HENNING MELBERWHEN THE UNITED Nations General Assembly voted on Russia’s war against Ukraine in an emergency session on 2 March, an overwhelming 141 out of 193 member states supported the resolution calling on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine.
Namibia abstained along with 15 other African states. One (Eritrea) voted against the resolution. Nine did not show up at all. In all, 28 African ‘yes’ votes (among these seven co-sponsors of the resolution) joined 113 other member states in condemning Russia’s aggression.
The voting pattern shows that in practice there is no pan-Africanism. As before, African nations do not speak with one voice on global affairs.
There are also internal divisions within the 120 member states of the Non-Aligned Movement. The 1955 Bandung Conference was the cradle for newly independent countries to declare a non-pact position in the East-West conflict.
As an Asian-African conference, it marked the beginning of a declared in-between course during the Cold War.
But the misunderstanding that non-alignment means abstention in conflicts holds no water. Pseudo neutrality does in fact take sides with aggressors. Refraining from condemnation of wrongdoing translates such ‘non-alignment’ into not supporting the principles of a global order.
This undermines the credibility of claims to support national sovereignty, territorial integrity and self-determination as a fundamental international order of states. These principles are held dearly in Namibia, where the colonised majority resisted occupation for a century.
As the preamble of Namibia’s Constitution declares: “Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is indispensable for freedom, justice and peace … most effectively maintained and protected in a democratic society, where the government is responsible to freely elected representatives of the people.”
Taken seriously, this should have required a condemnation of the Russian war against Ukraine in support of the resolution.
FOREIGN POLICY
On 28 February, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to urgently debate the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Here too, Namibia decided, like 12 other members, to abstain, while 29 voted in favour and five against.
Namibia’s minister of international relations and cooperation (and deputy prime minister), Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, justified the abstention: “Why not abstain? I am saying we are monitoring and evaluating the situation, and I want to draw [your attention] to Article 96 of the Namibian Constitution. That is what is guiding us in handling issues such as this.”
Namibia’s Constitution is indeed a worthwhile reference point.
Article 96 outlines the country’s foreign policy principles as one of non-alignment.
This includes adherence to fundamental value-based norms in the international system. It:
• commits Namibia to the promotion of peace and security,
• stresses respect for international law and treaty obligations, and
• emphasises the need to settle international disputes by peaceful means.
This framework does not condone warfare, invasion, occupation, or any other denial of the right to self-determination of people in sovereign states.
Namibian president Hage Geingob has repeatedly stressed such an understanding.
Addressing the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2018, Geingob warned that the world had drifted away from dialogue towards unilateral action.
He appealed for UN members to embrace multilateralism. “Democracy may have its flaws, but it is by far the best system that enables key values of the United Nations,” he said.
During the 79th UN General Assembly debate on 24 September 2020, he declared: “As a nation that has experienced the outpouring of international solidarity during the dark days of our struggle for independence, we wish to express our continued support for the right to self-determination and freedom of the peoples of Palestine and Western Sahara.”
His statement at the 2021 General Assembly concluded: “Through unity, we will revitalise the United Nations, transforming it into a bastion of global democracy that will save the world from the scourge of war and reaffirm faith in the fundamental human rights, dignity and worth of each and every human being on this planet.”
One would expect from such unreserved commitment to clearly defined value-based policy, that voting in the General Assembly would support these principles in every context.
OLD TIES, NEW REALITIES
Namibia’s foreign policy is guided by the slogan: “A friend to all and enemy to none.”
This stresses an approach of seeking friendly relations with countries in pursuance of the best interests of Namibia. It is guided by an economic foreign policy, seeking mutual collaboration for own benefit.
As a recent analysis suggests, the country has “fair-weather friends”, and in China “one all-weather friend”.
