Namibia

June 1, 2001

His Excellency Sam Nujoma
President of the Republic of Namibia
State House
Robert Mugabe Avenue
Private Bag 13339
Windhoek, Namibia

Via fax: 011-264-61-221770

Your Excellency:

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disturbed by your recent order banning government agencies from spending public funds to purchase the Windhoek independent daily The Namibian. This decision follows a government advertising ban imposed on the newspaper in December.

NAMIBIA, REGARDED AS A MODEL OF DEMOCRACY, peace, and stability in southern Africa over the past decade, celebrated its 10th anniversary of independence last year, along with the inauguration of President Sam Nujoma to an unprecedented third term in office. The celebrations were marred, however, by the country's involvement in several armed conflicts and by widespread allegations of abuses committed by Namibian authorities.

The Nujoma government clashed frequently with human rights organizations and the independent media over issues such as the ongoing conflict in Namibia's northeast Caprivi region, the government's decision to allow the Angolan government to deploy troops in Namibia to fight against UNITA rebels, and Namibia's involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.