While Namibia’s move to openly call out Germany for its pro-Israel stance is widely welcomed by many across the globe, a Namibian human rights activist has challenged the government to act against atrocities Germany committed in Namibia.
On Sunday, Namibian President Hage Geingob condemned Germany’s support of what he called a racist Israeli state with genocidal intent against innocent civilians in Gaza.
This was after Germany publicly took sides with Israel on Saturday following the case against Israel that SA brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week. SA is accusing Israel of genocide against Palestine in Gaza.
Sima Luipert, a human rights activist and a member of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association Technical Committee on Genocide in Namibia, said Namibians at large welcome the government’s decision to rightfully call out Germany for its pro-Israel stance.
She said a far more greater statement for the people of Namibia would be for the government to get Germany to atone for the genocide it committed in Namibia, or like SA, approach the international court to get Germany to account.
“If anything, SA’s bold stance should be motivation for the government to act,” she said. “It’s quite ironic because it is public knowledge that the same president is sitting around the table with Germany to sign a reconciliation agreement that has very little reparations for the people of Namibia.
“This agreement is being conducted without participation rights of members of the public and the affected people and has been rejected by affected groups. Germany has not been willing to make things right in Namibia, why is the government not taking them to court? Could it be all talk and no action?”
She questioned why the government has not, to date, sought legal relief to get justice for the genocide committed against the Nama and the Ovaherero people.
“The Namibian government must realise the power it has to act against Germany. We have nothing to lose. They [Germany] either admit fault and pay proper reparations to make up for the dispossession and the genocide they committed or they should be taken to international courts, just like SA is doing,” she said.
The stance by Germany to side with Israel infuriated the Namibian government, which only as recent as 2021, got an admission of the genocidal acts from Germany, with the promise for reparations.
Germany committed what historians describe as the 20th century’s first genocide on Namibian soil in 1904-1908, killing thousands of Nama and Herero people in the most inhumane and brutal conditions.
In his statement on Saturday, Geingnob blasted Germany, saying it has not drawn lessons from its horrific history.
“Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, while supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza.”
He expressed deep concern with the shocking decision which he said rejected the morally upright indictment brought forward by SA that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za
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