patth@ccnysci.UUCP (Patt Haring) (09/04/89)
NAM:1SEPT89/ CHURCHES SEEK TO HEAL SWAPO DETAINEES ISSUE The Council of Churches in Namibia have started a negotiating process between ex-detainees and Swapo in the hope of arriving at reconciliation. In a press statement issued this week, the CCN executive committee said that it was "totally opposed to the abuse of human rights by whoever and for whatever reasons", reports the Namibia Communications Centre. Noting that in the "costly loss" of lives in the cause for liberation "many of the victims of this vicious cycle of wars were innocent", the CCN said the time "has now come for us all to unite to bring about national healing, reconciliation and unity". Continuing testimony by those formerly detained by Swapo under allegations of being South African spies has dampened enthusiasm for the liberation movement in many quarters. The Johannesburg-based Weekly Mail reports that the wife of Swapo president Sam Nujoma was herself detained by the movement for some months as a spy. Other ex-detainees have reported repeated beatings and electric shock torture at the hands of Swapo security forces, headed by Solomon Hawala. Die Republikein, a right-wing Windhoek newspaper, reports this week that one of the best known of last year's student protesters, Jonathan Hendricks, was detained by Swapo in Angola after spending three months in South Africa's jails in Namibia. Contacts in Katutura confirm that Hendricks, known to his student comrades as Agab, was detained by Swapo in Angola and has not yet returned. CCN executive committee members met separately with the ex- detainees and Swapo leadership last week in closed sessions. Their interim statement notes the "sensitivity of the negotiations", and asks for "all people of goodwill to pray with us and for us as we seek to effect a lasting reconciliation". --- Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=- -- Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-