Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al-Saadi: There were concerns that Lahham would be placed under administrative detention.
Al-Saadi: The Israeli occupation authorities could not prove any allegations leveled against Nasser Lahham.
Lawyer Oussama al-Saadi: The oppressive Israeli measures of delaying Lahham's release had vengeful motives.
Nasser Lahham's lawyer said the journalist was released without any conditions or restrictions, adding that the conditions in which he was kept were terrible.
The Israeli occupation authorities release Al Mayadeen Palestine bureau chief Nasser al-Lahham.
Local Syrian sources: An Israeli airstrike targeted a tank and artillery battalion in the city of Izraa in the Daraa countryside
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in eastern Lebanon: 12 martyrs and 5 wounded in Israeli raids targeting the outskirts of Wadi Fa'ra in the northern Bekaa Valley
Local Syrian sources: More than 10 Israeli raids targeted Sweida, with information about more than five casualties from the Internal Security Forces
Local Syrian sources: Initial reports indicate that approximately 15 people were killed or wounded at the al-Radwan family's guest house in Sweida following a direct exchange of gunfire
Israeli media, citing Israeli political sources, reported that the Shas movement is expected to withdraw from the government within less than 24 hours

UN reps slam Berlin's reparation scheme for colonial crimes in Namibia

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 29 Apr 2023 11:16
  • 1 Shares
3 Min Read

UN experts say Germany and Namibia governments violated international law by excluding the ethnic minorities mass murdered by colonial Germany from compensation talks.

  • x
  • ds
    Survivors of German massacres after fleeing across the arid Omaheke desert in the 1904 (German Archives)

UN special representatives slammed Berlin and Namibia for excluding Herero and Nama ethnic minorities from talks over compensations for crimes against their ancestors during Germany's colonial period.

Seven UN officials published their talks with the governments of both countries and requested that Germany take responsibility for the crimes it committed, including mass murder, when it colonized Namibia and directly pay compensation to the Herero and Nama rather than to the Namibian government.

The UN representatives said that sidelining the ethnic minorities from direct talks - they were communicated with only through an advisory committee - is wrong.

Read more: Germany apologizes for racist tweet belittling Africa

The independent experts, who were assigned by the UN Human Rights Council UNHRC, are looking into suspected violations of international law by the conduct of both governments on the matter. However, the concluding report is not considered as a legal document.

During Germany's colonization of Namibia between 1904 and 1908, the European country carried out mass murders of tens of thousands of Herero and Nama groups.

Lawyers representing both ethnic groups filed a complaint to a Namibian court demanding that the "joint declaration" with Germany be invalidated as it violates the country's constitution.

In 2021, Berlin and Windhoek announced the declaration following years of talks. But the document was never signed upon objections from Herero and Nama associations, who demanded to participate in the official talks between the two countries and be directly offered reparations.

Read more: British academia to soften British colonial violence narrative

The agreement entails that Germany must pay around €1.1bn ($1.2) over a period of three decades to fund projects in the African country.

Last February, the UN experts submitted a letter to Germany and Namibia expressing “grave concerns” over violations of international law and asked that they respond within 60 days. Until the period passes, the letters would remain confidential.

Berlin said it recognizes the important efforts made by the representatives and asked that the period be extended, while the Namibian government has not responded yet.

Germany must take responsibility “for the crimes carried out during its era of colonial rule," the experts confirmed in the letter.

The development programs offered by Berlin were insufficient to compensate the ethnic groups for the “scale of the damage that was done to them."

Read more: 'Israel' wages biological warfare against Palestinians in 1948

The reparations cover the damage caused as a result of the mass murders, including “starvation, torture, gendered violence, forced labour and loss of property” that the Herera and Nama still suffer from to this day.

The development aid as a form of compensation was also in danger of “perpetuating rather than rectifying, colonial dynamics," the experts added.

A new negotiation process would be necessary, an expert in international law and an advisor to lawyers in Namibia said.

“This must be transparent and in compliance with legal minimum standards," Karina Theuer told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Gaob Johannes Isaak, the head of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association, told The Guardian in February that "reparations would bring back dignity, self-worth and play a meaningful role in our own development and education for the Nama people so we can share equally in the resources of Namibia.”

  • Nama
  • United Nations
  • namibia
  • Germany
  • Herero

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after an Iranian attack at the al Udeid Airbase outside of Doha, Qatar, June 25, 2025 (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Satellite images show Iran attack damaged US comms dome in Qatari base

  • Politics
  • 11 Jul 2025
An Israeli soldier abandons an excavator during an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades. Arabic text reads "The moment the soldier fled", July, 10, 2025 (Al Qassam Military Media)

Israeli media rue al-Qassam footage, alarmed by fighters among troops

  • Politics
  • 11 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Syrian government forces deploy at the Mazraa village on the outskirts of city of Sweida, where clashes erupted between Bedouin clans and Druze factions, southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Gulf-backed negotiations underway in Syria's Sweida to end clashes

UN: 798 Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid in Gaza
Palestine

UN: 798 Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid in Gaza

A damaged car is seen at a field that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Sheet village, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, Wednesday, August 21, 2024 (AP)
Politics

Hezbollah condemns Israeli Bekaa massacre, urges action from Lebanon

Palestinians walk next to the closed humanitarian aid distribution center of UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli regime cuts electricity, water supplies to UNRWA Gaza offices

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS