Population: 2.0 million (993,000 under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 9,200
Compulsary Recruitment Age: no conscription
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 18
Voting Age: 18
Optional Protocol: ratified 16 April 2002
Other Treaties: GC AP I, GC AP II, CRC, ILO 138, ILO 182, ACRWC, ICC

There were no reports of under-18s serving in the armed forces.

Government:

National recruitment legislation and practice

According to the declaration made by Namibia when it ratified the Optional Protocol in April 2002, Namibia did not carry out conscription or impose any form of forced obligatory service. The declaration also confirmed Namibia's adherence to the "straight-18" position. Applicants to the armed forces were required to show certified copies of identity documents and birth certificates.1

Armed Groups:

The Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA) did not appear to be active, and no information was available on its recruitment of under-18s.2

The trial which had begun in 2004, of 119 people charged with involvement in the 1999 separatist attacks launched by the CLA in the Caprivi region, was ongoing in August 2007. The trial on treason charges of 12 other men, arrested in November 2004 following further clashes, ended in mid-2007. Ten defendants received long prison sentences, while the other two were acquitted.3

In September 2006 the government outlawed the CLA's political wing, the United Democratic Party.4

As of November 2006, 1,100 Namibians who had fled to Botswana following the 1999 CLA attacks remained there. One Namibian, who had been in detention for five years in Botswana on charges relating to his alleged participation in the CLA, returned to Namibia in November 2006, after being told by the Namibian authorities that he would not face charges on his return.5 Over 700 refugees had been repatriated to Namibia since 2003, 50 of whom were reportedly subsequently charged with treason and involvement in the CLA attacks.6

Developments:

International standards

Namibia ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in July 2004.7

1 Declarations and reservations to the Optional Protocol, www2.ohchr.org.

2 Confidential information, Namibia, August 2007.

3 Confidential information, Windhoek, August 2007.

4 Amnesty International Report 2007.

5 Confidential information, September 2007.

6 "Botswana – Namibia: Caprivians reluctant to return home", IRIN, 29 November 2006.

7 African Union, List of countries which have signed, ratified/acceded to the African Union Convention on African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, www.africa-union.org.

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