allAfrica.com: Namibia: O'Linn Commission Report Released

THE report of the O'Linn Commission of Enquiry into legislation for the more effective combating of crime in Namibia has finally been made public, more than ten and a half years after it was first submitted to then President Sam Nujoma.

The report of the Commission of Enquiry, chaired by then Judge Bryan O'Linn in 1996 and 1997 and had the task of considering how the law could be changed and implemented to better fight crime in Namibia, was tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The then Judge O'Linn submitted the report to the then President Nujoma in August 1997, together with an appeal that it should be released for publication "as soon as possible".

"As soon as possible" turned out to be more than ten years and seven months later.

O'Linn, who has since retired as a High Court Judge and Supreme Court Acting Judge of Appeal, informed Nujoma in a covering letter accompanying his report that he had placed "great emphasis on a rededication to the Rule of Law as a prerequisite for making Namibian democracy more meaningful and to counteract the growing culture of lawlessness".

He motivated his appeal for the report to be released without delay by stating to the President that the report "will hopefully convince the people of Namibia that an honest and vigorous effort has indeed been made to facilitate action on the protection of the law-abiding citizens against the onslaught of criminals", that there was "good reason to believe that the report will also lead the way for some other African countries and could influence developments there", and that it "may also be a sign to potential investors and their governments that Namibia is determined to take realistic action to ensure a peaceful and relatively crime-free society".

O'Linn added: "The Namibian people have the right to know the nature of the Commission's work and of the many proposals made in the final report."

In his letter to the President, O'Linn also stated: "Many of the Commission's proposals constitute a radical departure from laws and practices of the past.

Some of these proposals will probably meet with strong resistance from some interest groups and pressure groups but I believe that on the whole, the majority of right-thinking Namibians will welcome the report and the proposals contained therein."

As it turned out, with the public up to now not knowing what was stated in the report, this predicted welcome was not to be.

This much was expected all along by some of the people who testified in the public hearings that the Commission held countrywide during 1996 and 1997, O'Linn indicated in the report: "Some Namibians have again expressed the strong view that although they believe that this Commission will execute its mandate with due diligence, it will be a waste of money, time and energy because the government will once again bypass it or allow the report to gather dust in some obscure place outside the reach of the public eye."

The report runs to 1 092 pages, of which the bulk consists of annexures to the 70-page main part of the report.

One of the main themes of the report is an emphasis that O'Linn placed on the rights of victims of crime and law-abiding citizens of Namibia, as opposed to the rights that people accused of crimes were afforded under Namibia's laws.

CRITICISM While recommending that a "multi-faceted approach to combating crime" was needed in Namibia and that especially corruption, the abuse of power and racial discrimination had to be fought by Government, O'Linn devoted a key part of his report to a recommendation that Government and the people of Namibia had to rededicate themselves to upholding the rule of law.

On this score, he also directed some criticism in the direction of Government, the ruling party, Swapo, and some trade unions.

O'Linn stated that he regretted that he had to say that some principles of the law - specifically protecting the safety and property of all the country's people and forbidding violent and threatening public behaviour - "were not always implemented by the Government and organs of Government since Independence".

Stated O'Linn: "If these principles were scrupulously adhered to by the Government and organs of Government since Independence, some of the lawlessness now prevailing in Namibia would not have developed and most Namibians would not have become disillusioned and frustrated.

The administration of justice would not have fallen into disrepute to the extent that it did."

Referring to threats by trade unions against the judiciary and refusals to obey court orders that had gone unpunished, he stated: "The message inherent in the aforesaid activities and aberrations, unfortunately was that everything goes, provided that you are part of a majority or provided you control or belong to a political power base of the government.

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