Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Ovaherero Traditional Authority and the Nama Traditional Leaders Association lodged a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Council against Germany last month, for violating the rights of genocide victims to self determination and to participate directly in negotiations for reparations for the genocide committed from 1904 to 1908.
Chairperson of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) transitional committee Mutjinde Katjiua says Germany ratified the 1948 Genocide Prevention and Responsibility to Protect Convention, which obligates member states to punish genocide and ensure effective penalties are in place for those found guilty of criminal conduct.
The complaint asserts that up to now Germany has not provided any monetary compensation without attached preconditions such as funding development projects in the country. Also the negotiations for these reparations took place without the involvement of affected communities.
“This is a violation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), as the negotiations between the German and Namibian governments took place without the free prior informed consent of the affected communities who, according to UNDRIP, are entitled to that right,” says the submission.
Speaking at the //Howesen Traditional Festival, chairperson of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association, Simon Kooper, who represents 10 authorities who were not part of the negotiations, says the government must stop trivialising the history of the Nama and Herero genocide.
Kooper says it was the chiefs who started the genocide talks, but today they are excluded. “Why can we not speak for ourselves? We are the people who lost land, livestock and families. Will our cries only be heard if we speak through the government,” says Kooper.
“We have listened to this government, we followed their instructions, but now they, must know that our ancestors blood is not their playground,” says Kooper.
The submission presented to the UN secretary-general by the Society for Threatened Peoples’ states that the German government has refused to negotiate with the actual descendants of the victims of the genocide, namely the Herero and the Namaqua representatives.
International lawyers from McCallion and Associates LPP, the European Commission of Human Rights, and the Minority Rights Groups compiled the submission.
“The latter tried several times to pressurise the negotiating parties – the German and the Namibian government – to include them without success,” says the submission.
Katjiua says the OTA represents over 35 recognised traditional authorities, and the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) were never invited to a meeting by the president.
“Upon our repeated requests they met with the president once where they requested amendments made to the framework. The president informed us that he will revert back to us in seven days but till today he has not,” says Katjiua.
“The Nama Technical Committee on Genocide and the Genocide Foundation of the OTA, were informed that the head of state appointed the late Zed Ngavirue as special envoy on the genocide negotiations team. These two entities fall under the NTLA and OTA respectively. Where is our invite?” asks Katjiua.
On the issue of reparations, the Society of Threatened Peoples states that the party found guilty should provide reparations to the actual victims, and is only meant to compensate a state that has already provided reparations to the victims.
“However, as far as the Society of Threatened Peoples is aware, the latter has not been the case in Namibia, which implies that a reparations payment to the Namibian state is not adequate in the frame of the genocide from 1904 to1908,” says the submission.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
