Second Caprivi treason trial starts

The Namibian government may have hoped for a quick trial of the 12 alleged Caprivi separatists charged with treason, which began this week in the capital, Windhoek. Instead, the state found itself facing allegations of human rights violations and unlawful arrest. It also has to prove whether the court has the right to prosecute 11 of the accused, who claim to have been unlawfully arrested. The 12 are the second group of alleged secessionists facing charges of high treason after disturbances in eastern Caprivi in 1998/99, which the government alleges were attempts to secede the barren, semi-arid region. The first group of 120 Caprivians is currently appearing before the High Court in Grootfontein, 430 km north of Windhoek, in a case that began in October 2003. They allegedly belonged to the Caprivi Liberation Army, which attacked government installations in a dawn raid on the regional capital, Katima Mulilo, leaving 12 people dead in August 1999. In separate affidavits 10 of the second group of 12 accused claimed before acting Judge John Manyarara that they had been bona fide refugees in the Dukwe refugee camp in central Botswana until they were "forcibly and unlawfully arrested" and handed over to the Namibian police. The 11th accused, John Muzila Tembwe, told the court in his affidavit that the Botswana authorities had not afforded him a fair trial to establish his refugee status, but had handed him over to the Namibian authorities "without any legal process whatsoever". Frederick Ntambilwa, the 12th accused, is not challenging the court's jurisdiction as he was arrested inside Namibia. In the first 10 affidavits, made available to IRIN, the accused claim that they crossed into Botswana illegally between 1998 and 2001 to escape from "persistent harassment" by members of the Namibian police and defence force. They were arrested between September 2002 and December 2003 by Botswana authorities and handed over to the Namibian police. "The apprehension and abduction from Botswana, the transportation to Namibia and the subsequent arrest and detention in Namibia is in breach of international law, and wrongful and unlawful," read the affidavits. The authorities argue that the suspects were deported from Botswana after violating their asylum conditions and the UN Convention on the status of refugees by returning to Namibia.