BERLIN, Germany
Germany said on Monday it is close to an agreement with Namibia for the mass murder of tens of thousands of indigenous people when it was the colonial ruler over a century ago.
During
1904-1908, Namibia was the German colony of South West Africa. German
colonisers brutally suppressed uprisings against the Herero and Nama peoples.
Historians
say German Gen. Lothar von Trotha, who was sent to what was then German South
West Africa to put down an uprising by the Hereros in 1904, instructed his
troops to wipe out the entire tribe. The order also affected smaller tribes.
Historians
say that about 65,000 Herero people were killed and at least 10,000 Nama
people.
In
the Battle of Waterberg in August 1904, around 80,000 Herero fled including women
and children. German troops reportedly went after them across what is now known
as the Kalahari Desert. Only 15,000 Herero survived.
Germany
opened talks with the Namibian government in 2015 on a “future-oriented
reappraisal of German colonial rule.” It has signaled its readiness to make
compensation payments.
“We
are in the home stretch on this issue,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea
Sasse told reporters in Berlin.
Sasse
said another round of talks was held in Berlin last week and negotiations have
been “very constructive” recently, but said she couldn't give further details
because both sides have agreed to maintain confidentiality until the process is
complete.
In
2004, then-Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul traveled to Namibia
and offered Germany’s first apology for the killings, which she said was “what
today would be labeled as genocide.” Germany’s Foreign Ministry has described
the killings as genocide in recent years.
Sasse
said representatives of the Herero and Nama have been involved in the
negotiations, though Germany's direct dealings have been with the Namibian
government.
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