Namibia

The Republic of Namibia is a democratic and secular sovereign state with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Approximately 80% are reportedly Christian, with the remaining 10-20% holding traditional indigenous beliefs while a small minority of around 1-3% are said to be Muslim.[ref]https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wa.html[/ref]

The country gained independence from South Africa in March 1990, and is a member of the UN, South African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Constitution and government Education and children’s rights Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals Freedom of expression advocacy of humanist values
State-funding of religious institutions or salaries, or discriminatory tax exemptions
Some concerns about political or media freedoms, not specific to the non-religious
The state is secular, with separation of religious and political authorities, not discriminating against any religion or belief
No formal discrimination in education
No religious tribunals of concern, secular groups operate freely, individuals are not persecuted by the state
Constitution and government
State-funding of religious institutions or salaries, or discriminatory tax exemptions
The state is secular, with separation of religious and political authorities, not discriminating against any religion or belief
Education and children’s rights
No formal discrimination in education
Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals
No religious tribunals of concern, secular groups operate freely, individuals are not persecuted by the state
Freedom of expression advocacy of humanist values
Some concerns about political or media freedoms, not specific to the non-religious
The state is secular, with separation of religious and political authorities, not discriminating against any religion or belief
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report

Countries: no countries relate to this boundary condition

Religious or ideological instruction is mandatory in all or most state-funded schools with no secular or humanist alternative
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report

Countries: Angola, South Sudan, Tuvalu

Religious courts or tribunals rule directly on some family or ‘moral’ matters; it is legally an opt-in system, but the possibility of social coercion is very clear
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report
No fundamental restrictions on freedom of expression or advocacy of humanist values
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report

Countries: no countries relate to this boundary condition

No condition holds in this strand

Countries: Lesotho, Uzbekistan

No condition holds in this strand

Countries: Andorra

No condition holds in this strand
No condition holds in this strand

Countries: no countries relate to this boundary condition

Localised or infrequent but recurring and widespread social marginalisation or prejudice against the non-religious

This condition is unusual in that it is applied in cases where there is some social discrimination, but it is not pervasive or nationwide. This condition is applied when there is sufficient background evidence to warrant the assertion that discrimination is not anomalous but widespread, and this condition may be applied for example even where if there is no legislative discrimination or where the non-religious may have legal recourse against such discrimination. However, societal discrimination (i.e. discrimination by peers, as opposed to state or legal discrimination) is not easily measured, and for this reason the Report does not currently have similar more severe boundary conditions to capture higher levels of social discrimination per se. In principle these may be introduced in future. However, we consider that countries with actual higher levels of social discrimination against the non-religious will generally already meet other higher level (more severe) boundary conditions under this thematic strand.

Countries: Albania, Botswana, Greece, United States of America

The dominant influence of religion in public life undermines the right to equality and/or non-discrimination

Applied when the influence of religion on public life undermines others’ rights, such as SRHR, women’s rights, LGBTI+ rights.

May be applied when the influence is overt (i.e. when religious laws are applied to undermine others’ rights) or covert (i.e. where religious pressure groups exert influence to affect policy)

Countries: Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Chile, Congo, Democratic Republic of, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Eswatini, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Liberia, Lithuania, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, Zambia

Use of Conscientious Objection clauses resulting in the denial of lawful services to women and LGBTI+ people
Complete tyranny precludes all freedoms of expression and thought, religion or belief

Applied when overriding acts of oppression by the State are extreme, to the extent that the question of freedom of thought and expression is almost redundant, because all human rights and freedoms are quashed by authorities.

Countries: Afghanistan, North Korea

The non-religious are barred from some government offices (including posts reserved for particular religions or sects)
There is a nominal state church with few privileges or progress is being made toward disestablishment

Countries: Bulgaria, Norway, Peru, Rwanda

Religious or ideological indoctrination is utterly pervasive in schools
Expression of non-religious views is severely persecuted, or is rendered almost impossible by severe social stigma, or is highly likely to be met with hatred or violence
The non-religious are persecuted socially or there are prohibitive social taboos against atheism, humanism or secularism
There is significant social marginalisation of the non-religious or stigma associated with expressing atheism, humanism or secularism
Expression of core Humanist principles on democracy, freedom and human rights is brutally repressed
Religious authorities have supreme authority over the state

Countries: Iran

State legislation is partly derived from religious law or by religious authorities
Preferential treatment is given to a religion or religion in general

This condition is applied where there are miscellaneous indicators that organs of the state offer various forms of support for a religion, or to religion in general over non-religious worldviews, suggesting a preference for those beliefs, or that the organs of that religion are privileged.

Countries: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zimbabwe

Religious or ideological instruction in a significant number of schools is of a coercive fundamentalist or extremist variety

This condition highlights countries where schools subject children to fundamentalist religious instruction with no real opportunity to question fundamentalist tenets, or where lessons routinely encourage hatred (for example religious or ethnic hatred). The wording “significant number of schools” is not given a rigid quantification (sometimes the worst-offending schools are unregistered, illegal, or otherwise uncounted); however the condition is not applied in cases where only a small number of schools meet the description and may be anomalous, as opposed to being indicative of a widespread problem.

Countries: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

State-funded schools provide religious education which may be nominally comprehensive but is substantively biased or borderline confessional
There is a pattern of impunity or collusion in violence by non-state actors against the non-religious
Some religious courts rule in civil or family matters on a coercive or discriminatory basis
‘Apostasy’ or conversion from a specific religion is outlawed and punishable by death
‘Apostasy’ is outlawed and punishable with a prison sentence

Countries: Bahrain, Comoros, Jordan, Kuwait

State legislation is largely or entirely derived from religious law or by religious authorities
Anomalous discrimination by local or provincial authorities, or overseas territories
Religious or ideological instruction is mandatory in at least some public schools (without secular or humanist alternatives)
Government figures or state agencies openly marginalize, harass, or incite hatred or violence against the non-religious
Government authorities push a socially conservative, religiously or ideologically inspired agenda, without regard to the rights of those with progressive views
‘Blasphemy’ or criticism of religion is outlawed and punishable by death
Quasi-divine veneration of a ruling elite is enforced, or a single-party regime holds uncontested power, subject to severe punishment
Legal or constitutional provisions exclude non-religious views from freedom of religion or belief
It is illegal to register an explicitly Humanist, atheist, secularist or other non-religious NGO or other human rights organization, or such groups are persecuted by authorities
Prohibitive interreligious social control (including interreligious marriage bans)
It is illegal to advocate secularism or church-state separation, or such advocacy is suppressed
The non-religious are barred from holding government office
There is a religious tax or tithing which is compulsory, or which is state-administered and discriminates by precluding non-religious groups
It is illegal or unrecognised to identify as an atheist or as non-religious
Some concerns about children's right to specifically freedom of religion or belief

This condition may apply if specifically religious education, religious materials, or specific religious denominations are so tightly controlled that children are in fact over-protected from exposure to religion and are likely unable to explore or construct their own worldview in accordance with their evolving capacities. This condition helps us to classify states (perhaps with secular constitutions) which have criminalized specifically religious beliefs or practices. This condition is not applied if the restricted beliefs or practices are found to be outlawed due to their being of an extremist variety. While this condition does not directly reflect discrimination against non-religious persons or non-religious ideas, it does represent an overall threat to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief; such restrictions could spill over to affect non-religious beliefs later; and they pose a risk of backlash against over-zealous secular authorities or even against non-religious individuals by association.

Countries: China, Congo, Democratic Republic of, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guyana, Italy, Kazakhstan, Laos, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, North Macedonia, Romania, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe

It is made difficult to register or operate an explicitly Humanist, atheist, secularist or other non-religious NGO or other human rights organization
Legend
 
Systemic Discrimination
Mostly Satisfactory
Free and Equal
More information about rating table

Constitution and government

Despite Namibia being a deeply religious country, the Constitution[ref]https://laws.parliament.na/namibian-constitution/[/ref] and other laws enshrine secularism, freedom of religion and expression (Article 1). The preamble to the Constitution recognises “the right of the individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of race, colour, ethnic origin, sex, religion, creed or social or economic status” and in practise these principles are generally upheld.

Article 19 of the Constitution includes a broad and vigorous proclamation that “every person shall be entitled to enjoy, practise, profess, maintain and promote maintain and promote any culture, language, tradition or religion”. This is further ratified in Article 21 which explicitly includes the “freedom of thought, conscience and belief” and “freedom to practise any religion and to manifest such practice”. These rights are subject to limitations if they threaten the sovereignty and integrity of the Republic.

The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion or creed, among other characteristics (Article 10).

The government does not require religions to register in order to be recognised by the state, and they are able to identify as voluntary associations. Registration with the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade, and SME (small to medium enterprise) Development affords them with tax exemptions. [ref]https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/namibia/[/ref]

Education and children’s rights

Under the Constitution, primary education is compulsory for all. The government school curriculum contains a non-sectarian religious and moral education component that includes education on moral principles and human rights and introduces students to a variety of African traditions and religions, as well as world religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, the Baha’i Faith, and Rastafarianism.[ref]https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Education/Training/thirdphase/ProgressReport/Governments/Namibia_3rdphasemidterm_2017.pdf; https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/namibia/[/ref]

Further, Article 20(4)(c) of the Constitution states that religious organizations may establish schools provided that “no restrictions of whatever nature are imposed with respect to the admission of pupils based on race, colour or creed.”

Family, community and society

Reports of any discrimination based on religious belief or societal abuses to freedom of thought are hard to come by, and accounts generally suggest that matters are generally peaceable in this regard.

Relations between different faiths and denominations appear to be amicable, the state consults annually with religious leaders; although it is unclear what level of influence they have on policy making.[ref]https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/namibia/[/ref]

Homosexuality

Homosexuality remains illegal based on the common law offence of committing “an unnatural sex crime”, though this is generally not enforced.[ref]https://www.equaldex.com/region/namibia[/ref] There is, however, a persistent cultural sense of social prejudice reported by members of the LGBTQ+ community, resulting in some reports of street attacks.[ref]https://freedomhouse.org/country/namibia/freedom-world/2020[/ref]

Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values

Freedom House has reported that self-censorship is common in state media, however, private media remains critical of the government.[ref]https://freedomhouse.org/country/namibia/freedom-world/2020[/ref]

In a landmark victory for media freedom, the Supreme Court in April 2019 upheld a 2018 high court judgment which rejected Namibia’s Central Intelligence Services request to ban the Patriot newspaper from publishing a story revealing improper use of public funds.

According to Freedom House:[ref]https://freedomhouse.org/country/namibia/freedom-world/2020[/ref]

“In January 2019, Minister of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) Stanley Simataa warned citizens against insulting leaders. In June, members of SWAPO tabled a motion in Parliament calling for the regulation of social media to address perceived abuses, including insults of political leaders. The government has reportedly acquired significant capabilities to conduct surveillance of citizens on various forms of communication. However, the legal framework for doing so remains questionable.”