Namibia has blocked a vessel carrying military cargo destined for Israel from docking at one of its ports citing its obligation not to support or be complicit in Israeli war crimes.
“Yes, I have asked Namport (Namibian Sports Authority) via the line ministry to consider the request to not allow the vessel MV Kathrin to dock in our ports,” the Justice Minister, Yvonne Dausab, told the state newspaper New Era, adding that the request was made on Friday.
Dausab said that her position meant she was responsible for ensuring that Namibia complied with its obligations under international law, specifically the Genocide Convention, to which Namibia was a party.
“As such, it was necessary to engage authorities in Namibia on issues of concern to ensure our decisions and actions domestically are aligned with our obligations in terms of international law and our policy stance of many years on Palestine,” she is reported as saying.
Dausab explained that upon receiving reports that a vessel may be carrying weapons intended for Israel,
I addressed a letter to Cabinet, international relations ministry, works ministry, as well as the safety and security ministry, advising and reminding them of our international obligations, not only under the Genocide Convention but also as articulated in the recent advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
She added:
It is against this background that I requested the relevant authorities not to allow the vessel MV Kathrin to dock at the Walvis Bay port.
Police Confirmation
Further investigation by the Namibian police force established that the vessel “was indeed carrying explosive material destined for Israel” and the vessel was prohibited from entering Namibian waters, said Dausab, adding that the decision “complies with our obligation not to support or be complicit in Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, as well as its unlawful occupation of Palestine.”
The Justice Minister also said it would be encouraging if “all countries, in particular African countries, followed suit and did their part to show support for the Palestinian people by taking whatever action is within their power and scope,” the report said.
According to the BBC, the Portuguese-flagged ship had set off from Vietnam and “had requested permission to dock” in Namibia “before sailing north, on a suspected route towards the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar.”
Ethnic Cleansing
In an interview with The Palestine Chronicle in May, Dausab said “We cannot stand idle in the face of the kinds of killing, and ethnic cleansing that we see in Palestine.”
"Namibia has to be part of every anti-apartheid movement because of the history of apartheid we endured."
Namibian Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab speaks to the Palestine Chronicle. pic.twitter.com/TolWyyV8Z5
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 11, 2024
She pointed out that schools, universities and classrooms had been destroyed by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“The intellectual life of Palestinian people has been taken away from them. How can we not call that a genocide?” Dausab said.
She added,
It’s written all over all the activities on the part of Israel that it wants to obliterate an entire nation. We cannot stand by and watch that.
Germany and ICJ
Earlier this year, Namibia slammed Germany’s announcement that it would intervene in the ongoing genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.
In a statement, the government said Germany “has chosen to defend in the ICJ the genocidal and gruesome acts of the Israeli Government against innocent civilians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
“Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza,” the statement also said, noting that various international organizations “have chillingly concluded that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza.”
German colonial forces carried out the Namibian genocide against the indigenous Herero and Nama peoples between 1904 and 1908. During the attack, at least 65,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama lost their lives.
As a result of the genocide, the Herero population decreased by at least 70 per cent, and the Nama population decreased by at least 50 per cent.
While Germany acknowledged the crimes committed in Namibia as genocide in 2021, it refused to accept responsibility for reparations.