Inge Brinkman

Ways of Death: Accounts of Terror from Angolan Refugees in Namibia

Abstract In their accounts of the war in Angola, refugees from south-eastern Angola who now live in Rundu (Namibia) draw a distinction between warfare in the past and the events that happened in their region of origin after Angolan independence in 1975. Although they process their experiences through recounting history, these refugees maintain that the incidence of torture, mutilation and massive killing after 1975 has no precedent in the areas history and forms an entirely new development. This article investigates the reasons for this posited modernity of killing, torture and mutilation. The placement of the recent events outside local history is shown to represent an expression of outrage, anger and indignation at the armys treatment of the civilian population during the recent phase of the war. The outrage not only concerns the scale of the killing, torture and mutilation but is also linked with the issue of agency. The informants accuse UNITA army leaders in particular of wanton disregard for the lives and livelihood of their followers. They furthermore maintain that UNITA ordered ordinary soldiers to take part in killings which released powers the soldiers were unable to handle. Résumé Dans leurs témoignages sur la guerre en Angola, les réfugiés du Sud-Est de l’Angola qui vivent aujourd’hui à Rundu (Namibie) mettent en contraste les guerres du passé et les événements survenus dans leur région d’origine après l’indépendance de l’Angola en 1975. Bien qu’ils fassent référence à l’histoire lorsqu’ils relatent leurs expériences, ces réfugiés soutiennent que les actes de torture, de mutilation et de massacre après 1975 sont sans précédent dans l’histoire de la région et constituent un phénomène entièrement nouveau. Cet article examine les raisons de la modernité des meurtres, tortures et mutilations qui est avancée. Le fait de placer les événements récents en dehors de l’histoire semble représenter une expression d’indignation et de colère face à la manière dont l’armée a traité la population civile au cours de la phase récente de la guerre. Cette indignation ne conceme pas seulement l’ampleur des meurtres, tortures et mutilations, elle est aussi liée à Faction menée. Les informateurs accusent les responsables militaires de l’UNITA en particulier de ne faire aucun cas de la vie et des moyens d’existence de leurs partisans. Ils soutiennent par ailleurs que l’UNITA a ordonné à de simples soldats de participer aux massacres, leur donnant ainsi des pouvoirs qu’ils étaient incapables de maîtriser.

War, Witches and Traitors: Cases From the MPLA's Eastern Front in Angola (1966-1975)

Accusations, trials and executions of witches and sell-outs frequently occurred at the MPLAs Eastern Front in Angola (1966-75). These events do not fit the general self-portrayal of the MPLA as a socialist, secular movement that was supported by the Angolan population without recourse to force. The people interviewed, mostly rural civilians from south-east Angola who lived under MPLA control, suggested many links between treason and witchcraft, yet at the same time differentiated between these accusations. Witchcraft cases were often initiated by civilian families and the accused were mostly people who had a long-standing reputation of being a witch. While the MPLA leadership was often suspicious of the accusations of witchcraft, many civilians regarded the trials of witches as more legitimate than those of treason. Civilians held that the accusation of treason was often used by the guerrillas to get rid of political or personal rivals and/or to control the population. The accusations showed few patterns and cannot be interpreted as deliberate attempts to overcome structural forms of domination, of chiefs over followers, men over women or old over young.

Language, Names, and War: The Case of Angola

Abstract: This article shows the links between naming practices and war. The focus is on MPLA war names used during the Angolan struggle for independence. These names are framed in the wider context of the relations between language and war. In many African contexts, names are not singular and fixed, but may change with every personal transformation. Entering the life of a soldier constitutes just such a drastic change. The article shows that through war names, a kaleidoscope of issues may be addressed, including the relations between language, rank, and power, personal history and popular culture, spirit possession and resurrection, self-description and labeling, writing and legitimacy, and secrecy and identity.

Research practice in connections: travels and methods

In the edited volume Les discourses de voyages, Romuald Fonkoua (1998: 5–10) introduces travel literature, with exploration traveling as the center of social analysis. He refers to the fascination surrounding travel and the relationship between traveling and discovery. This perspective is similar to that of travelers at the turn of the twentieth century who set off to discover the world, to experience things that were unknown and new to them. Fonkoua adds another perspective to the discoverer, namely, the writertraveler (le romancier). It is, in the end, travel itself that forms the basis of the writing by the ethnographer and the novelist. Obviously, as Fonkoua points out, discoveries and travel writing are also constructed by people “in the other world” and in this sense travel is always about interaction. The construction of the world in those days was largely inspired by travel and journeys and we are now taking up this notion of “travel as discovery” and extrapolating it to our own constructions of the world.

‘Mobile phone communication in the mobile margins of Africa : The `communication revolution' evaluated from below’

By now the mobile phone has become an everyday device on the African continent. Even Africans who do not possess a handset themselves are familiar with its existence and may refer to mobile telephony in their daily conversations. Yet it was only in the 1990s that the first African cities acquired mobile phone connections, and only about ten years later that mobile telephony became possible in many rural areas.

Landscape and Nostalgia

In the 1970s the land along the Kavango River in Northern Namibia was entirely cleared of its inhabitants. The people of Mangarangandja and Sarasungu, east of the small town of Rundu, were all taken to Kaisosi and Kehemu, two locations that later grew into sprawling communities. Quite a few of those removed were immigrants from southeast Angola in the region collectively known as ‘Nyemba’. This chapter deals with the ways in which Angolan immigrants remember their home country, their former Namibian home near the river, and their assessment of the landscape in their current abode. It is argued that it is impossible to assume landscape as being outside of politics, culture, and history. Instead, it is proposed to view landscape as a feature firmly embedded in the context in which it is spoken about.

Masses in Flight: The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement

Since the end of the Cold War, increasing numbers of people have been forced to leave their homes as a result of armed conflict, internal strife, and systematic violations of human rights. Whereas refugees crossing national borders benefit from an established system of international protection and assistance, those who are displaced internally suffer from an absence of legal or institutional bases for their protection and assistance from the international community. This book analyzes the causes and consequences of displacement, including its devastating impact both within and beyond the borders of affected countries. It sets forth strategies for preventing displacement, a special legal framework tailored to the needs of the displaced, more effective institutional arrangements at the national, regional, and international levels, and increased capacities to address the protection, human rights, and reintegration and development needs of the displaced.