Namibia
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: Signatory Namibia has committed to ratify the convention, but indicates it does not view ratification as a priority. It voted in favor of the first UN resolution on the convention in December 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.
According to a March 2016 report, Namibia has informed the convention that it is deciding which ministry will take the lead on ratification of the convention, which it regards as an administrative matter rather than a priority as Namibia is not contaminated by cluster munitions.[1] Previously in September 2014, Namibia informed States Parties that it was “in the process of completing its internal processes” and would ratify in 2015.[2] Since 2010, government officials have affirmed Namibia’s intent to ratify the ban convention.[3]
On 7 December 2015, Namibia voted in favor of the first UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[4]
Namibia participated in two Africa regional meetings held during the Oslo Process that produced the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[5]
Namibia has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention and intersessional meetings held in Geneva in 2013–2015. It has also participated in regional workshops on the convention, most recently in Lusaka, Zambia in June 2015.[6] Namibia was invited to, but did not attended the First Review Conference of the convention in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015.
At the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in September 2014, Namibia condemned new use of cluster munitions for the first time, describing its “abhorrence and strong disapproval” of the continued use of cluster munitions in conflict zones around the world.[7]
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.[8]
[1] In March 2016, the convention’s universalization co-coordinators Ecuador and Zambia reported that Namibia informed them in a bilateral meeting that the “government only needed to decide which ministry (Defence or Foreign Affairs) would take the lead in the ratification process though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was already in favor of ratification.” Convention on Cluster Munitions Coordination Committee Meeting, Geneva, 3 March 2016.
[2] Statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 3 September 2014.
[3] In April 2014, Namibia said consultations on ratification of the convention “are still ongoing in the Capital.” Statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, April 2014. 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] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.
[5] 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.
[6] CMC, “Strong call for African countries to commit to cluster bomb ban,” 4 May 2015.
[7] Statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 3 September 2014.
[8] 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.