The University of Strasbourg (Unistra) announced on Monday (June 26) that it had launched a “scientific council” to assess its collection of “African human remains” after two requests for “inventory” and “restitution”, including the One concerns the Ovaherero Genocide by the Germans in the early 20th century in Namibia.
One request was made by the province of Moshi, Tanzania, and concerns the Wachagga tribes while the other was made by the Namibian foundation Ovambanderu Genocide Foundation on possible human remains of the genocide perpetrated by the German imperial troops against the Ovaherero and the Ovambanderu in 1904, said Mathieu Schneider, vice-president of Unistra, at a press conference.
The institution has several dozen human remains brought back from Africa during the German imperial period (1871-1918), when Alsace was integrated into the Wilhelminian Reich.
The Germans then had several African colonies, notably in Cameroon, Togo, Tanzania or Namibia, where they were notably responsible for the massacre of at least 60,000 Herero between 1904 and 1908, which is considered by many historians to be the first genocide of the 20th century. “The University of Strasbourg considers that, politically, it is its duty to initiate this restitution process”, “in complete transparency and with the necessary scientific information”, insisted Mr. Schneider.
« Imprescriptible »
The task of the scientific council, made up of a dozen specialists from different disciplines (history, sociology, law, ethnology, anatomy, etc.), will in particular be to provide “tangible and scientifically informed” elements as well as to determine “the material conditions, diplomatic and regulatory frameworks in which restitution can take place.
The first step will be to carry out “a proofreading” to “ensure that the parts that have been identified” so far come from Namibia and Tanzania, explained Mr. Schneider, according to whom he is for the moment ” difficult” to predict when it will be completed. According to Aggée Célestin Lomo Myazhiom, sociologist at Unistra and member of the committee, “potentially around thirty” human remains (skulls, femurs, etc.) could correspond to the requests.
Once this verification is completed, it will also be necessary to resolve a “regulatory” difficulty, specified Mr. Schneider, since under current French law, the university heritage, of which these remains are part, is “inalienable and imprescriptible” and cannot may be transferred, unless there is an ad hoc law.
However, a text adopted on June 13 by the French Senate, should in the future facilitate the “restitution of human remains belonging to public collections”, under certain conditions: it will be necessary for example that the requests are formulated by States, explained Mr Schneider.
However, this is not the case for the two requests, sent by a province and a foundation, and which will therefore have to be formulated again, this time by the governments. “We are looking for a form of exemplarity. To see then if we are followed by other universities, “insisted Mathieu Schneider.
