The Nama and Herero, peoples of Namibia, demanded Thursday, April 27 to participate directly and independently of the Namibian government in the renegotiations with Germany of the disputed agreement on the genocide concluded in 2021 between the two governments.
This request follows a recent report by UN rapporteurs highlighting the special legal status of the two peoples in the eyes of international law and recalling that mechanisms to redress colonial crimes must be developed with indigenous peoples.
“Our claims for reparations are now in the hands of the UN. We will now ask them to ensure that Germany respects the obligations of the United Nations and the nations of the world,” Herero high representative Mutjinde Katjiua told a press conference in the Namibian capital Windhoek.
First genocide of the 20th century
Germany was responsible in the southern African country for the massacres of the Herero and Nama peoples, which many historians consider to be the first genocide of the 20th century. At least 60,000 Herero and some 10,000 Nama were killed between 1904 and 1908.
In May 2021, after more than five years of tough negotiations, Germany admitted to having committed “genocide” on this territory which it colonized between 1884 and 1915 and promised development aid of 1.1 billion euros. euros over thirty years, which should benefit the descendants of the two tribes.
Germany stressed that this aid will be paid on a “voluntary basis” and that the agreement is not comparable to “reparations”. Many Namibians rejected the deal, believing that Herero and Nama descendants had not been sufficiently involved in the negotiations. The negotiated amount has also been deemed “insulting” by representatives of the two peoples, who are calling for reparations.
Namibia announced in October 2022, under pressure from the opposition, that it had asked Germany for a renegotiation, without specifying the modifications requested.