“Genocide reparation documents ‘disappear’
Jemima Beukes
2024-09-20
Documents, including minutes of meetings between Namibian and German technical committees, have apparently disappeared.
This recently came to light in a case in the Windhoek High Court, brought by Bernadus Swartbooi, the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) and 11 traditional authorities against the government.
The court application seeks to annul the controversial joint statement between Namibia and Germany – in which the German government agreed to pay Namibia 1.1 billion euros (N$18.6 billion) in projects over 30 years for the reconciliation and reconstruction of affected communities of the Nama-Herero genocide from 1904 to 1908.
[…]
Penda Naanda, the executive director of the international relations and cooperation ministry, said in his affidavit that these documents, which have not disappeared, are still being drawn up by representatives of the Namibian and German governments.
Some of the documents related to the negotiations are also subject to attorney-client privilege, he said.
“Some documents cannot be located despite a diligent search for them. Some documents are still being prepared,” Naanda said.
He further accused Swartbooi and the traditional leaders of not having acted in good faith by demanding documents that had not yet been negotiated by the two governments and thereby apparently hindering the negotiation.
[…].”
- Full report on the website of the Namibian Sun (pay wall from 0:00 to 12:00; last checked in September 2024)
- The original report “Reparasiedokumente ‘verdwyn in die niet'” by Jemima Beukes was published on 18 September 2024 by the Afrikaans newspaper Die Republikein (pay wall from 0:00 to 12:00; last checked in September 2024)
Further background:
- See also the report “NAMA UND HERERO VERKLAGEN REGIERUNG” (NAMA AND HERERO SUE GOVERNMENT) by Allgemeine Zeitung from 23 January 2023
- Check also the report “Herero and Nama file suit against genocide agreement” by Deutsche Welle from 22 January 2023
- See also also the Joint Declaration of the Governments of Germany and Namibia, initialled on 15 May 2021