{"id":9329,"date":"2022-01-13T17:33:29","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T17:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants"},"modified":"2022-01-13T19:05:39","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T19:05:39","slug":"germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants","title":{"rendered":"‘Germany should speak directly to genocide descendants’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>A HISTORIAN of German descent says it’s best for Namibia and Germany to accept the 1904-1908 genocide agreement, adding that Germany should start holding direct talks with the descendants of victim communities in order to come up with another agreement.<\/b><\/p>\n

Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, J\u00fcrgen Zimmerer says it would be good if the Namibian government would support this move. \u201cIn the end, we would have two agreements but this could help reconciliation along,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In May last year, the German and Namibian governments entered into an agreement which concluded five years of genocide negotiations. The negotiations saw Germany acknowledging the genocide, and undertaking that their federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, would render an apology to the affected communities.<\/p>\n

The agreement also saw Germany promising to pay Namibia over N$18 billion towards reconciliation and development over a period of 30 years. This allocation is about the same amount Germany has spent on development cooperation has spent in the 30 years since Namibia’s independence.<\/p>\n

Zimmerer says he does not see why direct negotiations cannot take place, as Germany has done this with Jewish victim groups in the Jewish Claims Conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would also need to be open for Hereros and Namas from the diaspora.<\/p>\n

\u201cGermany would prefer the case to be closed, however, the new German government set herself high moral standards, and that could open an avenue to solve the deadlock and to overcome the divisive nature of the current agreement,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, analyst Henning Melber says the fact that the reconciliation agreement will be published as a mere joint declaration \u201cspeaks volumes\u201d, and reflects the fact that reconciliation between the people of the two countries \u2013 but also within Namibia \u2013 is further away than before.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne cannot admit to the degree of atrocities committed, with their far-reaching demographic, material and traumatic consequences for the descendants of the survivors, without seeking direct reconciliation,\u201d Melber notes.<\/p>\n

In an opinion piece he wrote for The Conversation, Melber says the preceding negotiation process disregards international participation rights, based both on treaties and customary international law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe declaration avoids the term ‘reparations’,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

As part of the funding made available by the German government, Melber says another US$56 million will be dedicated to projects on reconciliation, remembrance, research and education over the 30-year period.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a pittance. For many, such meagre material recognition adds insult to injury,’ he says. DEBATE<\/p>\n

The parliamentary debate on the matter was postponed as a result of a Covid-19 imposed lockdown, but re-opened in late September 2021 and lasted until the end of the parliamentary sessions on 1 December.<\/p>\n

Various opposition parties were against the agreement, calling on the Namibian government to embark on re-negotiations which should include the affected communities, including those in the diaspora.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the descendants of the genocide survivors substantially involved and willing to reconcile, this remains as patronising and paternalistic as colonialism was. It underlines the continued asymmetries. There is a long way to reconciliation,\u201d Melber notes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, defence minister Frans Kapofi was quoted in New Era this week calling those against the genocide deal, who believe the descendants of affected communities must engage with Germany directly, ‘delusional’.<\/p>\n

A descendant of the genocide Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro, says it is baffling that the Namibian government and Kapofi seem \u201cblatantly\u201d ignorant of this salient point of international conventional instruments, in terms of the descendants of the genocide victims representing themselves and making their voices heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, in a true neo-colonial manifestation, the Namibian government and Kapofi are pandering to the whims and wishes of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. A HISTORIAN of German descent says it’s best for Namibia and Germany to accept the 1904-1908 genocide agreement, adding that Germany should start holding direct talks with the descendants of victim communities in order to come up with another agreement. Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, J\u00fcrgen Zimmerer says it would be good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":9328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,9,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-9329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\n'Germany should speak directly to genocide descendants' - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A HISTORIAN of German descent says it's best for Namibia and Germany to accept the 1904-1908 genocide agreement, addi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Germany should speak directly to genocide descendants'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A HISTORIAN of German descent says it's best for Namibia and Germany to accept the 1904-1908 genocide agreement, addi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-13T17:33:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-13T19:05:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/01\/img-61e077ef4678f.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"478\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"‘Germany should speak directly to genocide descendants’\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-13T17:33:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-13T19:05:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants\"},\"wordCount\":617,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/01\/img-61e077ef4678f.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"miscellaneous\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/germany-should-speak-directly-to-genocide-descendants\",\"name\":\"'Germany should speak directly to genocide descendants' - 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