Germany's genocide in Namibia: Fundamental flaws in deal between two countries - Professor Henning Melber (UP)

German-Namibian political activist Professor Henning Melber of the University of Pretoria joins Clarence Ford.

Listen below.

Last month, Germany and Namibia reached an agreement in respect of the treatment of the Herero and Nama peoples of South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia) during Germany's colonial rule.

Both countries committed to the establishment of a reconstruction and development support programme to assist the development of descendants of affected communities.

The deal also includes Germany providing financial support for community development in Namibia.  

Professor Melber is a German-born, Namibian-raised member of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) who joined the anti-colonial movement in 1974.

In his recent article for The Conversation, Melber says the deal between the two governments falls short of delivering justice.

He highlights the German government's concession that the atrocities committed would, from today’s perspective, be considered genocide.

"It's a very relevant legal caveat... it does not imply the legal obligations to reparations and the joint declaration avoids the term 'reparations'."

- Professor Henning Melber, University of Pretoria

Melber suggests that, far from being a jointly negotiated declaration, it is one that has been imposed by Germany on Namibia.

"It follows the slogan, 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' because Germany offers as a form of compensation a total amount of 1.1 billion euro for development purposes in Namibia."

- Professor Henning Melber, University of Pretoria

Melber says the fundamental flaw in the deal is that the descendants of the main victims were not directly represented at the negotiations.

"This means that the main agencies of the Herero and Nama, right from the beginning, refused to accept whatever these negotiations will agree upon because their view is, 'Anything without us is against us.'"

- Professor Henning Melber, University of Pretoria

Melber says theirs is a position supported by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

RELATED: Namibia makes it clear that Germany has not dealt with its African genocide

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