Namibia Demands Reparations From Germany For Colonial Genocide

True justice for the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples remains unfinished, despite ongoing negotiations with Germany, Namibia’s Prosecutor General Festus Katuna Mbandeka told Sputnik.

“No amount of money can compensate for the suffering and the lives that were lost,” the Prosecutor General underscored on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

Namibia demands three things:

official recognition of the genocidepublic apologyreparations

Germany has already accepted the first two. Negotiations on the toughest part — the scale and form of reparations — are still grinding on.

The talks also address legal mechanisms for implementing the payments and achieving genuine reconciliation.

“Measures must be taken to promote reconciliation and preserve the memory of those events. This should not be a one-time action, but a sustained series of initiatives,” the Prosecutor Genera added.

The territory of present-day Namibia, then known as German South West Africa, existed as a German colony from 1884 to 1915.

Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial forces killed tens of thousands in response to a rebellion by the Herero and Nama peoples in what is widely recognized as the first genocide of the 20th century — involving mass killings, concentration camps, and land theft.

Source: https://sputnikglobe.com