A delegation of victims and descendants of the Ovaherero and Nama genocides, and two friends and supporters of the cause of the Namibian people for restitution, visited the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) on Friday, September 15, to view the remains of eight Namibians in the custody of the museum in the City of New York, which were recently brought to their attention by Genocide and Restitution solidarity groups in the Federal Republic of Germany, especially Post Kolonial Berlin.
The human remains of 8 Namibians have been discovered recently at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (AMNH) – NYC. Two of the remains have been identified as OvaHerero, two have been identified as Hai//om San, one is Nama and one is Damara. The ethnic and cultural identities of the other two remains are unknown and require further research. Members of Ovaherero Speaking Community in the USA (OSCU) and ONGI are visiting the museum today.
Final Press Release (1)
| The AICGS Society, Culture, and Politics Program is hosting the following seminar: |
| Transatlantic Dynamics in Ongoing Postcolonial Negotiations
The Recognition of the Genocide of the Herero and Nama in Germany and in the United StatesRegister
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According to a press release by the human rights advocacy group, Berlin Postkolonial, the state-funded Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage (SPK) has agreed to start provenance research and preparation to repatriate more than 1,000 human remains stolen from Tanzania, Ruanda and Burundi, 1885-1918. Thousands of human remains plundered from former German colonies remain captive in archives and personal collections in Germany.
On 16th March 2017 the victims of German Genocide, Ovaherero and Nama of Namibia, alongside their Legal Counsel Kenneth Mccallion, appeared for a pre-trial conference before Judge Swain in an open court in Manhattan New York, United States of America. However, Germany did not show up for the court hearing. Judge Swain ordered that a second complaint be issued against Germany in terms of the Hague Convention, giving Germany until 21st July 2017 for the next pre-trial conference.
Namibian scholars, students and artists are invited to apply for a full stipend of up to 12 months to work with a research team in Hamburg/Germany on a substantial collection of colonial photographs from German Southwest Africa, with a special focus on the Herero and Nama genocide and its aftermath. The collection of about 1,000 photographs is part of a larger collection of colonial-era photographs in Hamburg’s Ethnological Museum. The project is funded by the GerdaHenkel-Foundation with a monthly stipend according to the qualification and standing of the candidate (up to 1,400 €/month).
Advocate Vekuii Rukoro, OvaHerero Traditional Authority, Paramount Chief strongly rejects Mr. Rupert Polenz’s statement to German media and the public suggesting that the Nama and OvaHerero reparations claims are about individual financial compensation and enrichment. Mr. Polenz’s remarks were made in response to the Nama and OvaHerero filing a case in US courts against the German federal government.
“The Ovaherero and Nama demand is on record and has always been for COLLECTIVE REPARATIONS on behalf of the DESCENDANTS of the VICTIM COMMUNITIES who were the subjects of OFFICIAL GENOCIDE committed by the German State. The Ovaherero of today, for example, are the lawful heirs of the 115,830 square miles of land that our ancestors lost to German and other settlers as a direct result of the Genocide and German expropriations without compensation. Such reparations are due and payable to us as a People COLLECTIVELY” says OvaHerero Traditional Authority, Paramount Chief, Advocate Vekuii Rukoro.
“We have repeatedly requested the German government to meet with us in order to resolve this issue through dialogue. However, the racist arrogant attitude of their representatives left us with no other choice but to seek legal redress through the US courts system. We know it is going to be a long road to justice and we are very much prepared to sacrifice whatever it takes for our just cause” – Jefta Nguherimo, Vice-President, ONGI, Inc.
First congress focusing on the genocides against the Ovaherero and Nama in Berlin: Reconciliation requires readiness for dialogue and respect. Moving reception for Ovaherero and Nama delegates to the Berlin congress on their arrival in Windhoek, Namibia. A joint resolution of the congress delegates demands direct participation of the Ovaherero and Nama’s representatives in all Namibian-German negotiations on the genocide committed against their communities and global recognition of the first genocide of the 20th century.
Many exuberant supporters welcomed home Ovaherero and Nama delegates Tuesday (October 18, 2016) to Windhoek after the first transnational congress in Berlin under the theme “RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AFTER GENOCIDE“ highlighting the genocides committed between 1904-08. More than 50 Ovaherero and Nama delegates from Namibia, the United States, Canada, and Britain had come together in Berlin on the invitation of Berlin Postkolonial, AfricAvenir and the NGO alliance “Völkermord verjährt nicht!/No Amnesty on genocide!”. The Ovaherero Traditional Authority, Paramount Chief Adv. Vekuii Rukoro, invited all the Ovaherero to Okahandja this coming Sunday to report on the Berlin congress of last weekend.
During several addresses at the congress, two impressive rallies in central Berlin, a press conference organised by Niema Movassat, MP for DIE LINKE, and a work meeting with Bündnis 90/Die Grünen in the German parliament or Bundestag, representatives of the Ovaherero and Nama associations made absolutely clear that reconciliation can only be achieved provided they are directly and without any preconditions involved in the negotiations about the issue of genocide against their communities between the Namibian and German governments underway since 2014. They have emphasized that the two governments must recognise the relevant Namibian Parliament’s Resolution of 26th October, 2006, as the only valid and sound basis for the negotiations that must restart afresh with the Traditional Leaders of the Ovaherero and Nama Council on Genocide and Reparation, as well as guarantee the rights of the victim communities under international law.
In close co-operation with African, black and Germany-based non-governmental organisations critical of colonialism, Ovaherero and Nama delegates drew up a joint congress resolution which declares critical debate about the genocides a global task and a subject for society as a whole. Apart from the main demands for an official recognition of the genocides, a sincere apology by the German parlament and government and negotiations on reparations with the Ovaherero and Nama representatives from Namibia and their diaspora, calls were also made for critical observation of the demanded trialogue by non-government organisations (NGO).
Companies such as Deutsche Bank, Wecke & Voigts and Woermann that directly profited from the genocides and the forced labour of Ovaherero and Nama are urged to participate in compensating the affected communities who were entirely expropriated and forced to leave its lands. The congress resolution calls on the world’s nation states, the African Union, the United Nations and Christian churches, partly entangled in the genocides, to take the occasion of the ongoing UN Decade for People of African Descent and officially recognise the Ovaherero and Nama genocides as well as to support the victims’ just struggle for an apology and direct participation in the exclusive government negotiations.
During the next days, the congress resolution will be sent to the German and Namibian governments, to the U.N., to political parties, involved companies and to the Christian churches. According to the Berlin-based Herero Israel Kaunatjike of the alliance „No Amnesty on Genocide!” the congress is a “key step towards expanding the decades-long fight for justice”.
During last year’s allied campaign, “Genocide is Genocide!”, over 50 NGO and 150 prominent figures in politics and academia in Germany had already lent their support to the demands of the Ovaherero and Nama for direct participation in the negotiations on the genocide issue.
Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul (SPD), the former Development Minister, sent a greeting with a call for “moral and financial compensation” of the Ovaherero and Nama to the congress in Berlin. Ruprecht Polenz (CDU), the German government’s special representative, was invited to the congress but declined to take part in a panel discussion with the Ovaherero and Nama representatives or to meet the delegation during their stay in Berlin.
Contact: Israel Kaunatjike, Bündnis „Völkermord verjährt nicht!“, 0049-173-1035605 & Christian Kopp, Berlin Postkolonial, 0049-179-9100 976, buero@berlin-postkolonial.de
Attachments: Berlin Congress Resolution
Photos by:
J. Nguherimo (congress on 14./15.10. in Berlin’s Centre Francais de Berlin): https://www.flickr.com/photos/namibdesert/sets/72157671857378894/<a
O. Feldhaus (March on 16.10.): https://www.flickr.com/photos/petshoppetshop/sets/72157673973860422
J. Zeller (March on 16.10.): https://www.flickr.com/photos/148332649@N03/
B. Sauer-Diete (13.10. Protest outside DHM & March on 16.10.): https://www.flickr.com/photos/basspunk/30115685750/
More information on: http://genocide-namibia.net/