Caprivi doctor shot

Namibian security forces enforcing a state of emergency in the northeast Caprivi Strip following a separatist attack two weeks ago shot and killed a medical doctor on his way to an emergency at the state hospital in the district capital, Katima Mulilo.

The National Society for Human Right (NSHR) in Namibia told IRIN on Wednesday that Dr Lucas Ilonga was a member of a medial team sent to the area after volunteer doctors departed in the wake of the 2 August attack.

The NSHR said that it "condemns in the strongest terms the reign of terror as well as the erratic behaviour of the so-called security forces enforcing President Sam Nujoma's state of emergency in the Caprivi strip." It added that the shooting was "morally and legally reprehensible," and that it required "universal condemnation."

Meanwhile, Namibian Defence Force (NDF) Chief Of Staff, Major General Martin Shalli told a media briefing in Windhoek on Tuesday that Ilonga had been stopped by security forces, but ran in the direction of the hospital when he was asked for identification.

"They [the security forces] did fire warning shots, " he said. Shalli was quoted as saying by 'The Namibian' newspaper. He was also quoted as saying that "they were not shooting at a doctor, they were shooting at a stranger who was violating a curfew whom they thought to be a rebel."

According to news reports Shalli revealed that a case of murder was being investigated, but that if the investigation proved that the security officers acted according to the guidelines, no further action would be taken.

Namibian President Sam Nujoma, declared a state of emergency shortly after the separatist attack, which saw 14 people killed. Last week the government admitted that there had been human rights abuses but said that most had occurred in the first few days "when emotions were running high."