Genocide in Namibia | Colonial hypocrisy

More than a hundred years after the German genocide of Nama and Ovaherero , the German government still refuses what should be self-evident : clear legal recognition of the genocide and genuine reparations for the descendants of those killed en masse. The 2021 "Reconciliation Agreement" also perpetuates the colonial power asymmetry between Germany and Namibia. Instead, there are sleights of hand, and representatives of the once-affected communities remain excluded from further negotiations between the governments in Windhoek and Berlin. What passes for "reconciliation" thus degenerates into an act of mercy.

Medico International is one of the German organizations that has been pushing for genuine reparations in Namibia for years. The human rights organization rightly points out that the crimes against the San and Damara, for example, have so far remained virtually unmentioned. Human remains still lie in German museum archives. At the same time, 70 percent of Namibia's fertile farmland is still owned by European descendants – while the victims' families are kept in poverty.

Only when these colonial continuities are officially identified and addressed—with the involvement of the communities once affected—can Germany seriously embrace the term "reconciliation." The biggest problem of the colonial German genocide remains that the descendants of the victims continue to be disenfranchised.