Response of Namibia to the Joint Communication of Special Rapporteurs of the UN OHCHR on the Joint Declaration
Response of Namibia of 30 May 2023 to the Joint Communication of Special Rapporteurs of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of 23 February 2023 on the alleged lack of meaningful participation of the OvaHerero and Nama in the negotiations leading to the initialling of the Joint Declaration of 15 May 2021 by Germany and Namibia.
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First and foremost, reassures through your good offices, the Rapporteurs for the six Special Mandate Holders in particular, and the Human Rights Council in general, of the steadfast commitment of the Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN) to its obligation to institute various measures to ensure, truth, reparation and guarantees of Non – Recurrence of Past Human Rights Violations. In so doing, reassures that despite the fact that both the Republic of Namibia and the Federal Republic of Germany on the one side, together with representatives of the communities affected by the 1904 – 1908 genocide on the other, had over the past seven years embarked on a voluntary political process of negotiations, (GRN) on her side had done everything within her power to as much as possible heed the provisions contained in the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law.
Pursuant to GRN commitment as a State Party, I therefore herewith on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Namibia file your consideration the herein contained responses to the version contained in the Joint Communication from the Rapporteurs of the Special Procedures. As will become apparent the responses strongly refute the allegations that the Government of the Republic of Namibia has renegaded on its obligations as a State Party under the relevant Human Rights legal instruments to adopt measures to ensure, truth, reparation and guarantees of Non – Recurrence of Past Human Rights Violations.
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- Document of the response of Namibia to the Joint Communication of Special Rapporteurs of OHCHR as PDF. Source: Website of the United Nations (checked in December 2023)
- Also see the Joint Communication of the Special Rapporteurs of the OHCHR of 23 February 2023 and the response of Germany of 1 June 2023.