Reparations a sticking point in genocide talks

Reparations for the victims of the German genocide in Namibia are a sticking point in the negotiations between the Namibian and German governments.

Another sticking point is a proposal by Namibia for compensatory measures for the losses and pain suffered by their forefathers in the colonial war. Though the content of the compensatory measures is not known to the public, it is allegedly regarded by the German side as too high.

“This has been the obstacle towards an agreement between the parties,” Dr Zed Ngavirue, the Namibian government's special envoy to talks with the German delegation, said on Thursday when asked where the parties were in the negotiations.

He said the Namibian delegation proposed to the Germans that if they felt the reparation position of the Namibian government was unrealistic, they should get experts to help determine what is realistic.

“You cannot put any value to the losses the Namibian people suffered in terms of land, livestock, forced labour and ethnic cleansing. It is unquantifiable,” he emphasised.

“What we are demanding is not too much given that our losses are unquantifiable,” he argued.

According to him the parties agreed to appoint working groups to reach a common understanding on what could help Namibia to reconstruct and regain its people's dignity.

“Therefore we have organised three working groups,” he said.

On the current outreach programme this delegation is undertaking among the affected communities, Ngavirue said they were trying to get the communities on board to brief them on where the negotiations were.



He added that if the Germans wanted to heal the wounds they must get input from the affected communities.



“That is what the outreach programme is all about,” he said.



However, at Maltahöhe people asking questions about the government's negotiation process were barred after maintaining that the team was presenting half-truths on the process.



Dr Ngavirue said the six rounds of talks between the Namibian and German government delegations were based on the Namibian parliament's motion which requested Germany to acknowledge the genocide, apologise and pay reparations.



Since the two parties started the talks the focus was on getting the German government to acknowledge the genocide.



According to him Germany does not deny that atrocities were committed by imperial German troops against the Herero and Nama populations, but it maintains that the events happened more than 100 years ago, before the 1948 convention on genocide, and that it differed from today's perspective.



The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948 as General Assembly Resolution 260. The Convention entered into force on 12 January 1951.



“The German attitude is that the law cannot be applied retrospectively,” Ngavirue said.



Last Tuesday, the outreach team leaders, Babel Tiboth and Jossop, were questioned about creating un-realistic expectations amongh ill-informed communities.



Sima Luipert, a civil society activist who attended the meeting and raised the critical point, was barred from the meeting.



According to her, Germany has not indicated in any of its documents or public statements that it accepted responsibility for reparations.



She said there was already an agreement in place between the two governments that Germany would give bilateral aid rather than pay reparations.



Luipert therefore emphasised that the delegation consulting the communities should not give communities half-truths because Germany never publicly or on paper admitted to genocide but referred instead to “historical losses”.



“They never publicly admitted to genocide,” she stressed but was told to leave the meeting.



Luipert said she went to a public meeting and gave her opinion on the issues raised but that the issues she raised were considered inappropriate for the meeting.



“I was told I am using their floor and meeting to speak on behalf of a group that opposes a government initiative,” she claimed afterwards.



According to her, she was informed that it was a government meeting and if she wanted a report from an anti-government committee she must organise her own meeting.



FRED GOEIEMAN