Latest news with #Herero
Qatar Tribune
3 days ago
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Namibia marks Genocide Remembrance Day recalling victims of German rule
Windhoek: Namibia marked its first Genocide Remembrance Day on Wednesday, recalling the victims of German colonial rule with a ceremony attended by thousands in the gardens of the parliament building in Windhoek. President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah referred to a day of remembrance and of common pain. 'We will never forget the emotional, psychological, economical and cultural scars that were left,' she said in an address to the nation. More than 100 years ago, on May 28, 1907, the German colonial authorities ordered the closure of concentration camps in the colony in response to international criticism of brutal conditions and high death rates in them. South West Africa, as Namibia was known at the time, was a German colony from 1884 until 1915. An uprising by the Herero and Nama population was brutally repressed during a war between 1904 and 1908. (DPA)
The Guardian
3 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Namibia pushes for German reparations on first genocide remembrance day
Namibia has observed its first genocide remembrance day, honouring the estimated 75,000 victims who were massacred by soldiers or forced into concentration camps during German colonial rule. Between 1904 and 1908, an estimated 65,000 Herero people and 10,000 Nama people were killed when the groups rejected colonial rule. It amounted to 80% and 50% of their respective populations at the time. Some of their skulls were taken to Germany for racist experiments and were stored in German hospitals, museums and universities for decades. Namibia's president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, told a memorial event in the parliament's gardens on Wednesday that the government would continue to push for reparations from Germany. She said: 'We should find a degree of comfort in the fact that the German government has agreed that German troops committed a genocide against the … people of our land. 'We may not agree on the final quantum, but that is part of the complex negotiations we have been engaged in with the German government since 2013 … We must remain committed that as a nation, we shall soldier on until the ultimate conclusion is reached.' In 2021, Germany officially recognised the atrocities as a genocide and agreed to pay Namibia €1.1bn (then £940m) to fund development for the Herero and Nama. It said this was a gesture of 'reconciliation', but not compensation or reparations. Germany returned the skulls and other human remains to Namibia in 2011 and 2018. Descendants of genocide victims said this was not enough and called on the German government to negotiate with them directly. Germany ruled Namibia, then known as South West Africa, from 1884 to 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa during the first world war. It became independent in 1990. Between 1904 and 1908, German troops shot, tortured or drove tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people into the Kalahari desert to starve, after they rebelled against colonial rule. Their descendants are now politically marginalised. Germany's ambassador to Namibia, Thorsten Hutter, said in a speech at the memorial: 'It is a stark reminder of the pain and suffering that was inflicted by German imperial troops during the colonial era … We cannot change the past, but as the people who are living today, it is our responsibility to remember those atrocities that were committed.' He told the local newspaper the Namibian: 'I believe we are on a very good path to forge forward, which includes the issues of reconciliation.' Herero and Nama representatives said more people in Namibia and worldwide should learn about the genocide. Hoze Riruako, a Herero chief, said it was a precursor to the Holocaust, but 'people are not aware of what has happened here to the same level.' Last year, Namibia declared 28 May would be a genocide remembrance day and a public holiday. It was chosen as it was the day in 1907 when Germany decided to close its concentration camps after an international outcry. Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this story
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Namibia marks inaugural Genocide Remembrance Day with call for reparations
Namibia has held its first Genocide Remembrance Day to commemorate tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people killed by German colonisers in the early 1900s, in what is widely considered the first genocide of the 20th century. The southern African country's president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, speaking at the event Wednesday, called again for reparations for the at least 70,000 Indigenous people killed by German troops from 1904 to 1908. Germany, which colonised Namibia from 1884 to 1915, previously acknowledged the genocide in 2021, but talks on reparations stretching back to 2013 have been fruitless. 'We should find a degree of comfort in the fact that the German government has agreed that the German troops committed a genocide against the … people of our land,' Nandi-Ndaitwah said at the ceremony held in the gardens of Namibia's parliament. 'We must remain committed that as a nation, we shall soldier on until the ultimate conclusion is reached,' she said. For its part, Germany released a statement earlier this week, reiterating that it 'acknowledges Germany's moral and political responsibility [for the killings] and emphasises the importance of reconciliation'.Berlin has previously pledged more than one billion euros ($1bn) in development aid over 30 years to benefit the descendants of the two targeted tribes, while stressing the funding should not be seen as payment of reparations. No agreement has been signed and Herero and Nama descendants have said they were excluded from the talks. At Wednesday's commemoration, candles were lit in honour of the victims and a minute of silence was followed by songs and speeches. The memorial was attended by about 1,000 people, including the German ambassador to Namibia. The Herero tribe revolted against German colonisers in January 1904, with the smaller Nama tribe joining the next year. The crackdown by German troops sent tens of thousands of people fleeing towards neighbouring Botswana. Then, in October 1904, German General Lothar von Trotha, under the command of German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II, signed a notorious 'extermination order' against the Herero. 'Within the German boundaries, every Herero, with or without a gun, with or without livestock, will be shot dead,' the order said. Between 1904 and 1908, at least 60,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama people were killed, many at German-run concentration camps, although some estimates put the death toll higher. Hundreds of Herero and Nama were also beheaded after being killed, with their skulls brought back to Germany for 'scientific' experiments meant to prove racial 2008, Namibian officials have demanded the bones be returned. Germany has complied, with ceremonial transfers in 2011 and 2018. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Israel Kaunatjike, a Herero activist who spearheaded the initiative 'No Amnesty on Genocide', called it a 'scandal' that no official memorial of the genocide has been held since Namibia gained independence from South Africa's control in 1990. 'It is very, very important for us today to celebrate, to remember those who lost their lives,' said Kaunatjike, who noted May 28 marked the day in 1908 the concentration camps were closed in then-German South West Africa. Kaunatjike added that any agreement that did not include reparations, and the return of Herero and Nama land still owned by descendants of German settlers, would be inadequate.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Namibia urges reparations at first German genocide memorial
Namibia holds its first genocide remembrance day to mark mass killings by colonial ruler Germany (AP) WINDHOEK: President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah repeated calls Wednesday for Germany to pay reparations for its genocide against Namibian tribes as she led the first official commemoration of the atrocity more than 120 years ago. Thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people were massacred by colonial-era German troops between 1904 and 1908 after they rebelled against their rule in what is regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century. "We should find a degree of comfort in the fact that the German government has agreed that the German troops committed a genocide against the... people of our land," Nandi-Ndaitwah said at the ceremony held in the gardens of parliament. Berlin has offered an apology but there is still no agreement on reparations in talks that began with the German government in 2013, she said. "We must remain committed that as a nation, we shall soldier on until the ultimate conclusion is reached," she said. Germany has pledged more than one billion euros ($1 billion) in development aid over 30 years to benefit the descendants of the two tribes, stressing this could not be considered as payment of reparations. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Artrose? Esta joelheira biônica pode ajudar a renovar seu joelho LegFix Undo Namibia has rejected the offer. The commemoration was attended by around 1,000 people including the German ambassador, Thorsten Hutter. Candles were lit in honour of the victims and a minute of silence was followed by song and speeches. "It is a stark reminder of the pain and suffering that was inflicted by German imperial troops during the colonial era," Hutter said. "I believe that it is important to understand that we cannot change the past, but as the people who are living today, it is our responsibility to remember those atrocities that were committed," he said. After lengthy and sometimes acrimonious negotiations, Germany in 2021 recognised the killings by its settlers constituted a genocide. An estimated 60,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama people were killed. Some were beheaded and their skulls handed to researchers in Berlin for since-discredited "scientific" experiments framed to prove the racial superiority of whites over blacks. Germany returned the skulls and other human remains to Namibia in 2011 and 2018. May 28 was chosen for the annual Genocide Remembrance Day commemoration as it was the day in 1907 when German authorities ordered the closure of concentration camps following international criticism over the brutal conditions and high death rates. It has been declared a public holiday in Namibia, a sparsely populated and largely desert nation of nearly three million people.
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
NGO says South Africans can relate to struggles Namibians faced
CAPE TOWN - A local NGO has highlighted the importance of showing support to Namibia as it marks its first Genocide Commemoration Day. To demonstrate this, activists in Cape Town staged a protest outside the German consulate. The day is meant to remember the more than 50,000 Herero and close to 10,000 Nama people who were killed by German military forces between 1904 and 1908. Under German rule, land was also confiscated from the indigenous people. Bettie Fortuin, from the Working On Farms project, said that South Africans could relate to the struggles Namibians faced. "That's why we are in solidarity with the Namibians and also Palestine because we know, we still feel it inside ourselves to be evicted, and to be murdered and to be chased away from your homeland."
