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A Weekly Report Filed by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Southern Afric Project Staff in Namibia

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A Weekly Report Filed by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Southern Afric Project Staff in Namibia LAWYERS' COMMITIEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW SUiTE 400 • 1400 EYE STREET, NORTHWEST • WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005 • PHONE (202) 371-1212 CABLE ADDRESS: LAWCIV, WASHINGTON, D.C. TELEX: 205662·SAP UR FACSIMILE: (202) 842-3211 THIS WEEK IN AMIBIA eek of Decemb r 10 - 17, 1989 (A weekly report filed by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Southern Afric Project staff in Namibia) 1. According to the first report of the Con standing Committee on Rules and Orders, the Commi t h s unanimously agreed to u'se SWAPO' s draft constitutio working document for the remainder of the proces. The Committee will now work on the major ~aterial differences between the parties' drafts (the most significant of which is the composition of the legislature) as well as consider areas where broad agreement exists, but further discussion is needed. These areas include: the police, army, prisons and ombudsmen, the economic system and its institutions, land reform, state succession and. transitional provisions .. Apparently, all the parties have agreed on proportional repr sentation the electoral system, with SWAPO conceding its s pport for single member constituency systemo It is also agr ed that the official language will be English, though other languages c n be used in both education and local government. Constitution 1 amendments will require a two-thirds vote of the national assembly. Though the Committee listed fundamental rights as an area of agreement between the parties, differences apparently exist as to under what circumstances fundamental rights can be derogated. In th National Patriotic Front's (NPF) view, for example, certain freedoms should be inviolable. ccording to SWAPO's draft, ho ever, the President would have state of emergency powers "to rna e such laws as are in his opinion expedient to protect the security of the state.... " This includes "the power to suspend the operation of any. rul of common law, or statute, or any f ndamental right." (As one local observer points out this view is inconsistent with Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides that there are certain rights so fundamental that they may not be violated or suspended, even in a state of emergency.) The SWAPO dr ft 1.. ,0 prove des for ixty d y pr v ntive detentio itho ch rge or treal, ft r hich the person detained c n ppe r befor an dvisory bo rd which may extend the ete tion for long year. In addition, the SWAPO draft fails to lis freedom of the press, though many view this as an inadv rten omi ion. T'hough not listed as matters of m terial dispute, thes concerns nd others are reportedly being discussed by the Standing Committee in its closed sessions. The Committee Members re as follows: Hage Geingob, Chairman (SWAPO) Ben Amathila (SWAPO) Peter Katjavivi (SWAPO) has Angul (5 APO) Moses Katjiuongua (NPF) B rney Barne (DTA) Andrew Matjila (DTA) ico Bessinger (SWAPO) Dirk Mudge (DTA) Hans Dierg,aardt (F'CN) Kosie Pretorius (ACN) Reggie Diergaardt (UDF) Vekuii Rukoro (NNF) Theo-Ben Gurir b (SWAPO) Hartmut Rupple (SWAPO) Hidipo Hamutenya (SWAPO) Hans-Erik Staby (DTA) Pendukeni lith na (SWAPO) Ernest Tjiriange (SWAPO) ickey Iyambo (5 APO) Moses Tjitendero (SWAPO 2. 11 parties in the Constituent Assembly have agreed on a d finition of Namibia which includes Walvis Bay nd the offshore islands, currently claimed by South Africa. ccording to observers working wi'th the Churches Information and Monitoring Servic (elMS), however, the South African Defence Force (SADF) 's "determined on a long and repressive occupation of the port' and extensive expansion and upgrading of military facilities have recently been observed in the contested enclave. According to ClMS, there r a number of bases in walvis Bay, including in t e to n c nt rand t Rooikop (10 kilometers o t ide to n), n corom nications install tion at Rooibank, an rtil ery range, rifle r nge and large underground bunkers and an air base near Rooikop. A outh African Police training camp, formerly u ed to tr in white Koevoet Commanders before they were deploy d to the orth, is located near the new Rooibank base. Reportedly, both the to nand Rooikop bases are undergoing extensive construction, apparently to accommodate the newly rrived 61 Mechanized Battalion, recently re-deployed from northern Namibia where- they were confined throughout the 435 period until November 21. The new Rooibank base reportedly will house a sophisticated communications facility which is being constructed by a Namibian firm - Premier Construction - under contract to a high-tech South African firm working on behalf of the SADF. _ elMS concludes that South Africa is establishing a permanent garrison at Walvis Bay in contravention of UeN. Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 432, which calls for the early reintegration 2 of Ivi. B y ento ibi~. While UNTAG (which has no 35 mandat to monitor h SADF in Walvis Bay) estern t s S DF troop pres nee 1,600, loc 1 r siden s pu the figur as.h-gh s 5,000. Community members report a dramatic increas in troop presence in the own, with "soldiers seen every here" nd far mor milit ry vehicles on the roads. The exact amount of ava-lable military equipment is difficult to ssess, but ClMS workers es imate t least 100 Ratels (small armored vehicles mounted with gun and cannons), a 20-tank squadron, a con- iderable amount of artillery, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft . ystems, mortars nd anti-:-tank w'eapons and over 300 armored and non-armored vehicle , including Casspirs. 3. Opposition continues to mount to South Africa's imprisonment of five students in walvis Bay on eh rges of public violence emanating from their involvement in last year- chool boycott in Namibia. 'On Friday, The Namibian r n n editorial calling for the release of the Walvis Bay Five nd urging UN AG to t ke the m tter up urgently with the Admini­ strator General (AG). The editorial pointed out that the AG has pecial responsibility to address the case of'the five, as he recently p rd,oned e -Koevoet members slated to stand trial for murder on the gro nds that they acted in "the heat of battle." ources reportedly are uncertain as to whether calling for the fiv 's release falls within their mandate. -, 4. Following the Constituent ssembly's u'nanimous opposition to the schools ' privatization scheme exposed last week, the Interdenominational Association for Christian Education has ithdrawn its application to lease government schools for the purpose of offering "Christian-based mother-tongue education." Following reports of the privatization plan, Constit ent Assembly Chairman Hage Geingob released a statement stressing that all the Assembly'S parties support p iv te schools, but re opposed to privatization at this stage, specially any such efforts which might prove discriminatory. He emphasized tha in pit of the fact that the present education ystem would continue for while, it should not be construed as p rmitting th continuation of discriminatory practices." He concluded th t l schools should be consid red to be open to all ,children s of J nu ry 1990. These entiments were echoed in a imilar state ent 'ssued by the Council of Churches. 5. In testimony before the Rand Supreme Court this week, Brigadier Floris Mosterd, Commander of the Brixton Murder and Robbery Squad, stated that Calla Botha, form r squad membe~ being held in connection with the deaths of Anton Lubowski and David Webster, was a "handler" for David Ach son, who is charged with the Lubowski killing. By "handler," the Brigadier testified, he meant "a person used for facilitating a murder." 3 st blished a d t in e, Barnard, difficult to substantiate. 1 sourc s, he may b released before Janu ry 10 to be formally ch rged. 6. Th issue of SWAPO det inees took a new turn this t least seven former detainees applied for politic 1 t the W st German Embassy in Pretoria. The ex- detaene s r po dly re afraid for their lives in Namibia. The emb _ssy h rele s no information about the applicants, though their reque t is pparently being considered by the Department of Internal Aff irs in onn. Though a spokesperson for the AG's office reported that other government observer missions have raised cone'erns ov r th detainees' safty, the U. 's. and Canadian miss eons report no applic _tions. Austr,alian and British spokes­ persons say-no details of such applications, if there were any, would be released 0 th P blic. In a sepa,rate but related matter, the Parents' Commi ttee, a controv rsi_l group claiming to represent SWAPO'detainees, nnounc d th t they ill ask the AG to assist in securing the r lease of 300 d t inees, ,allegedly last seen in a submerged prison in south rn Angola in early October. In addition, two court cass ,a9 inst SWAPO calling for the release of or account­ ing for separate list,s of detainees are pending. A third case recently was dropped in recognition of the Namibian court's limited jurisdiction and· its inability to order the release of persons h Id in another country. 7 • Human Rights Pay In an unprecedented show of national u ity, five parties in the constituent ·assembly joined in commemor tion of Old Location Day on the occasion of the 30th nniversary of the Old Location uprising, which left twelve ea,cefully demo str ting civilians dead. SWAPO, DTA, NNF, NPF ,nd UDF stood tog ther on the platform on December 10, Human eghts Day, nd commended the cour ge of the women who-led the 1959 demonstration against the forced removal of Old Location inhabitants to what is no known as the black township of K tutura.
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