Caprivi emergency to be lifted

The 24-day-old state of emergency in the Caprivi Strip is to be lifted at midnight on Wednesday, a Namibian Defence Force (NDF) spokesman confirmed to IRIN. "The state of emergency will be lifted as the situation in the Caprivi has stabilised," the spokesman said, adding, however, that the NDF will not scale down its presence in the embattled region. "The security forces will continue to monitor the situation in the region," the spokesman said. However, the Nambian Society for Human Rights (NSHR) suggested that there are indications that the NDF presence in the Caprivi will actually be increased. Zen Mnakapa told IRIN: "The situation in the Caprivi will change a bit with the lifting of the emergency. The security forces will now have to produce warrants when they search people's houses." Mnakapa added, however, that there is no reason to hope that the human rights situation will improve. "We are adopting a wait-and see attitude, but we suspect that the beatings and arrests of Caprivians will continue." The emergency was declared by Namibia's president Sam Nujoma after an armed attack on government installations in Katima Mulilo by a group of suspected separatists of the Caprivi Liberation Army on 2 August. The attack was the first of its kind in the country since Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990. The separatists, reportedly led by exiled politician Mishake Muyongo, are demanding an independent homeland for the Caprivi Strip that juts out of northeast Namibia and shares borders with Botswana, Zambia, Angola and Zimbabwe. At least 14 people were killed during the fighting between the separatist rebels, among them at least six members of the Namibian security forces. The NSHR claims that over 300 Caprivians were arrested during the state of emergency and many of those arrested were reportedly badly assaulted in the course of their arrests while others suffered brutal torture while held in detention.