Namibia
Namibian Caprivi separatists demand representation

Misanet.com / IRIN, 14 November - International Bar Association (IBA) president Dianna Kempe may soon visit Namibia to raise the organisation's concerns over 128 men facing high treason charges, possibly without legal representation.

Joanna Salsbury, the IBA's human rights institute lawyer, confirmed to IRIN on Tuesday that the organisation had written to the Namibian authorities listing their concerns over the men's' trial, set to begin next February. 

- The IBA is thinking of sending its president to raise our concerns face-to-face because that's how seriously we take this problem and how concerned we are that there will not be a fair trial if these defendants are not represented, she said.

Namibian Justice Minister Ngarikutuke Tjiriange recently urged national and international human rights organisations and the Law Society to help the suspects, saying that the government simply did not have the money to provide them with legal representation. The call raised fears that the trial would go ahead without the men being represented.

Salsbury said that in terms of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, an obligation was placed on the state to ensure everyone was entitled to full equality, and a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal. 

In addition, she said: "The International Covenance on Civil and Political Rights, to which Namibia is a signatory, says in article 14 that the defendant standing trial has the right to have legal assistance assigned to him in any case where the interest of justice so requires it, and without payment by him in any such case."

While the IBA did not have the resources to assist with the representation of the men, Salsbury said, it was concerned that the trial could go ahead in February without the men having access to representation. 

- It is our view that it would have been prudent for the government to have taken account of the need for legal aid for these defendants, especially given the fact that they have been detained for over two years and the government has been aware that the trial is forthcoming, she said.

Meanwhile, the Namibian reported on Tuesday that the men had applied to the High Court for an order to halt the prosecution against them if they remain without representation.

The 128, led by former National Assembly member Geoffrey Mwilima, the newspaper said, filed a semi-urgent application against the government, the Director of Legal Aid and the Prosecutor General on 25 October. 

According to the report, the group has asked the court:

• to order the Legal Aid Director to provide them with State-funded defence lawyers
• to order that the criminal proceedings against them may not go ahead until they have legal representation, and
• to strike down as unconstitutional those parts of the Legal Aid Act which last year took away High Court judges' authority to direct that suspects be provided with legal aid in cases where they thought a person could not stand trial without assistance from a lawyer.

The Law Society of Namibia was expected to hold an executive meeting on Tuesday night, and a full board meeting later this month, to discuss the issue, Law Society President Raymond Heathcote was quoted as saying in the newspaper.

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