Germany urged to provider Namibian genocide reparations

Amnesty International has called for Germany to provide reparations for genocide committed against Namibia’s Ovaherero and Nama peoples between 1904 and 1908 – steps Germany has refused, despite recognising the atrocities as genocide. The appeal came on the 121st anniversary of Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha’s extermination order against the Ovaherero people, reports the Jurist. ‘It is shameful that over a hundred years since German colonial forces waged a genocide against the Nama and Ovaherero peoples, Germany has failed to engage in meaningful consultations with these communities or provide reparations,’ said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa. An estimated 100 000 people died in what Germany officially recognises as the 20th century’s first genocide. While Germany accepted ‘moral responsibility’ in 2021, it denies any legal obligation to pay reparations. Instead, a joint declaration with Namibia offered €1.1bn in development aid, not reparations, over 30 years. The agreement excluded Ovaherero and Nama representatives from negotiations.

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