Namibia Seeks German Aid for Genocide Reparations

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BBSA

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Namibia will ask Germany to fund development projects in seven regions as reparations for acts of genocide committed by the former colonial power, the Namibian reported.

The government set up a committee to identify projects in areas inhabited by survivors of the genocide that took place a century ago, the Windhoek-based newspaper said.

The announcement followed the latest round of talks between the two nations in which Namibia is seeking an apology from Germany for the killings, the paper said. Namibia accuses Germany of committing genocide against the ethnic Herero and Nama communities between 1904 and 1908.

Germany ruled Namibia from 1884 until 1915, when the League of Nations handed control to South Africa, which had defeated German forces defending the territory.

 
Herero, who spoke a Bantu language, were originally a group of cattle herders who migrated into what is now Namibia during the mid-18th century. The Herero seized vast swaths of the arable upper plateaus which were ideal for cattle grazing. Agricultural duties, which were minimal, were assigned to enslaved Hottentots and Bushmen. Over the rest of the 18th century, the Herero slowly drove the Hottentots into the dry, rugged hills to the South and East.[21]
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_and_Namaqua_genocide

So where are the Hottentot(sic) and Bushman reparation demands from the Herero?
 
vigras rojara said:
Yup a bit late for that.

Read up a bit about what the Germans did there though. Horrific.
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I think there was an attempt 2 decades ago. They wouldn't have lodged a claim at the time Germany paid Israel because they were still under colonial rule. Germany has acknowledged their hand in other genocides. Why not this one?
 
Lol at least they asking the Germans and not China
 
https://www.dw.com/en/namibia-germany-reparations/a-54535589
Namibian President Hage Geingob on Tuesday turned down Germany's offer of €10 million ($11.7 million) in reparations for mass killings at the start of the 20th century.

"The current offer for reparations made by the German government remains an outstanding issue and is not acceptable to the Namibian government," Geingob said in a statement after a briefing on the status of negotiations. He added that the government's special envoy, Zed Ngavirue, would continue to negotiate for a "revised offer."

Geingob also took exception to Germany's use of the term "healing the wounds" in place of the word reparations, saying the terminology would be debated further.
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The two countries began negotiating an agreement in 2015 that would see Germany give an official apology and development aid as compensation for the killing of tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people by German occupiers in 1904-1908.

In June, President Geingob suggested that Germany would offer an unreserved apology. However, Berlin is yet to do so, despite acknowledging that its colonial authorities perpetrated the atrocities.
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ForceFate said:
I think there was an attempt 2 decades ago. They wouldn't have lodged a claim at the time Germany paid Israel because they were still under colonial rule. Germany has acknowledged their hand in other genocides. Why not this one?
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There's been a few different governments since then (was during Prussia, then came Weimar Republic, then Nazi Germany, then split as West and East, then unified), there is no law that Germany broke as those laws didn't exist, it's a moral question.
Ruling predictable, says Germany

The ruling was predictable, said Germany's legal representative Ruprecht Polenz, a jurist, veteran Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician and former Bundestag foreign affairs committee chairman, who since 2015 has led negotiations with Namibia's government over the colonial past.

"That's why we've always said that it's not a legal but a political-moral issue," Polenz told the German news agency dpa.

The New York ruling could have a "clarifying effect," he told the German Catholic news agency KNA.

Polenz said further talks were planned for April.

"I hope that we will soon come to a settlement," he said, adding that the goal was to provide substantial development aid to "heal the still existent wounds."

He told Bavarian BR public radio last August that aside from its political-moral aspect Germany saw "no legal obligation because at that moment in time [in former German South West Africa] there was no legal framework that one could apply."

www.dw.com

Namibia genocide case against Germany dismissed

A US court has dismissed a compensation lawsuit lodged against Germany by two Namibian tribes for genocide and property seizures in colonial times. New York lawyers for Herero and Nama will appeal the ruling.
www.dw.com www.dw.com
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Germany is already investing a lot in Africa (most recent that I know of is the 1BN EUR investment/loans in Africa for any business that basically passes King principles), and then a lot of donations to Namibia. These indigenous are just trying to play the blame game in order to get more out of Germany, if you can't move on in 100 years (4/5 generations for them), no reparations will help.

Germany's special historical responsibility towards Namibia is reflected in its sizeable programme of development cooperation. Since Namibia secured its independence in 1990, Germany has been one of its largest bilateral donors. For the two-year period 2017/2018, Germany pledged around 130 million euros in support.
www.bmz.de

Countries

German development policy works with 60 partner countries. Each country faces its own specific challenges, which is reflected in the strategic cooperation with the countries and regions.
www.bmz.de www.bmz.de
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C4Cat said:
Why, who set a time limit on reparations?
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It is critically important.
Elsewise you are going to end up making people who had nothing to do with the act pay money to people who were never affected by that. Although I can see why that isn't a problem for someone who thinks that theft is a moral virtue.
 
RonSwanson said:
And if they don't pay, Namibia should just declare all German products like motor vehicles (VW, BMW, Mercedes et al), spoken and written language and technological contributions verboten.
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Both Afrikaans and English are used primarily as a second language reserved for public communication. A complete list of languages according to the 2011 census is 48.9% Oshiwambo, 11.3% Khoekhoegowab, 10.4% Afrikaans, 8.6% Otjiherero, 8.5% RuKwangali, 4.8% siLozi, 3.4% English, 1.2% Other African Languages, 0.9% German, 0.8% San, 0.7% Other European Languages, 0.3% Setswana, and 0.1% Asian Languages.
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Looks like German is already on the way out up there in the north in South West.
 
RonSwanson said:
And if they don't pay, Namibia should just declare all German products like motor vehicles (VW, BMW, Mercedes et al), spoken and written language and technological contributions verboten.
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They bought those items. And no country has commercial ownership of written/spoken language.
 
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