Germany must deliver reparatory justice for colonial past in Namibia: Amnesty International

James Kunda

LUSAKA, Zambia (AA) – Amnesty International said on Thursday that Germany must provide reparatory justice to Namibia for its "brutal" colonial past.

"Over 100 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," Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International's regional director for East and Southern Africa, said in a statement Thursday, marking the anniversary of one of the "extermination orders" in Germany's colonial genocide against the indigenous Namibian people.

It is estimated that over 75,000 Ovaherero and Nama people were killed between 1904 and 1908 as a result of a proclamation issued by Lothar Von Trotha, the German imperial forces' commander at the time.

According to Amnesty, the German government agreed to pay the Namibian government approximately €1.1 billion over a 30-year period to support "programmes for reconstruction and development" in a 2021 joint declaration between the two governments.

Chagutah urged the German and Namibian governments to ensure the full, effective, and meaningful participation of Ovaherero and Nama in any repatriation process or mechanism to address past human rights violations.

"There cannot be true justice if those affected are excluded from the talks. Victims and affected communities should be at the center of any processes to redress colonial legacies," Chagutah said.