Namibia
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
UPDATE (7 Sept 2018): On 31 August 2018, Namibia's instrument of ratificaiton to the Convention on Cluster Munitions was deposited, making the country the 104th State Party. The treaty will enter into force for Namibia on 1 February 2019.
The remainder of this profile will be updated next year.
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Summary: Signatory Namibia announced in 2016 that it was nearing the completion of its ratification process, but it still has not deposited the instrument of ratification. Namibia has participated in every Meeting of States Partiesof the convention and condemned new use of cluster munitions. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2017. Namibia states that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Namibia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.
Since 2010, Namibia has often signaled its intent to ratify the ban convention soon.[1] In September 2016, Namibia informed States Parties that it should be in a position to ratify the convention over the coming months.[2]
Namibia participated in two Africa regional meetings held during the Oslo Process that produced the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[3]
Namibiahas attended every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, most recently the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in September 2017, where it did not make any statements.[4] It has attended regional workshops on the convention, most recently in Kampala, Uganda in May 2017.[5]
In December 2017, Namibia voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[6] It also voted in favor of previous UNGA resolutions promoting the convention’s implementation and universalization in 2015 and 2016.
Namibia has condemned new use of cluster munitions, expressing “abhorrence and strong disapproval” of the use of cluster munitions in conflict zones around the world.[7]
Namibia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It 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 weapon.[8]
[1] In September 2014, Namibia informed States Parties that it was “in the process of completing its internal processes” and would ratify in 2015. Statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 5 September 2014. 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, Namibia’s Minister of Safety and Security, Immanuel Ngatjizeko, informed States Parties that the ratification of the convention was “at an advanced stage” following “extensive consultations in this regard.” Statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 9 September 2013. Notes by the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC); and CMC meeting with Namibian delegate, International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Santiago, 7–9 June 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[2] Statement of Namibia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 6 September 2016.
[3] 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.
[4] Namibia also attended intersessional meetings in 2013–2015. It was invited to, but did not attend the First Review Conference of the convention in September 2015.
[5] Convention on Cluster Munitions Ratification Seminar, Kampala, 29–30 May 2017. See also, “The Addis Ababa Commitment on Universalization and Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” Africa Regional Workshop on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 5 August 2016.
[6] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 72/54, 4 December 2017.
[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.