Namibia's "SHOOT ON SIGHT" Policy

Since September 1994, Namibia's de facto State of Emergency along its north-eastern border with Angola has resulted in many hundreds of persons killed, or missing and presumed dead. At that time, Namibia tightly closed its border along Angola's Cuando-Cubango province, a key UNITA stronghold.

But now, Angola's long civil war has formally ended. UNITA and the MPLA are in the process of charting a compromise coalition government for Angola's future. Yet the Namibian government has refused to reopen its north-eastern border and has unnecessarily prolonged the suffering of the people living in south-eastern Angola. Even humanitarian relief coming through Namibia has been prevented from reaching those parts of Angola controlled by the anti-Communist UNITA movement.

On November 29, 1994, Namibian President Sam Nujoma, without any authority derived from the Namibian constitution, ordered Namibian police and military to “shoot on sight” anyone attempting to cross the Kavango River “illegally”. The Presidential decree to “shoot on sight” is in violation of the Namibian constitution which stipulates in Article 6 that: “The right to life shall be respected and protected . . . No executions shall take place in Namibia.” Also the President, by his use of an executive order, by-passed the lawful constitutional mechanisms for declaring a state of emergency. And it should also be noted that there were no specific officially-designated border crossing posts along the river.

In December 1994, the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) ambushed missionaries from Frontline Fellowship who were re-entering Namibia from south-eastern Angola. By the grace of God, despite the large amount of ammunition expended, none of the missionaries were injured. They had also already successfully delivered a large shipment of Bibles and medicines to Southern Angola. Our missionaries were eventually released by the police, after some unscheduled opportunities for prison ministry.

The Pretext

On September 27, 1994 three Namibian men, including Kavango businessman F. Dikuwa, were shot dead by unknown gunmen and a woman was raped in a mysterious attack blamed on “UNITA bandits”. Two days later, and in response to this single event, Namibian President Sam Nujoma declared on national television, that the attack was “a threat to Namibia's stability”. He then declared the eastern Angolan/Namibian border closed, unilaterally imposing a de facto State of Emergency.
Members of the NDF and police were deployed in the area to enforce the closure.

Many have questioned why the Namibian government reacted so strongly to this single incident. Especially considering that, since Namibian independence, numerous incidents of abductions, robbery, rape, torture and murder have also taken place along Namibia's north-western border (with MPLA controlled Angola). Yet no such suspension of movement was made there.

Atrocities Committed

Supposedly the border closure was a security measure by the government, to protect residents from “acts of banditry”. However the de facto State of Emergency has become a source of atrocities against both Namibian and Angolan civilians. Orders to shoot at any persons crossing the border makes a mockery of the original claims by the Namibian government that the suspension of border crossing was aimed at protecting human lives and property!

On Sunday January 29, 1995, three young women were attempting to cross the Kavango River in order to visit relatives at Calai in Angola. As they were about to cross the river, they were approached by 6 men thought to be soldiers. Panic-stricken, the young women ran for the river. Two of them managed to cross safely into Angola. The third, Gloria Chilombo, was caught by the soldiers. After dragging her back onto Namibian soil they took turns raping her. She screamed frantically and cried for help as her rapists strangled her. After Gloria lost consciousness, the soldiers supposed that she was dead and threw her into the river. But she regained consciousness in the water, so the soldiers finished her off by slitting her throat and throwing her lifeless body back into the river.

On March 27, 1995 four men were returning from Calai where they had been visiting relatives. They were paddling their dugout canoe across the Kavango River when two of them were shot dead. One of the victims was Antoniao Jose Chiyengo, a catechist of a local church which ministered on both sides of the river.

These are just two of the many eyewitness testimonies documented by the Windhoek-based National Society of Human Rights (NSHR).

Since President Sam Nujoma issued his “shoot on sight” orders, the bodies of many who were shot dead on the river were left there until they decomposed. Bodies were also frequently seen floating in the river, some having decayed beyond recognition. As of October 1996, 376 persons had been documented killed, or missing and presumed dead. Yet no member of the NDF or police had been prosecuted or convicted for any of these crimes.

Besides the immediate threat to life, the closure of the border resulted in immeasurable suffering. Prior to the border closure Angolans residing in the vicinity of the Kavango River received much of their basic food and most, if not all, of their medical treatment from across the river in Namibia. Since the border closure, many women and children have died from hunger and disease.

Smokescreen

The NSHR asserts that the real motive behind the indefinite border closure is to prevent humanitarian relief assistance from reaching the civilian population in the UNITA-controlled Cuando-Cubango province just north of the Kavango River.
Upon investigation the September 27th shooting turned out to be quite different from the initial reports. The late Mr. Dikuwa was a notable sympathiser of UNITA and an ardent supporter of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), Namibia's main parliamentary opposition to the SWAPO government. Mr. Dikuwa’s widow dismissed government claims that UNITA was responsible for the murder of her husband.

The people of south-eastern Angola have endured great hardships on account of the border closure. Many even within the church have been greatly discouraged because of the Namibian blockade. Now the only Christian visitors from across the border are the missionaries of Frontline Fellowship. The only Bibles and medicines they have received have had to be smuggled in – in defiance of the blockade.

Pray for these Angolans struggling to survive this time of need.

Contact the Namibian Embassy nearest you and call upon their government to immediately rescind its “shoot on sight” policy along the Kavango River and to reopen it's north-eastern border with Angola.

Rob

For more detailed reports concerning this situation contact the National Society of Human Rights, P.O. Box 23592, Windhoek Namibia.