Government lawyers rebuked for delays in Caprivi torture caseFriday, June 13, 2008
Werner Menges
The NamibianGovernment lawyers who last week asked for a postponement of a trial on three civil claims against the Minister of Home Affairs over the alleged torture of the LAC's clients in the Caprivi high treason received the postponement that they wanted, but also some criticism, in a ruling given in the High Court yesterday.
The seven-year-old civil claims in which Caprivi high treason suspects Rex Kapanga, John Kabotana and Ernest Lolisa are suing the Minister for a total of N$1,11 million had been set to be the first such lawsuits from Caprivi high treason suspects to actually go on trial in the High Court.
Kapanga, Kabotana and Lolisa are suing the Minister, who used to be responsible for the Namibian Police, for damages as a result of alleged unlawful arrest and detention, assaults and torture at the hands of members of the Namibian Police, and failure to provide them with medical treatment.
Their cases had been scheduled to be heard in the High Court from Tuesday last week.
However, on the morning that the trial was supposed to start, an application in which Government Attorney Chipo Machaka asked for a postponement of the trial was filed with the court.
In an affidavit motivating the request for a postponement, Machaka explained that the legal counsel that her office wanted to represent the Minister in the trial, George Coleman, was not available last week.
The date for the hearing of the three claims had been set in February already.
According to Machaka, her office had tried to convince lawyers at the Legal Assistance Centre who are representing the plaintiffs in these three cases and another 14 similar claims that had been set down on the High Court roll for hearings in late May and June, to have all 17 cases consolidated into one hearing.
By May 28 the LAC's Toni Hancox finally informed Coleman that the LAC's view was that it would not be viable to consolidate all 17 cases into one hearing.
Machaka then started taking steps to apply for a postponement of the three cases that were scheduled to be heard last week, the court was informed.
Acting Judge Manyarara levelled some criticism against Government's lawyers over their failure to apply for a postponement earlier than they did.
He commented: "It was extreme remissness on the part of the Government Attorney's office to wait until the date of the trial to apply for a postponement."
An argument from Albert Strydom, who applied for the postponement on behalf of the Minister, that the three plaintiffs would not be prejudiced if their claims went on trial later, as they are in any event still kept in custody as accused persons in the main Caprivi high treason trial, was "ill-conceived", Acting Judge Manyarara also commented.
LAC lawyer Lynita Conradie's arguments against the application for a postponement, as summarised by Acting Judge Manyarara, were that this request was merely an admission that the Minister's lawyers "have done little to prepare for trial".
He did not hear Strydom seriously disputing the force of Conradie's argument, Acting Judge Manyarara commented.
Strydom has "advisedly confined" his arguments to "the undeniable fact that the Caprivi cases are high-profile cases" and that all the parties to the cases should as a result be given every opportunity to prepare adequately for the trial on these matters, he further noted.
"Viewed in that light, postponement is inevitable," Acting Judge Manyarara stated.
He postponed the trial to a date to be arranged with the High Court Registrar, and ordered the Minister to pay the three plaintiffs' wasted costs on the scale as between attorney and clients - a scale of costs that is usually an indication of a court's displeasure with the party being ordered to pay the costs.
It is understood that the LAC and the Office of the Government Attorney have already agreed that the claims of Kapanga, Kabotana and Lifasi would now be consolidated to be heard together with three similar claims that had been supposed to be heard in the High Court this week.
In those three cases, another three accused persons in the treason trial, Roster Lukato, Frederick Lutuhezi and John Lubilo, are suing the Minister of Home Affairs for a combined N$710 000 for alleged unlawful arrest and detention, assaults and torture in Police custody, and being denied medical assistance.
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