German authorities are moving towards recognising the colonial era killing of more than 65,000 ethnic Hereros in Namibia as genocide, according to the latest reports.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Martin Schaefer said that talks were ongoing with Namibia on a joint declaration, which would follow a previous parliamentary motion signed three years ago. The motion states that "the war of destruction in Namibia from 1904 to 1908 was a war crime and genocide".
The latest moves follow the speaker of the German parliament Norbert Lammert writing a guest column for news weekly Die Zeit earlier this week, where he said “using today's standards of international law, the crushing of the Herero revolt was genocide".
Stating that a "race war" had been started by Germany in Namibia, Mr Lammert added,
"There were tens of thousands of Herero and Nama victims, not only through fighting but also illness and the targeted killing through allowing people to die of thirst and hunger".
Since 2011 Germany has handed back the skulls of Herero victims that were languishing in universities and clinics across the country. However reparations are yet to be paid.
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