ICRC delegation visits Caprivi

A delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) is visiting detainees held by the Namibian authorities in the northeast Caprivi Strip following a separatist attack in the regional capital of Katima Mulilo three weeks ago. Juan Martinez, press officer for Africa at ICRC headquarters in Geneva, told IRIN on Monday that the delegation had started their visit on 19 August. "The delegation has been given the assurance that they will be able to visit all the detainees who were involved in the Caprivi incident," he said. The delegation also planned to visit detainees held in the town of Grootfontein, some 400 km southwest of Caprivi. Martinez said that the ICRC delegation was made up of three members including a "detention" doctor specialised in assessing such cases. Martinez said that the visit was being conducted according to the ICRC modalities: "This means that the delegation would want to visit all parts of the prisons because it is their first visit. They would also want to meet with those held alone, without any witnesses." The 2 August attack by Caprivi separatists was the first its of kind since Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990. The attack claimed 14 lives. The government closed the borders with Angola, Zambia and Botswana and declared a state of emergency in Caprivi under which more than 200 people were arrested, according to media reports and human rights activists. Last week, IRIN quoted Razia Kauria, as an ICRC spokesman in Windhoek, saying access was being sought to those held. In fact, she is the head of the Namibian Red Cross. Meanwhile, the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) has expressed "concern and alarm" at reports of human rights abuses, killings and attacks on Namibians in the Caprivi region, 'The Namibian ' reported on Monday. The CCN, which represents all the country's mainstream churches, said that it had sent a "high-level" delegation to the area to meet with government officials. The newspaper quoted the CCN as saying: "While we appreciate the necessity for a state of emergency to have been declared, we must express our total rejection and abhorrence of the equally savage and brutal reactions which have been experienced by certain citizens at the hands of the Namibian Government's security force."