Prisoners from the Herero and Nama tribes during the 1904-1908 war against German Imperial Force The Remains of Namibian victims of German G...
Prisoners from the Herero and Nama tribes during the 1904-1908 war against German Imperial Force
The Remains of Namibian victims of German Genocide during 1904-1908 Discovered at the American Museum of Natural History and other Collections.
13 September 13, 2017,New York: The Association of the Ovaherero Genocide In the USA in conjunction with the Ovaherero Paramount Chief Adv. Vekuii Rukoro and Chief David Frederick, Chairman of the Nama Traditional Authorities Association, confirmed today that the American Museum of Natural History ("AMNH") is in possession of Namibian human remains, some of which appear to be related to the German genocide of the Ovaherero and Nama peoples during the period from German occupation of what was then South West Africa (now Namibia) from approximately 1885 to 1915.
A class action lawsuit filed by representatives of the Herero and Nama peoples in New York demands that their representatives be included in negotiations between the government of Namibia and Berlin over reparations, because, all along Berlin has repeatedly refused to pay direct reparations, saying that its development aid worth hundreds of millions of euros since Namibia’s independence from South Africa in 1990 was “for the benefit of all Namibians”
Namibian Skulls of Hereros and Namas-Genocide at Heroe' Acre after arrived from Germany.
About 55 human skulls and other remains have identified from a private museum in Germany and also be returned to Namibia. The repatriation demand still continues. The skulls believed were taken to Berlin some years between 1909 and 1914 which have been removed from their bodies and preserved in formaldehyde intact with faces,skin and hair. The scientists like Eugen Fischer who was a director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology has responsible for importation of human specimen from Africa for scientific experiment.
The suit alleges that from 1885 to 1903, about a quarter of Herero and Nama lands, thousands of square miles was taken without compensation by German settlers with the explicit consent of German colonial authorities. The law suit also claims that those authorities turned a blind eye to rapes of Herero and Nama women and girls by settlers, and the use of forced labor. In addition to land and property grabs, there were concentration camps, exterminations and scientific experiments on “specimens” of what the settlers considered to be an inferior race, and this conclude a serious genocides of the 20th century that ever committed against humankind. Berlin has been tight-lipped about details of the deal being negotiated with Namibia. The plaintiffs in the US case consists of Vekuii Rukoro, the Paramount Chief of the Herero people, David Frederick, chief and chairman of the Nama Traditional Authorities Association and others. They filed the case in January under the Alien Tort Statute, which allows non-US citizens to make claims before US federal court for international law violations. The two tribes claim that their exclusions from the Namibia-Germany negotiations violates a United Nations declaration on indigenous people. Judge Laura Taylor Swain is hearing the case, but Berlin had yet to name a lawyer for its case. This casting uncertainty over the matter that Germany could delay the process.
Other Sources
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/14/us-museum-storing-remains-of-namibian-genocide-victims
- https://www.newswire.com/news/namibian-human-remains-discovered-at-the-american-museum-of-natural-19938890
- http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-important-events/herero-and-namaqua-genocide-little-known-first-genocide-second-reich-003828
- https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com.cy/2011/10/namibian-skulls-ignite-anger.html#rEhhRSKkZKtppIqF.97
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/06/germany-sued-reparations-colonial-era-genocide-namibia/