Child Soldiers Global Report 2004 - Namibia
| Publisher | Child Soldiers International |
| Publication Date | 2004 |
| Cite as | Child Soldiers International, Child Soldiers Global Report 2004 - Namibia, 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4988063ec.html [accessed 3 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Republic of Namibia
Covers the period from April 2001 to March 2004.
Population: 2.0 million (1.0 million under 18)
Government armed forces: 9,000
Compulsory recruitment age: no conscription
Voluntary recruitment age: 18
Voting age: 18
Optional Protocol: ratified 16 April 2002
Other treaties ratified (see glossary): CRC, GC AP I and II, ICC, ILO 138, ILO 182
There were no reports of under-18s in the armed forces.
Context
Southern Africa, including Namibia, experienced severe drought in 2002. Namibia continued to host Angolan refugees, 10,000 of whom UNHCR planned to repatriate in 2004.1
Government
National recruitment legislation and practice
The constitution allows for conscription, but the armed forces are at present recruited on a voluntary basis, compulsory service having been abolished before the 1989 independence elections.2
Under the 1957 Defence Act, the minimum age for voluntary military service in the armed forces was 18. The new Defence Act (Act 1 of 2002), which replaced it on 15 July 2002, does not specify a minimum age.3 However, a Ministry of Defence policy document states that "Recruits are to be 18-25 years of age".4
When Namibia ratified the Optional Protocol in April 2002 its accompanying declaration confirmed its adherence to the "straight-18" position. Applicants to join the armed forces are required to show certified copies of identity documents and birth certificates.5
Armed political groups
Refugees were repatriated to Namibia from Botswana under an agreement in 2002 between Botswana, Namibia and UNHCR. However, of the 2,400 refugees who fled Caprivi in northeast Namibia following a clampdown against an armed secessionist group in 1998 and 1999, fewer than 1,000 had been repatriated by early 2003. Many feared reprisals by the Namibian security forces as long as 120 Caprivians remained on trial for treason and after five men were killed by the armed forces in November 2002 as alleged members of the Caprivi Liberation Army.6 It was not known if there was recruitment of under-18s by this armed group.
1 IRIN, "Namibia: Some Angolan refugees reluctant to return home", 16 February 2004, www.irinnews.org.
2 Initial report of Namibia to UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/3/Add.12, 22 January 1993, http://www.ohchr.org.
3 Initial report of Namibia to UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, op. cit.; communication from Director of the Legal Assistance Centre, Windhoek, 20 April 2004.
4 Personnel Policy of the Ministry of Defence, 1991, 9(a) (1).
5 Declarations and reservations to the Optional Protocol, http://www.ohchr.org.
6 IRIN, "Namibia: Focus on repatriation fears of Caprivians", 5 March 2003.
