Mistakes made, Swapo admits
Many Swapo members were accused of spying for the apartheid state and detained, tortured and beaten. In 1989, John Liebenberg was among a group of journalists who were allowed to interview detainees in two detention camps near Lubango, Angola. The first was a camp for women, where more than 100 were held. One had a baby in her arms, the result of being raped by one of the camp guards. Under the silent gaze of Swapo leaders such as Andimba Toivo ya Toivo they told stories of interrogation so harsh they had feared for their lives.
In the men’s camp, a few kilometres away, journalists were told about hundreds who had been killed or maimed. A spokesman for the group said that for 10 years detainees had been forced to incriminate others as apartheid spies. “We have suffered harassment and torture to cow us into submission.” They had been held in dungeons with little food and tortured. The Swapo leadership said they wanted the truth to come out and admitted they had made mistakes. Swapo administrative secretary Moses Garoeb said it had been fighting a war of survival. “Our camps have been bombed and many innocent lives have been lost. Not only in camps but also while on operations, as a result of the activities of South African agents.”