Phil ya Nangoloh (born on 22 September 1954 in Ogongo in the

Omusati region Omusati (the Oshindonga word for Mopane, the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in ...

) is a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n human rights practitioner. He heads the organisation Namrights, formerly ''Namibia's National Society for Human Rights'' (NSHR). In search of better educational opportunities ya Nangoloh left Namibia in 1974. On his way into exile, he worked as a sheep and cattle

herder A herder is a pastoralism, pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on extensive management, open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic pastoralism, nomadic or transhuma ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and was later imprisoned in

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

under the pretext of spying for

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

. He was released at the request of Hisham Omayad of the United Nations Council for Namibia and transferred to SWAPO in Lusaka. In November 1974 he became a member of the

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) during the S ...

(PLAN). Later ya Nangoloh was sent to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

where he received military training and completed a degree in radio engineering. By a visit to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, he came under renewed SWAPO suspicion of espionage and before he was deported to SWAPO in Angola, he escaped from the Soviet Union. Then trying to apply for political asylum in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, failed. In 1981 he was deported to the U.S where he secured a grant as part of the UN Council for Namibia to study electrical engineering. The late 80s he returned to Namibia. There he was standing up, among other things for the release of detainees by SWAPO in exile. In 1989 he founded the National Society for Human Rights of Namibia (NSHR) now known as NamRights which has since extensively reported on a variety of human rights issues.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nangoloh, Phil Namibian activists Living people 1954 births People from Omusati Region People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel