Namibia seeks answers after grave discovery

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http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?s...5620306C183312

Namibia seeks answers after grave discovery

November 16 2005 at 01:58AM

Windhoek - Security forces on Tuesday unearthed a
third mass grave as Namibia tries to get to the bottom
of one of the liberation struggle's darkest chapters.

Sources who were present in the Eenhana area during
the struggle have indicated that up to six mass graves
could be found.

Head of the Namibian police in the Ohangwena region,
Deputy Commissioner Armas Shivute, said the third
grave was unearthed just a few metres from the other
two.

"Namibia is seeking answers from South Africa on the
mass graves, believed to contain remains of Swapo
cadres."

The Namibian government has asked the SA National
Defence Force to shed light on the graves to speed up
identification and bring closure.

Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who visited
Eenhana on Sunday, appealed to former soldiers on both
sides of the liberation struggle to come forward with
information.

The government urged people who may have lost
relatives at the time to help forensic experts
identify the victims.

"There must have been Namibians among those who buried
our people before independence in 1990. I urge all of
them to come forward and give us details about this
mass grave and other sites, nothing will happen to
them, nothing.

"Our government has adopted the policy of national
reconciliation," Pohamba said.

Safety and Security Minister Peter Tsheehama, who also
visited the site, said: "It was total carnage. Seeing
these bones, bones of men and bones of children, has
been very sickening."

He said some of the bones were riddled with bullet
holes. Some of the bones were children's, possibly
children of former Swapo freedom fighters.

Defence Minister Major-General Charles Namholo said
"any help in clearing the question of what exactly
happened would be useful".

When approached by the press, former head of the SADF,
General Constand Viljoen, denied that SA troops buried
Swapo guerrillas in mass graves.

"It is not possible. The discipline was good in the SA
army," said Viljoen, who was SADF chief in the 1970s
and 1980s. - Independent Foreign Service


This article was originally published on page 6 of
Cape Times on November 16, 2005