Soldiers accused of torture off the hook

Soldiers from the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) accused of torturing people in the Kavongo region have been given a warning but will escape criminal charges, ‘The Namibian’ said on Monday. NDF legal head Colonel Veikko Kavungo confirmed that 18 of the 21 soldiers were found guilty of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, the report said. The soldiers poured hot water on seven people and beat them so severely they were admitted to hospital. The newspaper added that a court martial sentenced the 18 soldiers to two years’ imprisonment each, but the sentence was suspended on condition that the troops do not commit the same offences in the next two years.

Kavungo said the other soldiers could not be tried in court as they had been on patrol in Angola. All of the accused soldiers are to remain in the army. The case against the soldiers stems from an incident on 21 August at Sivara, 45 km west of Rundu, in which a soldier was shot with a bow and arrow and hacked to death after he tried to force his way into homesteads at night and threatened to use a hand grenade.