Freedom in the World 1999 - Namibia

1999 Scores

Status: Free
Freedom Rating: 2.5
Civil Liberties: 3
Political Rights: 2

Overview

President Sam Nujoma was easily returned to power with 77 percent of the vote for a third five-year term in the December 1999 elections that also saw the ruling South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) dominate national assembly polls. The party had succeeded in 1998 in passing a bitterly contested constitutional amendment to allow Nujoma, who is known affectionately as "old man" and was the leader of the country's struggle against apartheid, to seek another term. SWAPO fended off a challenge from the new Congress of Democrats (COD), led by a former senior SWAPO official, Ben Ulenga, to retain its two-thirds majority in the national assembly. Ulenga had protested allowing a third term for Nujoma, the country's only president since independence in 1990. The opposition had hoped to cut into the ruling party's vote and even the political landscape by tapping into voter discontent over unemployment, corruption, and Namibia's involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But the party ended up seizing votes primarily from the other main opposition group, the Turnhalle Alliance.

Opposition parties complained of irregularities, but international observers declared the voting free and fair. SWAPO used its majority in parliament to guarantee it had most of the resources during campaigning and the greatest publicity on radio and television.

Namibia's democratic credentials remain largely intact, but the apparent impunity of security force members who commit abuses remains a cause for concern, especially in the government's campaign against the separatist Caprivi Liberation Army. Fighting flared again in the Caprivi region in August 1999, a year after it had initially erupted, prompting the government to declare a temporary state of emergency. Caprivi is a finger of land poking eastwards out of northern Namibia along its borders with Angola and Botswana. Caprivi differs geographically, politically, and in its ethnic makeup from the rest of Namibia, and was used by South Africa in its operations against SWAPO guerrillas. Caprivians accuse the government of neglect in the province, which is among the country's poorest.

There have also been reports of abuses against civilians by Namibian forces and Angolan government troops on the border. Namibian forces reportedly retaliated over the border in December 1999 after fighters from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) attacked a police station in Namibia. UNITA has been accused of supporting Caprivi insurgents.

Namibia was seized by German imperial forces in the late 1800s. Thousands of people were massacred by German troops in efforts to crush all resistance to colonial settlement and administration. The territory became a South African protectorate after German forces were expelled during World War I and was ruled under the apartheid system for 42 years after 1948. A United Nations-supervised democratic transition with free and fair elections followed 13 years of violent guerrilla war, and Namibia achieved independence in 1990. SWAPO scored a sweeping victory, and Nujoma was reelected president in the country's first postindependence elections in November 1994. SWAPO still enjoys wide support, but has demonstrated sometimes flagrant disrespect for the rule of law. Nujoma has adopted an increasingly authoritarian governing style.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Namibia's presidential and legislative elections in 1994 were free and fair. SWAPO matched Nujoma's landslide reelection victory that year by capturing 53 of 72 national assembly seats. In 1998, the electoral commission was removed from the prime minister's office and reorganized as an independent agency. While the president still appoints commission members, he does so on the advice of a board that includes representatives of civil society. The new commission increased the credibility of the electoral process. SWAPO retained its two-thirds majority in parliament in 1999, increasing its seats from 53 to 55. The COD and the Turnhalle Alliance each got 7 seats. The United Democratic Front won 2 and the Monitor Action group got 1 seat.

Political discussion is generally open and vigorous. Political parties can organize and operate freely. Scant funding is the greatest impediment to political party growth. The ruling party's main base is among the country's largest ethnic group, the Ovambo, whose prominence within SWAPO has evoked allegations of ethnic discrimination. Herero and Damara people are among minority ethnic groups demanding larger government allocations for development in their home areas.

Respect for human rights in Namibia has been among the best in Africa, although allegations of abuses by security forces have emerged from the Caprivi Strip, the border with Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Namibian National Society for Human Rights said up to 500 people were arrested and "subjected to acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman treatment and punishment" in Caprivi in August 1999. The government said 100 suspected rebels were arrested after an attack on an army base. It later admitted that abuses were committed in the province. Nambia rejected a request by rights groups for a truth-and-reconciliation commission, modeled on South Africa's, to look into abuses committed by South African forces who occupied Namibia until 1989 and Namibians who were fighting for independence. Namibia said it had already adopted a policy of national reconciliation. Rights groups say more than 4,000 Namibians who were in exile with SWAPO remain unaccounted for.

Public statements by senior officials against the independent press and several direct actions against journalists have raised fears of a diminution of press freedoms. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and other press watchdog groups have warned against proposed laws, such as the Diamond Bill, that would require journalists and others to reveal sources of information. The bill stipulates that individuals must reveal information or documents relevant to any inquiry undertaken by the ministry of mines.

Private radio stations and critical independent newspapers usually operate without official interference. The electronic media are mostly controlled by the state, but the state-run Namibia Broadcasting Corporation has regularly presented views critical of the government.

In rural areas, local chiefs use traditional courts that often ignore constitutional procedures. Despite constitutional guarantees, women continue to face serious discrimination in customary law and other traditional societal practices. Violence against women is allegedly widespread. The Women's Manifesto Network, a coalition of women's groups, has called on political parties to strive to assure that 50 percent of their candidates are women. Two of the country's 21 cabinet ministers are women.

Constitutionally guaranteed union rights are respected. The two main union federations are the National Union of Namibian Workers and the Namibia People's Social Movement. Essential public sector workers do not have the right to strike. Domestic and farm laborers remain the country's most heavily exploited workers, in part because many are illiterate and do not know their rights.

Capital-intensive extractive industries such as diamond and uranium mining have drawn significant foreign investment and are the centerpiece of Namibia's economic growth. Most Namibians, however, continue to live as subsistence farmers. The country exports most of what it produces and relies heavily on essential imports, such as food.