Swiss woman returns cultural artefact
Judge steps down in N$10m prison torture suit
Windhoek High Court Judge Marlene Tommasi has stepped down from the matter in which a murder convict serving life imprisonment for killing his former girlfriend by slitting her throat, is suing the Namibia Correctional Service (NCS) for N$10 million for alleged torture.
Andre Friedel Castro Dausab (42), filed a recusal application against Tommasi, citing that the court failed to protect his right to a fair trial when it caused various delays and failed in assisting him to obtain a laptop, USB and internet in preparation for his trial.
He claimed the court’s stance that the use of a computer is a privilege for an inmate was unwarranted when the court is well-aware that he needs to prepare for his case. He further claimed he felt unsafe in court, and was concerned that an unjust or uninformed adjudication would take place if Tommasi were to continue presiding over the matter.
Last week, before recusing herself from the matter, Tommasi indicated that she understood that the remarks could have been perceived as the court prejudging what facilities Dausab ought to be given to prepare for his defence to an exception.
Thus, in the best interest of justice, the matter should be referred to the chief registrar so it may be allocated to another judge.
Dausab is serving a life sentence after he was convicted of killing his former girlfriend Gofaone Motlamme (33), by stabbing her 27 times and slitting her throat with a knife.
Motlamme, a trainee pastor at the United Lutheran Theological Paulinum College in Pioneerspark Extension 1 then, was killed on 22 February 2014.
In his suit, Dausab is accusing the NCS of unlawfully removing personal data from his confiscated laptop, thereby causing him “an insurmountable loss with great financial and sentimental value”.
He is further accusing the NCS of subjecting him to torture for intentionally prohibiting him access to his personal computer or any ICT devices, thus inflicting “further damage to his hopes and dreams for a better life”.
“The defendant (NCS) has been subjecting the plaintiff to unreasonable and unlawful restrictive measures, which have severely and/or completely undermined his rights and freedom since 5 April 2018,” he claimed in his handwritten particulars of claim.
He said these infringements and abolishment of rights and freedom caused needless delays, which have been and are damaging to the intended processes of his criminal appeal and other matters. This, he said, is detrimental to the interest of justice.
According to Dausab, he has been coerced and expected not to need, want, wish, hope, plea, request or ask for anything beyond the authority’s will and convenience.
He further said that he is coerced to think that he is rightless and no longer a part of society; that he should forget whatsoever he knew, felt, loved and had any sort of attachments to; and should regard himself as nothing, but a thing of no value “dwelling silently and aimlessly in space and time, thus buried alive”.
He went on to say the ill-treatment he received has now resulted in a severely scarred and broken family unit, the loss of essential properties, position and future earnings, his loved ones being subjected to life-threatening poverty, and the promise of more from uncertain future calamities. He further claims that he suffers from constant worry and fear, sleeplessness and depression, and is thus subjected to psychological and/or emotional torture.
According to court records, the only explanation that was provided for the illtreatment was that he must understand he is in prison, and must be punished.
He is now asking the High Court to award him monetary relief to the tune of N$10 million as compensation.
This is the second lawsuit he brought against the NCS. In his first lawsuit, he asked that his laptop be returned to him, and compensation of N$1 000 for each day from 5 March 2018 for pain and suffering caused by the NCS.
It was struck from the high court’s roll.
WALVIS BAY – A Swiss woman, who was in possession of an artefact taken during the Ovaherero-Nama genocide, has returned the piece to Namibia. The woman, who wants to stay anonymous, donated the headgear that was part of her family’s private collection to the Swakopmund Genocide Museum run by activist Laidlow Peringanda.
This headpiece is a three-pointed leather cap with a veil of animal skin rolled up, called ekori locally. Married women wore it on special occasions.
German colonial settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Ovaherero and Nama people in 190408, a massacre labelled the first genocide of the 20th century by historians.
The artefact is one of the many which were taken from Namibia during that time by the Germans.
The piece - after three months of planning and logistics - arrived earlier this week in Swakopmund, with Peringanda spending around N$8 000 to have it back home.
According to the Swiss woman, the piece has been in her family’s private art collection for years, and she felt compelled to return it to the rightful owners, rather than giving it to the government.
Peringanda told New Era this week the ekori was worn by Ovaherero women before colonialism as a hairpiece, a sacred cultural artefact.
According to him, the women, in the name of Christianity, were forced by the German missionaries to abandon their traditional attire by replacing them with long skirts (Victorian dresses).
“The Ekori was also replaced by a head scarf made from fabric called Otjikaiva. The two lateral points represent cattle horns,” he said.
Peringanda also indicated that he is in consultation with several other people who have Namibian artefacts in their possession.
“Most of the people are willing to return them, but are afraid of being held accountable for the atrocities committed by their forefathers,” he added. They also do not want to hand them over to government due to the long process, but want to directly hand it over to the families affected by the genocide.
He said hundreds of artefacts belonging to Africans are still being exhibited around the world. He, along with other activists, will be establishing an organisation to advocate for the return of such sacred items to their rightful owners.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - Articles 11 and 12 - specifies that indigenous peoples can demand the return of their artefacts as well as the right to restitution of cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their free and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs, including the repatriation of human remains.