Accused Caprivi secessionist dies

Alleged Caprivi secessionist Steven Mamili died in a Windhoek hospital at the weekend after apparently collapsing at Grootfontein prison where he had been in detention since
August last year, an official of the Namibian Society for Human Rights (NSHR) confirmed to IRIN on Thursday.

Mamili, 41, a former talk show host for the Namibian Broadcasting
Corporation, was among the first group of about 100 political refugees from the northeastern Caprivi Strip who crossed into Botswana at the end of 1998. They claimed they feared for their lives because of their association with the secessionist movement led by Mishake Muyongo and Chief Boniface Mamili.

Shortly after the rebel Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA) launched a dawn raid on the Caprivi capital of Katima Mulilo in August last year, Mamili and five others were arrested in Zambia after absconding from Botswana. They were believed to have been planning CLA operations. They were subsequently
extradited to Namibia, where they were detained.

Zen Mnakapa of NSHR said that Mamili's relatives had told the rights group that he had collapsed in Grootfontein prison two days before he died. He added that the prison authorities said that Mamili had suffered double pneumonia.

Mnakapa said the prison authorities had informed Mamili's wife that before he was transferred to Windhoek, an already sickly Mamili had fallen and broken some of his teeth while reportedly on his way to a bathroom in the Grootfontein Prison.

Mamili and the other five were facing treason charges and last appeared in a Grootfontein court in January before their case was postponed to later this year. At this appearance, Mamili reportedly told the court: "We, the Caprivians who are here, strongly believe that Caprivi must be independent."

Mnakapa told IRIN that NSHR believes prison conditions in Namibia leave much to be desired: "Prisoners, whether convicted or awaiting trial, are refused proper medical care and conditions under which they are held are in violation of internationally-accepted standards."