Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1989
NAMIBIA
Formerly German South West Africa, Namibia -since 1915 has been
ruled by the Republic of South Africa. Under the terms of the
Tripartite Agreement signed in New York on December 22, 1988,
by the People's Republic of Angola, the Republic of Cuba and
the Republic of South Africa, South Africa agreed to implement
the U. N. Plan for the independence of Namibia in accordance
with United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 435.
Implementation of the UN Plan began on April 1, 1989, and will
continue until Namibia becomes independent, which is scheduled
to occur by April 1, 1990. Until independence the South
African Government through its Administrator-General (AG) will
continue to administer the territory under the supervision and
control of the Special Representative of the U.N.
Secretary-General (SRSG) and the United Nations Transition
Assistance Group (UNTAG).
The South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) won
Namibia's first free election in November for a Constituent
Assembly which will prepare a new constitution, but it failed
to gain the two-thirds majority needed to have a free hand in
in drafting the constitution. SWAPO, primarily an African
nationalist organization with previous ties to Eastern Europe,
Angola and Cuba, had waged a 23-year bush war against South
Africa for Namibia's independence. Until recently, SWAPO
advocated a Marxist-oriented economic and political system in
Namibia, but since implementation of the U.N. Plan it has
espoused the importance of a free market economy and
democratic principles. At SWAPO' s suggestion, the Constituent
Assembly adopted the framework for the Constitution which will
embody the basic principles governing the organization and
powers of the government, the holding of elections, and
protection of human rights agreed to in July 1982 by the
parties involved in the U.N. Resolution 435 negotiation
process.
The Transitional Government of National Unity installed by
South Africa in 1985 was disbanded in March 1989 and its
functions absorbed by the Administrator-General. A general
cease-fire took effect in the guerrilla war in the north in
September 1988 and held until April 1, 1989. On that date,
SWAPO sent hundreds of armed members of its military wing, the
People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), across Namibia's
northern border, violating the cease-fire and its obligations
under UNSCR 435. Widespread fighting erupted throughout
northern Namibia, in which over 300 PLAN fighters and about 30
members of the reactivated special counterinsurgency unit
known as "Koevoet" (which means crowbar in Afrikaans) and
other security forces were killed. Following vigorous
diplomatic efforts by the countries concerned, on May 19,
1989, South Africa, Angola, and Cuba agreed that the situation
was under sufficient control so that implementation of the
U.N. Plan could proceed.
After mid-May, implementation of the U.N. Plan radically
changed the political atmosphere. The South African Defense
Force (SADF) withdrew on schedule, and a residual 1,500 SADF
men, who were confined to base under UNTAG monitoring,
departed shortly after the elections in November. The South
West African Territorial Force (SWATF) was disbanded, and its
weapons placed under UNTAG control. Over 40,000 exiled
Namibians, mostly SWAPO members, were repatriated. Exiled
SWAPO leaders, including SWAPO President Nujoma, returned and
openly campaigned in the elections. Under the terms of the UN
Plan, on July 20 after talks with the SRSG, the AG released 24
political prisoners. SWAPO had called for the release of
another 8 being held in Windhoek jail, but the SRSG was
advised by an independent jurist that they should not benefit
from the political prisoner amnesty program. At year's end,
three were still being held: one was serving a 20 year
sentence for sabotage and murder as a result of a bomb blast
in Oshakati in 1987; the other two were serving lesser
sentences for bombings in 1987 and 1988. In addition, amnesty
was granted to persons born in Namibia who chose to return
under the auspices of the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR).
Many of the detainees held by SWAPO in prisons in Angola were
released, although 256 remained unaccounted for, and 115 were
presumed dead. Many were allegedly murdered by SWAPO while
being held in SWAPO prisons in Angola. South West African
laws deemed by the SRSG to be prejudicial to holding of free
and fair elections—including many security laws used to
suppress political activity—were repealed. The AG disbanded
Koevoet on September 30. The AG also created the O'Linn
Commission, a special commission under a respected human
rights advocate with broad powers to investigate charges of
intimidation and election malpractice. This commission made
two judgments against instances of police and political party
misconduct. It found alleged former members of Koevoet guilty
of assaulting SWAPO supporters on their way to a police
station in Ovamboland to obtain permission to hold a political
rally. The Commission also found against a policeman in
Caprivi who attempted to cover up an assault on a SWAPO
supporter.
Certain persistent problems plagued the implementation
process. Reports of misconduct by the South West African
Police (SWAPOL), such as intimidation at political rallies and
harassment of pro-SWAPO supporters, continued through
September. SWAPOL was also accused of being pro-Democratic
Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) . In addition, former members of the
SWATF were reportedly responsible for many incidents of
anti-SWAPO harassment and intimidation. Press reports issued
during the election period from UNTAG and the AG's office
indicated that both SWAPO and the DTA practiced intimidation
against each other and the smaller parties. Responding to an
increase in incidents through August, the SRSG called on the
leadership of the political parties in September to agree on a
code of conduct aimed at reducing violence and ameliorating
the atmosphere of mutual suspicion and tension.
Unfortunately a terrorist incident marred the implementation
process. Extremist whites were allegedly responsible for a
bombing attack in August on an UNTAG office in Outjo in which
a Namibian citizen was killed. Three suspects, members of the
"White Wolves," a self-proclaimed white supremacist
organization, were arrested and arraigned on charges of arson
and murder in September. Press reports citing police
investigations alleged that the White Wolves had ties to other
extremist groups in South Africa. On December 5, the suspects
escaped from police custody and were still at large at year's
end. Also in September a prominent white official of SWAPO
was assassinated. SWAPOL arrested a suspect 2 days later, who
remained in police custody in Windhoek prison at the end of
1989 charged with murder. Anonymous callers identifying
themselves as White Wolves claimed responsibility for the
murder and threatened other white activists with death.
Except for the April 1 incursion, SWAPO has not been linked to
terrorist incidents.
24-900 O248
UhUlSlh
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were several charges of politically motivated killings
during 1989. In Rundu in August, two policemen shot and
killed a former Koevoet member who had joined SWAPO. While
the policemen claimed they fired in self-defense, local human
rights advocates suspected the former Koevoet member was
murdered. Also in August, Petrus Joseph was murdered,
allegedly because he had complained of police narassment for
some time. Petrus, along with Paulus David and four other
ex-Koevoet members, had obtained a court order in March 1989
to restrain members of the security forces from intimidating
and harassing them. David testified in court cnat senior
officers had ordered Koevoet members to arrest and intimidate
people suspected of being SWAPO supporters. Between March and
August 1989, Petrus Joseph continued to complain of police
harassment, and in early August he was shot dead in his home
by police. Police claimed Petrus had threatened them with a
pistol, forcing them to shoot in self-defense. The police
also said they had found hand grenades in Petrus' home. A
formal inquest into the case was convened in Rundu in
September, with members of Namibia's Legal Assistance Center
acting for the victim's family. The results of the inquest
were scheduled to be heard in December, but the accused
policemen did not appear in court. The inquest hearing was
rescheduled for February 1990. The Legal Assistance Center
said the policemen had not been properly subpoenaed.
In mid-August several persons, reportedly white extremists
with links to South African extremist groups, launched an
attack with guns and incendiary grenades against UNTAG
facilities at Outjo; one Namibian security guard was killed.
Three men were arrested in September and October and charged
with arson and murder in this attack. The three men escaped
from police custody December 5 and were still at large at
year's end. A policeman shot during the escape died on
December 19. In late September, a DTA member was beaten to
death by a group of SWAPO supporters in Ovamboland; the DTA
claimed that the attack was motivated solely because the
person was a member of the DTA. The murder sparked interparty
fighting between DTA and SWAPO supporters, leading to the
deaths of several SWAPO members. In mid-September a policeman
was killed while in hot pursuit of a criminal who sought
refuge in the town of Otjiwarongo in northern Namibia. A mob,
reportedly of SWAPO supporters, sought to protect the
fugitive. The policeman wounded two attackers from the mob
before he was overpowered and beaten to death. Also in
September, a senior white official of SWAPO, Anton Lubowski,
was assassinated in front of his home by unknown gunmen;
police arrested a suspect 2 days later, who at year's end was
in detention and charged with murder. In each instance of
killing the South African authorities convened an inquest. In
most of these cases, various perpetrators have been arrested
and charged, though none had come to trial by the end of
1989. Local human rights groups expressed dissatisfaction
with these proceedings. No security force member has been
prosecuted, although a case is still pending for security
force members held for the 1986 murder of Immanuel Shifidi at
a political rally. Several of the killings did not appear tohave been directly motivated by politics, but because of the
tense atmosphere preceding the elections, every confrontation
between the local population and the police took on political
overtones.
Former detainees of SWAPO forces who returned to Namibia in
July alleged that many detainees had been executed without
trials or hearings in the SWAPO prisons in Angola. The
detainees produced a list of 74 persons believed to have been
killed by SWAPO security personnel. The deaths dated from
1976 to 1988; none was alleged to have occurred in 1989.
SWAPO spokesmen said the movement did detain persons whom it
identified as spies for South Africa but had released all of
them.
b. Disappearance
The former SWAPO detainees released a list of 449 names of
persons believed to be still held by SWAPO in prisons in
Angola. The former detainees claimed that several hundred
others, whose names they did not know, were also being held.
SWAPO leaders said they had released all of their detainees.
The U.N. Special Representative, who has a mandate under the
U.N. Plan to ensure the release of all political prisoners
held by both sides, sent a team to Angola and Zambia in
September to investigate the fate of those reported to be
missing. Subsequently, from a list of 1,100 names, the team
accounted for over half of the reported missing and detained.
By mid-December the number unaccounted for stood at 256. At
that time Namibians were still coming forward to identify
themselves as persons on the "missing" list. The UNTAG
mission continued to meet regularly in Windhoek (capital of
Namibia) to resolve the remaining cases.
Prisoners released by the South Africans in June and July
alleged that a number of prisoners had died while in custody
or been taken into the bush and killed. Under previous
security laws police were not required to notify their
superiors or relatives of the detainees of detentions, and
detainees could be held in any location desired by the
detaining officers. Amnesty International (AI), in its August
1989 report on Namibia, noted that it remains impossible to
say exactly how many people disappeared while in South African
custody.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Allegations of security force abuses declined in 1989, but the
events of April 1 led to a sudden resurgence of charges of
brutality by the police and members of the SWATF 101
battalion. Allegations against Koevoet and SWATF surged
dramatically following the April 1 SWAPO incursion. There
were 400 complaints against SWAPOL elements from April 1 to
August 1. Many of these incidents stopped short of armed
violence. There were also a number of reports of civilians
beaten by members of the security forces, particularly by
members of Koevoet, although many acts of violence attributed
to Koevoet were committed by active or demobilized members of
SWATF. By August 1989 continuing reports of misconduct and
harassment, including beatings, of civilians by former Koevoet
members reached such a point that the Special Representative,
supported by the Security Council, demanded that they be
withdrawn from the police force. This was accomplished in
October.Former SWAPO detainees, on their return to Namibia, stated
they had been beaten and tortured by their SWAPO guards while
imprisoned. Some claimed they had been tortured because they
were intellectuals or better educated than the SWAPO inner
circle. Many, including women, displayed extensive scars.
Men were commonly beaten on the back, buttocks, and legs; a
number said they were hung upside down from trees or roof
beams and beaten. Women were burned on their breasts with
lighted cigarettes. Several detainees said they knew
personally of victims who were beaten or tortured to death.
AI also cited, in its report on Namibia, allegations by
detainees of torture and deplorable conditions of imprisonment
in SWAPO-cont rolled camps in Angola.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Although security legislation which permitted detention
without trial has been repealed in accordance with the U.N.
Plan, and while security forces are now obliged to notify the
UNTAG police monitors when they make an arrest, reports and
allegations of SWAPOL misconduct continued to be a serious
problem into September. SWAPOL was accused of making arrests
without warrants, and there were a few cases of incommunicado
detention. As the election drew near, political tension
between DTA and SWAPO supporters increased which resulted in
more reports of SWAPOL misconduct. With DTA and SWAPO
confrontations on the rise, SWAPOL' s role in handling the
confrontations increased and so did reports and allegations of
misconduct. SWAPOL also conducted the investigation of
allegations against itself, since UNTAG served in a monitoring
and not investigatory capacity. While UNTAG police monitors
have been unable to prevent all abuses, few of SWAPOL 's
arrests resulted in formal charges, and most of those arrested
were released within a few hours. Relatives of people who are
arrested often appeal directly to UNTAG police monitors for
assistance. UNTAG monitors cannot overturn arrests, but they
can confirm the identities of those arrested, monitor
investigations of police behavior, and report abusive behavior
or police misconduct.
There were no reports of, new detentions by the security forces
in 1989. Police must now present the accused before a
magistrate within 24 hours and lay a formal charge. The
accused has the right to be represented by an attorney,
although the police do not always facilitate access. The
Government stopped funding in 1989 a legal aid program. On
capital offense charges, however, the State still is required
to provide and pay for an advocate.
Former detainees of SWAPO claimed that no judicial procedures
were observed in connection with their detention. They
publicly stated to the press and international organizations
that they were often not even informed that they had been
arrested. Many claimed they were simply thrown into dungeons;
they were not advised of any rights or of the charges against
them. None was tried or brought before any hearing; the
purpose of the torture cited above, according to some
detainees, was to extract confessions and to force the victims
to implicate others, who would be arrested and tortured as
well. Some of these confessions were allegedly videotaped and
shown to senior SWAPO leaders as "evidence" of the detainee's
guilt; most were accused of spying for South Africa. Many of
the detainees believe that they were the victims of a party
purge, singled out because of political differences, tribal
affiliation, or because they were "intellectuals."with regard to forced or compulsory labor, see Section 6.c.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The judiciary is independent of the executive branch (now the
AG) , and the Supreme Court in Windhoek is widely respected for
its integrity. There are only two court levels in Namibia,
magistrate and supreme. The Supreme Court is the high court.
For appeals, cases are subject to appellate review by the
South African Court of Appeals in Bloemfontein. Although
Namibia was in transitional status, the State's Attorney could
still appeal politically sensitive cases to Bloemfontein,
because the SRSG had neither jurisdiction over the legal
system nor any relationship with the Namibian courts. Trials
are public, and defendants have a right to counsel. There is
little criticism of the courts themselves, which administer a
Roman-Dutch legal system, whereby cases are heard by a
magistrate or a panel of judges. Former criticism of the
legal system concerned the widespread use of detention without
trial, notably under AG 9 of 1977 or Section 6 of South
Africa's Terrorism Act of 1967. Those brought to trial now
can expect a fair hearing based on the legal merits of their
case, and there is a right of appeal. Defendants are
considered innocent until proven guilty.
In March 1989, a full bench of the Supreme Court of Namibia
invalidated South African President P.W. Botha's decision in
March 1988 to halt the trial of six security force members
charged with the murder of Immanuel Shifidi at a political
rally in 1986. An appeal to the South African court in
Bloemfontein is still pending. Since implementation of the UN
Plan, legal rights groups have noted the light sentences that
the Supreme Court has given for crimes caused by or related to
political motives of political party supporters or members of
the police.
The Namibian courts, supreme and magistrate, also have been
careful not to involve themselves in cases which might
threaten the implementation of the UN Plan. In May, 11
so-called "headmen" (9 from Ovamboland, 1 from Caprivi and 1
from Kaokoland) brought a case against the Special
Representative, UNHCR, SWAPO, the Council of Churches, the AG,
and the South African Defense Minister. The headmen were
trying to stop the refugee repatriation process from Angola
until adequate protection could be provided to them and their
communities. They argued that the refugees—who the headmen
claimed were really ex-PLAN fighters—represented a threat to
their safety. The Supreme Court issued an interim order that
the AG provide protection for the headmen but later reversed
its decision.
Traditional tribal courts continued to operate in the tribal
areas. These courts deal mostly with minor criminal offenses,
such as petty theft and infractions of traditional customs.
Cases are heard by a village or tribal headman or chief, who
may receive advice from a traditional council or civil
servant. Procedures are informal and vary from tribe to
tribe; observers report that the system can work well to
resolve minor problems by communal consensus but, because of
the lack of review and the strength of traditional authorities
in the rural areas, is also subject to abuse.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
Security legislation before implementation of the U.N. Plan
allowed almost unlimited powers of search and seizure.
Invasion of the home was commonplace in the northern areas.
Press reports during the April fighting indicated that
security forces drove their heavily armored vehicles through
the homes of persons suspected of supporting the guerrillas.
Allegations of warrantless searches, threats against
civilians, and intrusive interrogation to establish the
whereabouts and identities of returnees (including PLAN
fighters repatriated as refugees) continued to concern UNTAG
and other observers until late in the year.
Outside the north, surveillance and monitoring of mail and
telephones of political activists appeared to decline.
However, legislation pertaining to the gathering of security
information. Post Office Act No. 44 and National Security Act
No. 19, remained in force throughout 1989 and gave the AG the
right to intercept telephone calls and mail without a
warrant. There is no evidence that the AG invoked these
powers after April 1.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in Internal Conflicts
There were many instances of the use of excessive force and
violations of humanitarian law by both South African security
forces and SWAPO military units in the course of the 23-year
bush war. Over the years, many innocent civilians were killed
in the conflict. However, the de facto cease-fire which came
into effect in August 1988 led to a lessening of tensions
along the border and the reports of violations declined
through the rest of 1988 and into 1989.
The events of April 1 led to a resurgence in accusations of
serious violations. During the fighting and for many weeks
afterward, many reports and allegations surfaced of security
forces beating civilians during interrogation in their efforts
to locate SWAPO infiltrators.
The fighting itself in April produced lopsided casualty ratios
of 10 to 12 SWAPO infiltrators killed for every 1 taken
prisoner. Sources who claimed to have examined some of the
bodies state that many of the dead appeared to have been shot
through the head at close range. Photos of roughly 18 PLAN
members taken by a photojournalist from the London-based
Sunday Telegraph and shown on the U.S. program "South Africa
Now" were examined by a forensic expert from Guys Hospital in
London and and a U.S. forensic expert. The two claimed that
the bodies appeared to have been shot at close range. Local
police claimed that their investigations failed to confirm
these allegations. The buried bodies were exhumed in July and
autopsies performed on each. Most of the forensic facilities
and experts were South African. Several inquest hearings were
scheduled then postponed. Since the elections no apparent
follow-up of the status of the investigation or rescheduling
of the inquest have been made.
SWAPO as a guerrilla movement was accused of serious
mistreatment of its detainees (See Sections I.e. and l.d.).
As a political party it, along with the DTA, was responsible
for acts of intimidation and violence against voters during
the election campaign.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Many laws circumscribing freedom of speech were repealed in
1989 as part of the U.N. Plan. The SRSG ensured that all laws
which would prevent free and fair elections were repealed, in
particular those relating to political expression.
Restrictions on obscenity remained in effect, but the press
reported freely on political, security, and economic matters.
The daily newspapers, which are generally party organs, were
guite vigorous in their criticism of the AG, UNTAG, the U.N.
Plan, and each other.
In late September, a Namibian publisher, two newspaper editors
and an American journalist, Scott Stanley, were arrested on
the "criminal" charge of defaming the O'Linn Commission, a
Namibian government commission charged with investigating
allegations of election fraud and malpractice. Stanley had
interviewed its chairman, Bryan O'Linn, in July and wrote a
commentary for his news organization critical of O'Linn. The
piece charged that O'Linn was pro-SWAPO and not fit to head
the Commission. O'Linn called the allegation contemptuous,
and the State brought charges against Stanley and two Namibian
newspapers that published the commentary. The trial judge
found that Stanley had misquoted and otherwise denigrated
O'Linn. On November 21, all defendants were found guilty on
some of the counts against them and received fines. Stanley
was found guilty on one of two counts and fined the equivalent
of $96.
The South West African Broadcasting Corporation (SWABC)
operates under a board appointed by the Administrator-General.
SWABC newscasts on radio and television have traditionally
been biased in favor of the status quo and against SWAPO,
referring to it prior to April 1 as a terrorist organization.
Following April 1, 1989, SWABC modified its news policy to
permit mention of SWAPO as a political party like the others
but continued to be highly biased against SWAPO. Three
reports issued at intervals in 1989 by an independent
monitoring group, NPP-435, documented instances of SWABC
bias. The SRSG insisted that improvement in the broadcast
media's performance was essential to creating the conditions
for free and fair elections. SWABC's bias did diminish
somewhat during the year, but the network's newscasts still
had relatively low credibility among many listeners and
viewers.
With the repeal of most security legislation related to
political offenses, academic freedom is now respected in
Namibia. Local scholars are free to publish, travel, speak,
and participate in local politics for the first time in many
years without fearing loss of employment or prosecution.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Namibians generally enjoy the freedoms of peaceful assembly
and association. The repeal of pertinent security legislation
has resulted in greater freedom of assembly and unprecedented
political rallies were held throughout the country.
Political rallies do not require approval, but parties must
provide prior notice of meetings under proclamation AG 23 of
1989, and must conform to certain guidelines relating to
safety and traffic. In August a SWAPO rally was peacefullydispersed for failing to conform with the requirement that the
police be notified 3 days in advance; party organizers had in
fact notified the local magistrate, as was required under old
legislation. In late September, the DTA held a march through
Windhoek's black township of Katutura. Although the party had
received permission from the AG's office in August to use a
loudspeaker truck to do political campaigning, it did not have
prior permission to hold a march. The AG's office ruled that
the march was illegal under the terms of AG 23.
A SWAPOL commander in the north was accused before the AG's
Commission on Intimidation (the O'Linn Commission) of having
deliberately staged a police attack on a peaceful assembly of
SWAPO supporters in Ovamboland in June. In September police
in Windhoek used plastic bullets to disperse a group of
striking workers (see Section 6. a.). Students and government
workers in northern Namibia staged a walkout in July to
protest continued police abuses. The aim of the 1-month long
school boycott, involving 160,000 students in 518 schools, was
to urge the Government to remove ex-Koevoet members from the
police force. A number of spontaneous demonstrations
occurred, which led to some minor clashes.
For a discussion of freedom of association as it applies to
labor unions, see Section 6. a.
c. Freedom of Religion
Namibians enjoy the free practice of religion. Almost all
Namibians are Christian, with the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in Namibia (ELGIN) being the single largest denomination.
Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Dutch Reformed, and the
African Methodist Episcopal Churches are also active. There
is one Jewish synagogue in Windhoek, and a small community of
Muslims.
Church leaders, who consistently condemned the use of violence
in the past, also spoke out against the use of violence and
intimidation by the political parties and urged reconciliation.
Past travel restrictions against church leaders have been
lifted. Foreign church visitors have without exception been
granted visas, although some after delay or protest, to travel
to Namibia.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Under the terms of the U.N, Plan, all Namibian refugees who
fled the country during the conflict were entitled to register
with UNHCR for repatriation. More than 42,000 Namibians who
wished to return registered, and 42,736 had returned to
Namibia by the end of 1989. This included the senior
leadership of SWAPO, other exiled politicians, and several
thousand PLAN fighters who repatriated as civilian refugees
after their units in Angola were disarmed and disbanded. The
former SWAPO detainees who returned were also repatriated
under UNHCR auspices. Many of the non-SWAPO returnees accused
UNHCR and its implementing agency in Namibia, the Council of
Churches in Namibia (CCN) , of partiality towards SWAPO, of
attempting to cover up or ignore SWAPO human rights abuses,
and of disregarding the legitimate needs of non-SWAPO
returnees. The non-SWAPO political parties also accused UNTAG
of failing to seek out vigorously persons detained by SWAPO
whose repatriation SWAPO wished to prevent.
UNHCR's and UNTAG ' s inability to locate these SWAPO detainees
in SWAPO or Angolan custody came under particular criticism.
SWAPO and the Angolan authorities either could or would not
account fully for those believed to be missing.
The dusk-to-dawn curfew in the northern operational area was
lifted in early 1989, then reimposed during the April
fighting. It was lifted again in May. During the voter
registration process several observers claimed that Namibians
living in Walvis Bay and traveling to Swakopmund were subject
to delays and harassment at the border. UNTAG intervention
with the authorities alleviated the problem.
South Africa, through the Administrator-General, still
provided travel documents to Namibians. These, however, were
provided routinely to all Namibians not charged with or wanted
for a criminal offense. Several senior SWAPO leaders have
traveled to and from Namibia on South African passports. If
denied a passport, a Namibian could apply to the Minister of
Home Affairs in South Africa. However, the Minister did not
have to provide a reason for denial, and there was no right of
appeal through the courts.
There were no known deportations in 1989. The portions of the
South West Africa Regulations Act which permitted deportation
of aliens who threatened public order were repealed in June.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change their Government
In 1989, for the first time in their history, Namibians of all
ethnic groups exercised this right over 5 days, November 7 to
11, electing a Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution
for an independent Namibia. Ten registered political parties
contested the U.N. -supervised elections. SWAPO won the
election, receiving 57 percent of the 670,830 votes cast—
a
turnout of more than 97 percent of the eligible voters. SWAPO
gained 41 seats in the 72-seat Constituent Assembly, a
majority, but not the two-thirds majority needed to adopt a
constitution within the 1982 guidelines. The DTA, which
dominated the Transitional Government since 1985, won 28
percent of the vote and 21 seats in the Assembly. The
remaining parties were: United Democratic Front, 4 seats;
Action Christian National Party, 3 seats; Namibia National
Front, 1 seat; National Patriotic Front, 1 seat; and Federal
Convention of Namibia, 1 seat. The SRSG certified the
elections as "free and fair," and the competing parties
agreed.
All parties cooperated in the initial work of the Constituent
Assembly, which, in late December, adopted the Standing
Committee's report on the outlines of a Namibian
constitution. The report reflected the ideas on which all
parties have agreed in principle: a 5-year term executive
presidency; a bicameral legislature; protection of fundamental
human rights; and national elections based on proportional
representation. The Standing Committee was preparing a draft,
in consultation with legal experts, which would be presented
to the full Assembly in early 1990. The majority party along
with others in the Assembly will determine how the government
will be formed. The Constituent Assembly will likely
transform itself into a national assembly, and no other
nationwide elections are scheduled for the near future.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
The attitude of the South African Government and the AG has
undergone a dramatic change with the implementation of the UN
Plan. Many observers from international human rights and
humanitarian and religious organizations visited Namibia in
1989 and traveled extensively throughout the country,
conducting their own investigations of the independence
process, police abuses, and the stories of the SWAPO
detainees. Several human rights and information services
established full-time offices in Namibia to monitor
implementation.
The Namibian Legal Assistance Center (LAC), which operates
five offices in Namibia, assisted indigent defendants and has
played an important role in political and security cases since
its founding in 1988. The Center faced a court challenge from
the AG's legal staff in mid-1989, but the Windhoek Supreme
Court dismissed the AG's case in August, forcing an
out-of-court settlement which fully recognized the right of
the LAC to continue its work.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social Status
Much of the discrimination based on race built into the
structure of the Namibian Government created by South Africa
remained in place in 1989. Although the ethnically based
second-tier executive and legislative authorities were
abolished and their functions transferred to the AG, the
separate second-tier civil services and schools were
retained. As required by the U.N. Plan, only those laws
prejudicial to the holding of free and fair elections were
repealed, though many parties and observers demanded the
complete abolition of all ethnic classifications,
institutions, and authorities. The AG resisted this on the
grounds that administrative chaos would ensue and that the
complete restructuring of the Government should be left to the
country's first independent government.
Pending restructuring, the system of racial classification
remained essentially the same as in 1988. Most Namibians
carried an identity document under the Identification of
Persons Act of 1979. This document identified them as members
of one of the following ethnic groups: Ovambo, Whites,
Damara, Herero, Kavango, Kama, Colored (mixed race),
Kaokovelder, Bushmen, Rehoboth Baster, Caprivian, and Tswana.
A large proportion of the taxes collected from a particular
ethnic group stayed with that group, resulting in a gross
disparity in the distribution of government revenues. The
second-tier administration for the country's 80,000 whites had
a budget of $23 million while the authority for the 650,000
Ovambos (from which SWAPO derives its political base) had a
budget of $350,000.
Social facilities were generally open to all races, although
private businesses could—and on occasion did—restrict
clientele based on race, and a few refused to admit members of
UNTAG. The law did not require segregation in housing, but
economic factors produced essentially the same effect, with
separate townships for blacks and coloreds remaining part of
the structure of local municipalities. Some hospitals, such
as the state hospital in Windhoek, admitted all patients buthad separate wings for different races.
Nonracial private schools have operated in the territory for
several years; most are affiliated with the churches. The
public schools were under the ethnic second-tier structure and
were segregated. All of the political parties declared that
upon independence public education would be integrated but
some, such as the National Party, insisted that different
ethnic groups should be allowed to maintain segregated private
schools.
Women continue to face discrimination in both the traditional
and modern sectors, particularly in regard to financial and
legal matters. The coming of independence is not likely to
change this situation soon; discrimination is almost as deeply
entrenched in the "liberation movement" as it is in the
current Government. Under traditional practice, which was
still in effect for a majority of the population, a woman is
not independent. She is usually a ward of her father until
she marries; then she is a ward of her husband. There is
still de facto discrimination against women in employment in
the modern sector.
Family violence appears to be a deep-rooted and common
problem. The courts treated cases of wife beating as
assaults, but because of traditional attitudes regarding the
subordination of women, most such cases did not get to court.
The police do not normally interfere in domestic disputes.
Some community groups and government bodies were targeting
women in their development programs. Among these were the
Council of Churches' Namibian Women's Voice, the Women of
Namibia, and the Namibian Women's Organization in Ovamboland.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The legal right to associate in labor unions, long enjoyed by
white and colored workers, was extended to blacks only in July
1978. Black union membership has grown markedly over the last
3 years. About 70 percent of all workers in the largest
private sector of the economy, mining, are unionized. Union
officials in 1989 claimed a membership of 50,000 out of a
private sector work force of at least 230,000. The total work
force is estimated at 400,000. The country's 20,000 to 30,000
farm workers employed on white-owned farms remain unorganized,
and many are subject to a regime of paternalistic
authoritarianism that gives them little say regarding their
conditions of employment and little access to outside
assistance.
Labor issues and politics are closely related; most of the
unions with a majority of black workers are sympathetic
towards SWAPO, and many union leaders are also SWAPO
officials. For example, until his murder Anton Lubowski,
SWAPO' s sole white senior official, was Secretary of Finance
and Administration of the National Union of Namibian Workers
(NUNW) . Unions are allowed to publicize their views and did
so in the November elections.
Namibian workers have and exercise the right to strike. With
the approach of independence, politically motivated industrial
action abated somewhat, but labor-management relations remain
turbulent. Workers often stop work before observing all the
required steps for the settlement of disputes which aremandated by local labor codes. Employers, in turn, have the
right to dismiss legally or illegally striking employees, and
in the past have done so with relative impunity. No sanctions
are applied against the employer. During a legal strike an
employer can try to reach an agreement with workers by means
of a conciliatory board composed of management and union
members. However, the employer is not compelled to reach a
resolution, and in the case of an illegal strike, the employer
has the right of lockout. Proclamation R. 101 of 1985, which
contained a "bill of fundamental rights" that sought to
restrict the advocacy and organization of work stayaways and
boycotts, was repealed as part of the settlement process in
July.
In 1989 workers continued to strike individual firms over pay
and other issues. The firing of a labor organizer from a
local brewery resulted in a walkout of sympathetic workers in
September. The brewery then dismissed the strikers. When the
strikers gathered peacefully outside the brewery, reportedly
to get their final paychecks, the police ordered them to
disperse and then opened fire with plastic bullets, injuring a
number of workers. This excessive use of force led to
sympathy strikes against other firms owned by the holding
company which owned the brewery; it also produced a boycott
against the brewery by local black businessmen.
Namibia has been a member of the International Labor
Organization (ILO) since 1978. Trade unions are free to
affiliate with international trade union organizations. The
ban on the NUNW, a SWAPO-af filiated body which operated from
exile in Angola, has been lifted, and it is now operating
publicly in Namibia. The NUNW is affiliated with the
Organization of African Trade Union Unity and with the
Communist-controlled World Federation of Trade Unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Namibian Supreme Court recognized the right of collective
bargaining without intervention by a government agency in
1985. The Wiehanan Commission created in 1986 to revamp
Namibia's outdated labor laws released its comprehensive
report in February 1989. A second report was completed in
December 1989 and outlines recommendations on changes in labor
practices which may be considered by the independent
government. The report covers international labor standards,
conditions of service, labor relations, employment, training
and development, social security, and labor administration and
suggests the establishment of a special judicial body to deal
with labor disputes. It also establishes a system of
industrial courts. None of the commission's recommendations
will automatically become policy; it will be up to the new
government to draw up strategies and national labor policies.
Namibia in 1989 used a method of resolving labor-management
disputes through conciliation boards under the Wage and
Industrial Council Ordinance. Under this approach, employees
or employers have been able to apply to the South
African-appointed Administrator-General (AG) to appoint a
conciliation board composed of members of both management and
the unions, whose decisions in principle become binding on
both sides. The decisions in principle are binding if
publicly declared so by the AG on the recommendation of the
conciliation board. The board is composed of both management
and union members with no independent arbitrator, a fact that
can make it difficult to reach agreement. The conciliation
board operates essentially on the basis of a gentlemen's
agreement, because no law evokes sanctions against an
employer. If a dispute cannot be resolved by the conciliation
board, unions can seek the advice of an independent mediator.
Should this option fail, the two parties could turn to an
arbitrator whose recommendations would be binding.
General unions, i.e., unions representing workers in more than
one industry, are permitted in Namibia. A major issue remains
the recognition of unions by individual companies and whether
these unions can then be registered with the AG. Unregistered
unions can bargain on behalf of their members if they are
recognized by management, but they do not have access to
conciliation boards. Disputes also have arisen, sometimes on
political lines, over which union is entitled to represent the
workers at a particular company. New wage concessions and a
minimum wage were negotiated in the building industry in 1989.
There are no export processing zones or offshore processing
facilities in Namibia.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced labor is prohibited by law. The implementation of the
U.N. Plan threw additional light on labor practices in the
white farming sector. Reports by 17 former SWAPO fighters who
were released from a police-run farm in September indicated
that conditions amounting to forced labor existed in 1989.
Illiterate and isolated farm workers in some instances
received little compensation, were unable to leave the farm
without the owner's permission, were forbidden to speak to
outsiders, and were, in some cases, subject to physical
punishment by their employers. In one court case in
September, evidence given by witnesses revealed that workers
on one farm were being paid as little as 30 cents a day; the
farm workers resorted to poaching game to feed their families.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The minimum age for employment across the board is 15.
Minimum age regulations are generally enforced in the wage
sector pursuant to the Employment Act of 1986, Section 12.
However, children below the age of 15 often work on family
farms and in the informal sector.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
There is no statutory minimum wage in Namibia. Several unions
adopted a "living wage," i.e., one adequate to provide a
worker and his family with basic shelter, food, and clothing,
as a theme in 1988 and 1989. However, trade union leaders
have not settled on a figure. An unskilled worker in the
mining sector earns an average $275 per month.
Government-mandated occupational health and safety standards
are similar to those found in South Africa, but enforcement of
these standards outside the formal sector is slack. Improved
safety conditions remained a strong union demand in the mining
sector, particularly in the wake of an accident in November
1988 which killed seven miners at the Kombat mine near
Tsumeb. The inquest proceedings found the company had been
negligent and was culpable for the deaths. Namibia also has
legislation mandating leave (including maternity leave) and
overtime standards. An employer cannot require a female to
work in a factory 4 weeks before the expected birth date or 8
weeks after delivery.
The standard legal workweek is 46 hours under the 1986
Conditions of Employment Act, which also allows for 10 hours
of overtime per week, at time and a third. The employee must
freely agree to work overtime. Legally, an increase of more
than 10 hours of overtime per week has to be approved by the
Manpower Commission.
