Germany Will Pay Namibia $1.3bn As It Formally Recognizes Colonial-Era Genocide

[CNN] More than 100 years after the crimes committed by the
German colonial power in what is now Namibia, Germany has formally
recognized the atrocities committed against the Herero and Nama
ethnic groups as genocide.

Germany will support Namibia and the descendants of the victims
with €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) for reconstruction and development
and ask for forgiveness for the “crimes of German colonial rule,”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement on
Friday.

“Our goal was and is to find a common path to genuine
reconciliation in memory of the victims. This includes naming the
events of the German colonial period in what is now Namibia, and in
particular the atrocities in the period from 1904 to 1908, without
sparing or glossing over them. We will now also officially call
these events what they were from today’s perspective: a genocide,”
Maas said.

The Namibian government saw the formal acceptance of the
atrocities as genocide as a key step in the process of
reconciliation and reparation, Namibian presidential press
secretary Alfredo Hengari told CNN on Friday.

“These are very positive developments in light of a very long
process that has been accelerated over the past five years. People
will never forget this genocide; they live with it. And this is an
important process in terms of healing those wounds,” he said.

Victims group reject deal
However victims groups have rejected the deal. Vekuii Rukoro, the
Paramount Chief of Herero people, former attorney general and
member of parliament told CNN that they were not part of the
discussion with the German government.

“Is this the kind of reparation that we are supposed to be
excited about? This is just a public relations. This is a sellout
job by the Namibian government. The government has betrayed the
cause of my people,” he said.

Rukoro said that Herero and Nama victim groups expect monetary
reparations. He said reparations didn’t need to go to individual
people, but should be in the form of a collective payment to the
descendants of those killed and pushed off their land during the
genocide.

German troops killed up to 80,000 of Herero and Nama people in
what is now Namibia between 1904 and 1908 in response to an
anti-colonial uprising.

He added that the German president is not welcome in the
southern African country.

“The president of Germany isn’t welcome here as far as victim
communities are concerned. He is persona non grata,” he said.

A bloody conflict
German troops killed up to 80,000 of Herero and Nama people in the
southern African country between 1904 and 1908 in response to an
anti-colonial uprising, according to the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum.

According to historians, the bloody conflict happened when the
Herero indigenous people revolted against colonial troops over land
seizures. Germany, which today gives development aid to Namibia,
offered its first formal apology for the conflict in 2004.

Both countries had been in talks since 2015 to negotiate
compensation for the massacre by German colonial forces. Maas said
in his statement that representatives of the Herero and Nama
communities were “closely involved” in the negotiations on the
Namibian side.

“The crimes of German colonial rule have long burdened relations
with Namibia. There can be no closing of the book on the past.
However, the recognition of guilt and our request for apology is an
important step towards coming to terms with the crimes and shaping
the future together,” Maas said.

German media is reporting that an official request for
forgiveness will be made by German President Frank-Walter
Steinmeier at a ceremony in the Namibian parliament.

“A decision on a possible trip by the Federal President will be
made after the governments have reached a formal agreement and in
close consultation with the Namibian side,” a spokesperson at the
office of the Federal President told CNN.

The announcement comes a day after French President Emmanuel
Macron publicly acknowledged France’s “overwhelming responsibility”
in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and said only the survivors could
give “the gift of forgiveness.”

In 1994, around 800,000 mainly ethnic Tutsis were killed by Hutu
militias supported by the Rwandan government. France has been
accused of failing to prevent the genocide and of supporting the
Hutu regime, even after the massacres had started.

[CNN] More than 100 years after the crimes committed by the
German colonial power in what is now Namibia, Germany has formally
recognized the atrocities committed against the Herero and Nama
ethnic groups as genocide.

Germany will support Namibia and the descendants of the victims
with €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) for reconstruction and development
and ask for forgiveness for the “crimes of German colonial rule,”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement on
Friday.

“Our goal was and is to find a common path to genuine
reconciliation in memory of the victims. This includes naming the
events of the German colonial period in what is now Namibia, and in
particular the atrocities in the period from 1904 to 1908, without
sparing or glossing over them. We will now also officially call
these events what they were from today’s perspective: a genocide,”
Maas said.

The Namibian government saw the formal acceptance of the
atrocities as genocide as a key step in the process of
reconciliation and reparation, Namibian presidential press
secretary Alfredo Hengari told CNN on Friday.

“These are very positive developments in light of a very long
process that has been accelerated over the past five years. People
will never forget this genocide; they live with it. And this is an
important process in terms of healing those wounds,” he said.

Victims group reject deal
However victims groups have rejected the deal. Vekuii Rukoro, the
Paramount Chief of Herero people, former attorney general and
member of parliament told CNN that they were not part of the
discussion with the German government.

“Is this the kind of reparation that we are supposed to be
excited about? This is just a public relations. This is a sellout
job by the Namibian government. The government has betrayed the
cause of my people,” he said.

Rukoro said that Herero and Nama victim groups expect monetary
reparations. He said reparations didn’t need to go to individual
people, but should be in the form of a collective payment to the
descendants of those killed and pushed off their land during the
genocide.

German troops killed up to 80,000 of Herero and Nama people in
what is now Namibia between 1904 and 1908 in response to an
anti-colonial uprising.

He added that the German president is not welcome in the
southern African country.

“The president of Germany isn’t welcome here as far as victim
communities are concerned. He is persona non grata,” he said.

A bloody conflict
German troops killed up to 80,000 of Herero and Nama people in the
southern African country between 1904 and 1908 in response to an
anti-colonial uprising, according to the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum.

According to historians, the bloody conflict happened when the
Herero indigenous people revolted against colonial troops over land
seizures. Germany, which today gives development aid to Namibia,
offered its first formal apology for the conflict in 2004.

Both countries had been in talks since 2015 to negotiate
compensation for the massacre by German colonial forces. Maas said
in his statement that representatives of the Herero and Nama
communities were “closely involved” in the negotiations on the
Namibian side.

“The crimes of German colonial rule have long burdened relations
with Namibia. There can be no closing of the book on the past.
However, the recognition of guilt and our request for apology is an
important step towards coming to terms with the crimes and shaping
the future together,” Maas said.

German media is reporting that an official request for
forgiveness will be made by German President Frank-Walter
Steinmeier at a ceremony in the Namibian parliament.

“A decision on a possible trip by the Federal President will be
made after the governments have reached a formal agreement and in
close consultation with the Namibian side,” a spokesperson at the
office of the Federal President told CNN.

The announcement comes a day after French President Emmanuel
Macron publicly acknowledged France’s “overwhelming responsibility”
in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and said only the survivors could
give “the gift of forgiveness.”

In 1994, around 800,000 mainly ethnic Tutsis were killed by Hutu
militias supported by the Rwandan government. France has been
accused of failing to prevent the genocide and of supporting the
Hutu regime, even after the massacres had started.