Caprivi suspects face extradition

Fourteen Caprivi secessionists who fled to Botswana in August 1998 are to appear in court next week for hearings on their extradition to Namibia, where they are wanted on charges including treason, murder and illegal possession of arms and ammunition. ‘The Namibian’ newspaper reported on Friday that the extradition request was made by the Namibian government two weeks ago. It relates to the outbreak of secessionist violence in Namibia’s northeastern Caprivi Strip in August 1998, when members of the Caprivi Liberation Army attacked government installations in the Strip’s capital, Katima Mulilo. The raid left 14 people dead, among them four members of Namibia’s security forces. Mengesha Kebede, UNHCR representative in South Africa, told IRIN the suspected secessionists, on their arrival in Botswana in 1998, admitted to a joint Botswana government and UNHCR eligibility committee that they were involved in the Katima Mulilo attack. “The committee had recommended that they be refused refugee status as they had committed crimes in their country,” Kebede said. He that the refugee conventions do not cover people who have committed crimes in the countries from where they are fleeing. He added that the 14 had been kept in protective custody in Botswana pending the outcome of their extradition hearings.