IPC says Damaseb appointment misses Tanzania rights concerns

The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) says the appointment of deputy chief justice Petrus Damaseb to a Tanzanian commission of inquiry does not address concerns over Namibia’s silence on alleged human rights abuses in the neighbouring country.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, IPC member of parliament Rodney Cloete says the party had previously urged president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to raise the detention of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu during her June state visit and report back to parliament.

Instead, IPC says the government’s first visible response has been the nomination of Damaseb to serve on a presidential commission investigating violence following Tanzania’s October 2025 general election.

The party questions the process, saying the commission’s terms of reference would only be communicated after members are sworn in, arguing that Namibia’s second most senior judge had accepted an assignment without a defined mandate.

IPC also cites criticism by international human rights organisations of previous Tanzanian inquiries, saying Namibia risks lending credibility to a process whose independence and effectiveness remain in doubt.

The party stresses that it was not questioning Damaseb’s integrity, describing him as one of Namibia’s finest jurists, but argues that his reputation could strengthen a commission before its powers and scope are publicly known.

“Namibia should publicly address Lissu’s continued detention rather than limit its engagement to judicial cooperation,” Cloete says.