10.
High treason case
The Caprivi treason trial is on-going and all the defendants have been
afforded State funded legal aid to mount their defences. During August 2012
and on February 2013, a total of 44 suspects were found not guilty and were
acquitted. Sixty five (65) accused persons are still remaining and facing trial
in the High Court. This case is in its final stages and, the State and the
defense have closed their cases. .
However, the country is still facing some challenges regarding lengthy trials
in general, and the high legal costs which are the most common barrier of
access to justice for most people because they cannot afford to pay private
legal practitioners.
11.
ARTICLE 8: 10 AND 22 -RELIGIOUS AND SOCIO-CULTURAL RIGHTS
The Government has established a Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport
and Culture with a mandate to preserve culture. The Ministry has five
directorates including National Heritage and Cultural Programmes. The main
purpose of the directorate of culture is to identify, develop and promote
heritage and culture as well as the nurturing of national pride and identity.
The directorate has culture offices in all the regions, to promote and preserve
Namibia’s diverse cultures through mutual understanding and tolerance. The
ministry holds annual cultural festivals to promote Namibia’s diverse cultures
of different ethnic groups. The annual cultural festivals competitions rotate in
all the regions and all cultural groups in the country are welcome to
participate and compete for the overall winner. With regard to religious,
Namibia is a secular state in terms of Article 1 of the Namibian Constitution;
the country does not promote any particular religion.
The Government has in terms of the Traditional Authorities Act, Act No. 25 of
2000 recognized an additional 7 traditional authorities since the last report.
These include the following 5 San traditional communities:
- Jul’haon Traditional Authority
- !Kung Traditional Authority
- Hai-//om Traditional Authority
- #Kao-//’aesi Traditional Authority
- !Xoo Traditional Authority
- 31 -