations (Vereinte Nationen) UNHCR UN‐Flüchtlingshilfswerk UNITA Uniao Nacional para Independência Total de Angola UNTAG United Nations Transition Assistance Group WCG Western Contact Group ZANU‐PF Zimbabwe African National Union ‐ People’s Front iii Inhaltsverzeichnis Abkürzungsverzeichnis…………………………….….…………………… ............. ..……iii 1. Einleitung ................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Gegenstand der Arbeit ............................................................................................................. 4 1.2. Forschungsansatz ..................................................................................................................... 5 1.3. Theoretische Rahmenbedingungen I: Nation und Erinnerung ......................................... 6 1.4. Theoretische Rahmenbedingungen II: Erinnerung und Identität ..................................... 9 1.5. Methoden I: Themenfindung, Forschungsstand, Vorbereitung ...................................... 13 1.6. Methoden II: Empirie ............................................................................................................. 15 1.7. Von der Gewalt ....................................................................................................................... 18 2. ,The supreme sacrifice‘: Der Befreiungskampf der Swapo ............................................... 20 2.1. Vorbemerkung ........................................................................................................................ 20 2.2. Die koloniale Ausgangslage .................................................................................................. 22 2.3. Die Entstehungsgeschichte der Swapo ................................................................................ 24 2.4. Der bewaffnete Befreiungskampf der Swapo ..................................................................... 26 2.5. Der autoritäre Stil: Die Parteikrisen in Tansania und Sambia ......................................... 27 2.6. Kalter Krieg in Angola ........................................................................................................... 34 2.7. Unter den Aloen: Die dungeons von Lubango .................................................................... 37 3. ,To be born a nation‘: Die Erinnerungspolitik der Swapo ................................................ 44 3.1. Vorbemerkung ........................................................................................................................ 44 3.2. Die Interniertenfrage am Vorabend der Unabhängigkeit ................................................. 45 3.3. Die politische Transition in Namibia ................................................................................... 48 3.4. ,To open old wounds‘: Die Politik der Nationalen Versöhnung ..................................... 50 3.5. ,Where others wavered‘: Die patriotische Geschichtsschreibung der Swapo ................ 58 4. Gegenerinnerungen in der namibischen Interniertenfrage .............................................. 68 4.1. Vorbemerkung ........................................................................................................................ 68 4.2. Arbeit am Gedächtnis: Breaking the Wall of Silence (BWS) ................................................. 69 4.2.1. Gründungsgeschichte ............................................................................................................ 69 4.2.2. Profil und Selbstverständnis ................................................................................................. 70 4.2.3. Die praktizierte Gegenerinnerung ....................................................................................... 75 4.2.4. Herausforderungen für BWS ................................................................................................ 80 4.3. ,A cat among the pigeons‘: National Society of Human Rights (NSHR) ............................ 82 4.3.1. Gründungsgeschichte ...........................................................................................................
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