Human Rights Concern, Namibia: Germany recognises the massacre of at least 100,000 people in Namibia as genocide during her colonial era, promise 1.1€ reparation
3 min read
In 2015, Germany, the former colonial master of Namibia formally acknowledged that the atrocious killing of Herero and Nama people that took place between 1904 and 1908 constituted genocide (Germany and Namibia: What’s the right price to pay for genocide? – BBC News)
Since then, Germany has been negotiating a restorative justice deal with Namibia that will set a global precedent. It is worthy to note that Germany is the first former Colonial power to acknowledge and promise to work out a comprehensive agreement about the legacy of the past
Between 1904 and 1908, at least 100, 000 people were killed by Germany when the former Colonial master, started crushing an uprising in 1904. Between the above mention years, survivors were driven into the desert, where many ended up in concentration camps to be used as slave labour and many died from cold, malnutrition and exhaustion.
In 2017 following the formal acceptance by Germany, Herero and Nama groups sue Germany over the Namibia genocide and demanded reparations for what former colonial power Germany acknowledges was genocide in 2015.
The suit claims damages on the basis that, as it states: (Source BBC: Herero and Nama groups sue Germany over Namibia genocide – BBC News)
- from 1885 to 1903, about a quarter of Herero and Nama lands were taken without compensation by settlers with official oversight – German descendants still farm some of that land today
- colonial authorities ignored rapes of Herero and Nama women and girls as well as indigenous forced labour
- as many as 100,000 Herero and Nama people died after they rebelled in 1904 in a campaign led by Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha
Studies also suggest that colonial rulers placed captives in concentration camps, and shipped off thousands of heads belonging to the dead to Berlin in an attempt to prove the inferiority of the defeated Africans in now-discredited medical experiments.
On Friday 28 May 2021, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement “We will now officially refer to these events as what they are from today’s perspective: genocide,…In light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany, we will ask forgiveness from Namibia and the victims’ descendants for the atrocities committed,” The is coming when President Emmanuel Macron has early this month of May asked Rwanda to forgive France over 1994-genocide role
Germany has also agreed to fund projects in Namibia worth 1.1 billion euros ($1.3bn) over 30 years to atone for its role in mass killings and property seizures in its then colony more than a century ago.
According to Aljazeera (Germany recognises colonial-era massacres in Namibia as genocide | Genocide News | Al Jazeera), German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement on Friday. “We will now officially refer to these events as what they are from today’s perspective: genocide,…In light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany, we will ask forgiveness from Namibia and the victims’ descendants for the atrocities committed,”
Aljazeera also reported that the country’s President Hage Geingob’s spokesman Alfredo Hengari welcomed the initiative “The acceptance on the part of Germany that a genocide was committed is the first step in the right direction,…..It is the basis for the second step, which is an apology, to be followed by reparations,”
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Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
