Waking the dead: civilian casualties in the Namibian liberation struggle

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Periodical article

Title:	Waking the dead: civilian casualties in the Namibian liberation struggle
Authors:	Akawa, Martha Silvester, Jeremy
Year:	2012
Periodical:	Journal for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (ISSN 2026-7215)
Volume:	1
Issue:	1
Pages:	117-128
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Namibia
Subjects:	national liberation struggles victims assassination landmines monuments memory
Abstract:	This article presents the work that has been done by the Civilian Casualties Project (CCP) to create an archive of civilian casualties of the Namibian liberation struggle (1966-1990). At the time of writing, the database listed 947 civilian casualties, of whom 317 were killed by landmines and 316 by assassination squads. The main challenge was that of the absence of archival sources. This absence led to an impossibility of systematic historical analysis. In Namibia, almost a generation after the end of the war, it remained unknown how many Namibian civilians died during the Namibian Liberation Struggle. The CCP might be viewed as having the potential to contribute to a different kind of memorial to the war that could further national reconciliation and assist in promoting collective national values. In 1997, the Namibian Government signed the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines. One way in which this strong stand might be publicized in Namibia could be a memorial to all Namibian landmine victims. Bibliogr., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]