“120 Years Since the Extermination Order: 22 APRIL 1905 – April 22, 2025

Remembrance Is Not Enough: The Nama Demand New Negotiations on the Genocide – With Us, Not About Us

On April 22, 1905 – exactly 120 years ago today – the Extermination Order issued by German General Lothar von Trotha against the Nama people was publicly read in what was then the German colony of “German South West Africa.” in Gibeon. This order called for the complete destruction of our people. Men, women, and children were relentlessly hunted, driven into the desert, murdered, interned, and stripped of their livelihoods.

To this day, the extermination order has never been officially revoked. From a legal standpoint, it therefore remains in effect under international law. This is an intolerable situation for the descendants of the survivors – for us, the Nama.

On this 120th anniversary of the crime, the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) calls for the following:

1. New Negotiations on Equal Terms

The so-called “Joint Declaration” presented in 2021 by the German and former Namibian governments has failed – morally and politically. It was concluded without the consent of the affected communities, rejects binding reparations, and fails to fully acknowledge the scope of the historical injustice. We demand a new negotiation process – transparent, inclusive, and substantive.

2. No Justice Without Us

The Nama people must be structurally, politically, and materially included as directly affected parties. We are not objects of history – we are agents of justice. […]

The Governments did not honour the right to meaningful participation, and reduced the Nama and Ovaherero people to advisors in the negotiation process.

The 7 UN Special Rapporteurs agree with NTLA and wrote the following to the two governments:

“We express grave concern at the alleged failure of the Governments of Namibia and Germany, as parties to the negotiations, to ensure the right of Ovaherero and Nama Peoples, including women, to meaningful participation, through self-elected representatives, in the discussions on the recognition and redress of the 1904-1908 genocide. The meaningful participation of Ovaherero and Nama Peoples is an essential part of the much-needed reconciliation process and cannot be confined to external consultations; it must entail their direct engagement as interested and necessary parties in all aspects of the negotiations that concern them”

3. Legal Recognition and Revocation of the Order

The German Federal Government must formally revoke the extermination order and acknowledge, in legally binding terms, that the war of extermination against the Nama constituted genocide under the UN Genocide Convention. […]

4. True Reparations

We call for a just and independent reparations mechanism, including land restitution, cultural repatriation, and development programs that directly benefit Nama communities – in Namibia and in the diaspora.

The JOINT DECLARATION does not refer to reparations to the Nama and Ovaherero communities against whom the extermination orders were made, but talks about development aid to regions where affected communities are.

In this regard, the 7 UN Special Rapporteurs agree with NTLA and wrote the following to the two governments:

“The Joint Declaration does not afford reparation measures to victims, but rather establishes “reconstruction and development support programmes” as a form of collective development aid/Atonement. We regret to note that this proposed response, which falls within the development aid category, is inconsistent with the scope of the harm inflicted to victims, fails to provide effective reparation to affected communities or take into consideration the consequences of the gendered violence committed against Ovaherero and Nama women and girls, and is incompatible with international standards on reparation of gross human rights violations. We wish to underline that the question at hand is not a demand for assistance but rather, and clearly so, a demand for accountability and reparation for the harm suffered by affected communities.”

5. The text of the Joint Declaration does Not fully Recognized Genocide

The quote from the UN Special Rapporteurs:

“We express further concern that in acknowledging and apologizing for the past violence, the Joint Declaration only includes a ‘qualified’ recognition of the genocide committed against the Ovaherero and Nama peoples ‘from today’s perspective’, thus attempting to remove legal consequences for those acts under current national and international law. In addition, the recognition for the harm inflicted to these communities found in the Joint Declaration encompasses the assumption of moral liability but fails to recognize legal responsibility. The application of this principle to crimes committed during the colonization of Namibia means, however, that those acts are assessed not in line with today’s legal standards but rather in accordance with the racist and discriminatory laws imposed by the colonial power of the time, thus perpetuating unacceptable colonial patterns and legacies.”

The new German government now has the opportunity to turn a page in this history. At the same time, the new government of Namibia bears the responsibility to finally listen to the voices of the Nama. This is about respect. It is about dignity. It is about justice.

NAMA TRADITIONAL LEADERS ASSOCIATION”

• Document of the NTLA press statement “120 Years Since the Extermination Order” of 22 April 2025 on the commemoration of the genocide of the Nama people and the call for new negotiations with Germany as PDF.  Source: NTLA (post of 22 April 2025 on WhatsApp group ‘BE-FIRST MEDIA PORTAL’)

• See also the Joint Communication by the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations’ OHCHR of 23 February 2023 on the Joint Declaration in our ‘Primary Sources’ section of this website

• Also listen to the audio recording of the memorial service in Mariental on 22 April 2025 on Facebook (last checked in July 2025), organised by the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) to commemorate Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha’s extermination order against the Nama on 22 April 1905.