Namibia
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: Signatory Namibia stated in September 2014 that its ratification process is underway and should be completed in 2015. Namibia has participated in all of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties and has condemned new use of cluster munitions. Namibia states that it has not used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Namibia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.
In September 2014, Namibia stated that it “is in the process of completing its internal processes and will soon deposit” the ratification instrument, pledging to do so in 2015.[1] Previously, in April 2014, Namibia said consultations on ratification of the convention “are still ongoing in the Capital.”[2] Since 2010, government officials have confirmed Namibia’s intent to ratify the ban convention.[3]
Namibia participated in two Africa regional meetings held during the Oslo Process that produced the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[4]
Namibia engages in the work of the convention despite not ratifying. It has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San Jose in September 2014. Namibia has attended all of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva since 2013, most recently in June 2015.[5]
Namibia has participated in regional workshops on the convention, most recently in Lusaka, Zambia on 17–18 June 2015.[6] A Namibian representative attended a February 2014 workshop on universalization of the convention.[7]
At the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in September 2014, Namibia condemned new use of cluster munitions for the first time, describing the use of the weapons in conflict as “abhorrent” and stating “we condemn it.”[8]
Namibia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Namibia is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Namibia has stated several times since 2008 that it has not used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions and does not stockpile the weapons.[9]
[1] Statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 3 September 2014.
[2] Statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, April 2014.
[3] In September 2013, the Minister of Safety and Security, Immanuel Ngatjizeko, informed States Parties that “Namibia is at an advanced stage which will see the deposit of the said instrument for ratification” for the convention, following “extensive consultations in this regard.” Statement of Namibia, Opening Ceremony, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 9 September 2013. See also: statement of Namibia, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013; statement of Namibia, Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Accra, 28 May 2012. Notes by the CMC; and CMC meeting with Namibian delegate, International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Santiago, 7–9 June 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[4] For details on Namibia’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 123.
[5] Namibia also attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in 2013 and 2014.
[6] CMC, “Strong call for African countries to commit to cluster bomb ban,” 4 May 2015.
[7] CMC meeting with Stella Katjingisiua, Second Secretary for Disarmament and Finance, Permanent Mission of Namibia to the UN in Geneva, Geneva, 20 February 2014.
[8] Statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 3 September 2014.
[9] See for example, statement of Namibia, Opening Ceremony, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 9 September 2013; statement of Namibia, Kampala Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 30 September 2008. Notes by the CMC; and statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012. Namibia is reported to possess Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads. International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2011 (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 434.