The German government has handed over the remains of indigenous men and women killed during the colonial era. Namibian activists have called on Berlin to apologize for massacring thousands and provide reparations.
The German government on Wednesday handed over human remains of the Herero and Nama indigenous groups from present-day Namibia.
Between 1904 and 1908, German imperial soldiers massacred thousands from both indigenous groupsin what has been called the “first genocide of the 20th century.”
While the German government has recognized the slaughter of the Herero and Nama groups as a genocide, parliament has not followed suit.
‘They must apologize’
Vekuii Rukoro, a Namibian lawyer, politician and Herero representative, had strong words for the German government at Wednesday’s ceremony.
“Genocide. That’s what we call it back home. That what German opposition MPs are calling it, that’s what the German public is calling it, that is what the world opinion is calling it. The only people — who after five years of painstaking negotiations — are unable to come to the same conclusion and agreement are the German and the Namibian government. Something is wrong with our two governments.”
Other officials agreed. “We are all united in one thing: We are all demanding that Germany must accept that it committed genocide in one country,” said Manase Zeraek, a traditional representative. “We are in agreement that they must apologize and that they must pay reparations.”
No ‘legal obligation’ to pay
Berlin has also refused to pay reparations. “The German government considers that the use of the term ‘genocide’ does not entail any legal obligation to reparations but rather political and moral obligations to heal the wounds. We’re sticking to that position,” Ruprecht Polenz, the German negotiator in the Namibia talks, told DW two years ago.
For more read the full of article at The Dw
