Namrights report castigates Government

A systematic disregard for democracy, human rights and good governance principles in Namibia are the primary causes of the numerous and connected civil, cultural, economic, environmental, political and social problems affecting Namibians.

These are the main conclusions of Namrights’ Namibia: Human Rights Report 2010 which states that the general human security situation in Namibia continued to worsen in 2010. With regards to the state of economic security, ‘freedom from want’ remained a pipe dream for the largest majority of Namibians, as their right to economic, health, environmental and housing security was continuously threatened by ‘socio-economic menaces.’These threats include gross inequalities, as well as higher rates of unemployment, harmful child labour and widespread sex work. Other socio-economic woes such as hunger, child malnutrition, abject poverty and alcohol and drug abuse have also remained severe during 2010, the report notes.’The right to economic security remained a nightmare for most Namibians,’ said the report, and the situation is mainly worsened by an ever-declining food security situation, a crisis-ridden education system and a high unemployment rate.Despite the fact that Namibia continued to be classified as an upper middle income nation during 2010, it has remained a country with one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world.’The nation should also be described as a rich country with poor people,’ and due to high levels of income inequality, the Government has been classified ‘as one of the world’s worst and most reactionary distributors of income among its population.’With regards to the state of civil and political security and ‘freedom from fear,’ according to the report, Namibia’s overall personal, political and community situation deteriorated during 2010.This is because a number of threats such as violent crime against vulnerable groups in society, hate speech, political polarization, racial discrimination, xenophobia and ‘propaganda for war and advocacy of national or racial hatred which constitute incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence,’ remained widespread.According to Namrights, these threats have continued to characterise national political discourse in Namibia during 2010. Furthermore, the 2010 Human Rights Report regards this state of affairs as making up the ‘single biggest obstacle to the achievement of genuine national reconciliation, national unity and a common loyalty to a single state in Namibia.’With regards to personal security, incidents of social violence including gender based violence, remained widespread during 2010. According to Namrights, the high crime rate and other threats to personal security are signs of ‘institutionalized violence’ affecting the country. ‘Namibia’s endemic social violence has cultural, economic and historical as well as political dimensions,’ the report states.Noting that Namibia has a long history of social violence, Namrights indicates that since independence, the ‘SWAPO party regime did nothing to cultivate norms and values of social tolerance, despite the country’s democratic constitution.’ Furthermore, the report has singled out founding president, Dr Sam Nujoma, as one of a number of high ranking political leaders who have continued to use hate speech towards critics and or opponents. ‘Glorification of persons who have achieved public prominence through violent means at the expense of those who have advocated nonviolence is probably one of the most serious root causes of institutionalized violence’ in Namibia, the report states.According to Namrights, the Government is, as a result, unlikely to achieve any of the eight Millennium Development Goals scheduled for 2015.

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