Background
The Republic of Namibia gained its independence on 21 March 1990 after decades of colonial rule by Germany and later occupation by South Africa’s apartheid government. Before independence, Namibia saw grave violations of human rights, including the Nama and Herero genocide at the hands of German colonialists, the forced disappearances of thousands by South African forces, and the killings of an unknown number of Namibians accused of spying for South Africa by the liberation movement.
In 1883, German troops under the command of Captain Curt von Francois initiated attacks on groups such as the Oorlam, a subgroup of the Nama people, under the leadership of Hendrik Witbooi.[1] According to Rooyen, 88 Oorlam were killed, and amongst the deceased were old men, women and children. The surviving women and children were taken to makeshift concentration camps.[2]
In 1884, the German empire declared South West Africa (now Namibia) a protectorate. Its occupation was characterised by violence against indigenous groups. The Nama, Herero and Damara groups were increasingly squeezed out of their lands by German companies using protection treaties. By 1902, only 31.4 million out of 83.5 million hectares of land remained in the hands of the indigenous population in Namibia.[3]
In 1904, an armed conflict ensued after General Lothar von Trotha issued orders to exterminate groups associated with the resistance. By the end of the conflict in 1908, approximately 75 percent of the Nama, 50 percent of the Herero and 56 percent of the Damara people had died.[4] The conflict demonstrated genocidal intent from the side of the German empire. German troops known as the Schutztruppe poisoned water supplies, which resulted in deaths from dehydration. They placed many indigenous people in concentration camps and subjected them to forced labour. The weakened local population was exposed to diseases such as smallpox and syphilis, which furthered their extermination.[5]
In 1915, following the defeat of German forces in World War I, the Union of South Africa’s government occupied Namibia. On 7 May 1919, South Africa was designated the mandatory power and accepted the responsibility of submitting an annual report on its administration of South West Africa to the League of Nations. This agreement became effective on 17 December 1920.[6]
Under the administration of South Africa, Namibia’s social and political life became an extension of South Africa, based on economic, political and ideological control. The Odendaal report in 1966 saw the dispossession of land from native groups and the subsequent creation of homelands based on ethnic groups, replicating a racialised model used by the apartheid government in South Africa.[7]
The 1960s saw the formation of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), a liberation movement that became significant in Namibia’s armed struggle. As a response to the armed struggle, the South African apartheid government’s state security council created the Southwest Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) and a counterinsurgency unit named Koevoet. Koevoet’s covert missions occurred in Ovamboland, Kavango and Caprivi, targeting areas where SWAPO operated. Koevoet detained and tortured civilians to extract information about the liberation movement.[8]
During the struggle, SWAPO and its military wing, the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), committed human rights abuses against their own members and civilians. From the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s, SWAPO allegedly detained and tortured thousands of people suspected of spying for the South African government.[9]
South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission covered violations in Namibia. According to the commission report, in the mid-1980s, Koevoet was responsible for the murder of 300 to 500 people per year, with members being paid a bounty per corpse.[10]
Amnesty
Before Namibia gained independence, on 7 June 1989, South West Africa Administrator-General Louis Pienaar granted amnesties by proclamation. The proclamation stated that no criminal cases could be started or continued in court against anyone mentioned for any crimes they committed before that date. Furthermore, the proclamations stated that this only applied to people born in South West Africa or their spouses or children living outside it just before the proclamation.[11]
In 1990, the amnesty was extended to South Africa and South African forces that had operated in South West Africa. Amnesty laws in Namibia have so far prevented any investigation or prosecution of the most serious crimes, such as torture, crimes against humanity or war crimes, that occurred before its independence in 1990. Article 141 of the 1990 Constitution further ensured that any attempt to prosecute or override amnesty through international law had to be guided by domestic courts. The blanket amnesty granted under Article 141 has allowed perpetrators to avoid accountability with impunity.[12]
War Veterans Trust Fund
Namibia has made efforts to provide compensation to veterans of the independence struggle. The government passed the War Veterans Subvention Act 16 of 1999, which established the War Veterans Trust Fund and Administration Board to grant monetary compensation to veterans and dependents of the deceased.[13] According to the government, eligible veterans receive N$2,200 (just over 100 euros) monthly and can access housing and land resettlement benefits.[14] These initiatives have included compensation for orphaned children whose parents died during the liberation struggle.[15]
Despite South Africa’s involvement in human rights abuses in Namibia, there have been limited demands for reparations directed at the South African government. In 2014, the Namibia War Veterans Trust brought pressure on the South African government, demanding war compensation and benefits for the San, Khoi-Khoi, Nama, Kavango, Ovambo and Herero men who fought under the SWATF and Koevoet.[16]
Report to the Namibian People
Following SWAPO’s victory in 1990, individuals whom SWAPO had detained compiled a report titled Report to the Namibian People, which details human rights abuses detainees experienced in SWAPO camps in neighbouring countries, such as Zambia and Angola.[17] The report alleges that following the spread of confidential intel about SWAPO’s strategies against the apartheid government, SWAPO accused members of being South African agents. Furthermore, there are reports of many being forcibly disappeared by SWAPO. Detainees experienced violations such as torture and prolonged starvation.[18]
International Committee of the Red Cross Investigation into Disappearances
In 1991, the government invited the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to investigate enforced disappearances that occurred in Namibia. The ICRC investigators were only allowed to request information from the South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Botswana governments and receive submissions from the public, which resulted in a limited list of the disappeared and frustration among victims/survivors.
The ICRC released its final report, Missing Namibians, in June 1993. Once the investigators concluded their work, the Namibian government declared national reconciliation accomplished. Subsequently, the government did not establish national hearings or any form of accountability and redress.[19]
Breaking the Wall of Silence
To uncover and document narratives of the disappeared, publications such as German Reverend Siegfried Groth’s book Namibia: The Wall of Silence have recounted some of the abuses that occurred within SWAPO camps, particularly the experiences of those who were suspected of treason or dissidence. The government strongly opposed the book, with former President Sam Nujoma discrediting it on media platforms.
In 1996, following the release of that book, a group of former detainees established the Breaking the Wall of Silence organisation. Until 2010, government officials refused to meet with Breaking the Wall of Silence to discuss the plight of former detainees. The organisation’s call for an impartial commission of inquiry into Namibia’s past abuses has been ignored.[20]
Submission to the International Criminal Court
Various civil society organisations have demanded reparation measures aimed at the Namibian government. Civil society organisations such as Breaking the Wall of Silence, the National Society for Human Rights and the Legal Assistance Centre continue to urge SWAPO and the government to account for human rights abuses from the late 1970s through the 1980s. They have also urged the government to implement a comprehensive reparations programme. Their attempts have been unsuccessful. According to Buford and Van Der Merwe, the government has assumed a position of denial, adopting a forget-and-move-on approach to the politics of memory and reparation.[21]
In November 2006, the Namibian National Society for Human Rights submitted a case to the International Criminal Court, as Namibia had ratified the Rome Statute. It charged that grave human rights violations had occurred and that certain individuals were responsible for the ‘missing’ people during and after Namibia’s struggle for independence from 1966 to 1990. The submission deemed Nujoma, the former head of SWAPO and the first president of Namibia, along with other SWAPO leaders and government officials, liable for these charges.[22] No one was prosecuted or held accountable because the International Criminal Court only has jurisdiction over crimes committed after its statute came into force in 2002.
Herero People’s Reparations Corporation
In 2006, the Herero People’s Reparations Corporation filed a lawsuit on behalf of victims against three German corporations, Terex Corporation, Deutsche Bank and Woermann Line/DAL Transport (now Safmarine), alleging they played a role in the genocide between 1904 and 1908.[23] The case came before the United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. The Herero People’s Reparations Corporation withdrew its claim against Terex because the corporation was under different management during the genocide. The court dismissed the claims against Woermann and Deutsche Bank for lack of personal jurisdiction.[24]
German-Namibian Reconciliation Agreement
Reparations demands have been directed at the German government and SWAPO. In 1995, the Ovaherero attempted to engage German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and President Roman Herzog during their respective visits. They petitioned for symbolic and material reparations for the genocide.[25] Despite organising, Germany continues to assert that there is no legal basis for individual or collective reparations towards descendants of the Herero and Nama people affected by Germany’s colonial genocide. [26]
In 2004, German Minister for Economic Cooperation Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul issued an apology at a commemoration of the 1904–1908 genocide in Waterberg, Namibia, stating, “We Germans accept our historic and moral responsibility and the guilt incurred by Germans at that time,” and, “The atrocities committed at that time would have been termed genocide.”[27]
In 2015, the governments of Namibia and Germany entered into bilateral negotiations, which resulted in the Reconciliation Agreement between the two states in 2021. The agreement earmarked 1.1 billion euros for development projects over 30 years, with a section specifying it is meant “to assist the development of descendants of the particularly affected communities.”[28]
This agreement has been criticised, as it comes as development aid rather than targeted reparations for the descendants of victims of the genocide. Furthermore, after the agreement was passed, indigenous groups organised under the slogan “Nothing About Us Without Us” to decry the lack of consultation between the two governments and the indigenous communities in the country.[29]
Gender
Under the Germans and later apartheid South Africa, men were forced into cheap labour contracts in the mining, fishing and ranching industries. Men were then introduced into migrant labour, while women remained working in the fields and looking after children and the household. Local women in Namibia understood this as violence. According to the SWAPO Women’s Council, “Under migrant labour, women are condemned to raise their children virtually single-handed, with only a little help from elderly or sick relatives.”[30]
When SWAPO was formed, women were motivated to join the liberation movement due to their social position. Women understood that they suffered oppression based on their sex and that under colonial capitalism they were subject to discrimination by race and by class.[31] Moreover, it was reported that women associated with the SWAPO movement or associated with individuals who were part of the movement experienced torture. Women shared stories of being blindfolded and subjected to electric shock torture, beaten to the point where they miscarried, and being raped by South African soldiers for denying knowledge of the whereabouts of SWAPO combatants.[32]
In the post-apartheid period, laws like the Married Persons Equality Bill were enacted. This legislation abolished the concept of husbands automatically holding marital power and being regarded as the ‘head of the family.’[33] Despite the introduction of such laws, women in Namibia still face significant marginalisation and violence in society. Statistics indicate that one-third of Namibian women who have ever married have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence from their partners, with half of the perpetrators being individuals they were in a relationship with at the time of the incident.[34]
A report by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women highlights that Namibia has made significant progress in promoting gender equality and empowering women. By 2021, women occupied over 44 percent of the seats in the National Assembly.[35]
In June 2024, the Namibian High Court ruled that the common law offences of “sodomy” and “unnatural sexual offences” are unconstitutional, representing a significant victory for LGBTQI+ individuals.[36]
International Actors
The United Nations provided disarmament and demobilisation assistance, and the Namibian government initially failed to address long-term reintegration needs.[37] Many ex-PLAN members failed to reintegrate fully into Namibian society, citing unemployment and poverty as barriers.
Namibia and Germany continue to have bilateral relations. Bilateral development cooperation is crucial in this close relationship. Since 1990, Germany has provided around 1.6 billion euros in public funds for this purpose, giving Namibia the highest per capita contribution from the German government in Africa.[38]
Notes
[1] Piet Van Rooyen, “The German Attack on the Witboois at Hornkranz, Namibia, April 1893,” Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies 49, no. 1 (2021), 69, https://www.ajol.info/index.php/smsajms/article/view/217925
[2] Ibid., 70
[3] Wolfgang Werner, “A Brief History of Land Dispossession in Namibia,” Journal of Southern African Studies 19, no. 1 (1993), 138, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03057079308708351
[4] Lee Garises, “The Damara and the Genocide: A Call For Recognition and Restitution,” Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung, https://www.rosalux.co.za/our-work/the-damara-and-the-genocide
[5] Khatija Bibi Khan, “The Kaiser’s Holocaust: The Coloniality of Germany’s Forgotten Genocide of the Nama and the Herero of Namibia,” African Identities 10, no. 3 (2012), 216, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14725843.2012.715451
[6] Andre Du Pisani, “Beyond the Transgariep: South Africa in Namibia 1915–1989,” Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies 16, no. 1 (1989): 26, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589348908704904
[7] Ibid., 30.
[8] Peter Vale, “Remembering ‘Koevoet’: How South Africa Has Come to Understand Its Covert Military Operations in Namibia,” PhD diss., Georgetown University, 2014, 31, https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/709164/Vale%20Thesis.pdf?seque
[9] Ibid., 31.
[10] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report, Vol. 2, 1998, 70, http://atjhub.csvr.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/SA-TRC-Final-Report-Vol-1.pdf
[11] Atilla Kisla, “Namibia and Blanket Amnesties: Challenging the Namibian Blanket Amnesties on the Basis of International Law in the Namibian Courts,” Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa 53, no. 2 (2020), 37, https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.25159/2522-3062/7317
[12] Ibid., 37.
[13] International Labour Organisation, War Veterans Subvention Act, 1999 (No. 16 of 1999), https://natlex.ilo.org/dyn/natlex2/r/natlex/fe/details?p3_isn=56411#:~:text=Provides%20for%20the%20establishment%20of,well%20as%20for%20related%20matters
[14] Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits, Republic of Namibia,
https://modva.gov.na/veterans-benefits
[15] Warren Buford and Hugo van der Merwe, “Reparations in Southern Africa,” Cahiers d’études africaines 44, no. 1-2 (2004), 21, http://www.csvr.org.za/docs/reconciliation/reparationsinsouthernafrica.pdf
[16] Oscar Nkala, “Namibia War Veterans Vow to Press SA for War Compensation, Benefits for ex-Koevoet, Territorial Force Vets,” Defence Web, October 2012, https://www.defenceweb.co.za/sa-defence/sa-defence-sa-defence/namibia-war-veterans-vow-to-press-sa-for-war-compensation-benefits-for-ex-koevoet-territorial-force-vets/
[17] Paul Conway, “Truth and Reconciliation: The Road Not Taken in Namibia,” Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution 5, no. 1 (2003): 68.
[18] Henning Melber, “Dealing with Trauma and the Limits to Liberation: Ex-Detainees Speaking Out,” Writing Namibia: Coming of Age (2022): 60.
[19] Conway, 68.
[20] Michelle Parlevliet, “Truth Commissions in Africa: The Non-case of Namibia and the Emerging Case of Sierra Leone,” International Law FORUM du Droit International (2000), 103, https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/intlfddb2&div=26&id=&page=
[21] Buford and van der Merwe, 21.
[22] Sabine Höhn, “International Justice and Reconciliation in Namibia: The ICC Submission and Public Memory,” African Affairs 109, no. 436 (2010), 473, https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/109/436/471/146595
[23] Allan D. Cooper, “Reparations for the Herero Genocide: Defining the Limits of International Litigation,” African Affairs 106, no. 422 (2007), 120, https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/106/422/113/194945
[24] Ibid., 120.
[25] Reinhart Kössler, “Entangled History and Politics: Negotiating the Past between Namibia and Germany,” Journal of Contemporary African Studies 26, no. 3 (2008), 322, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02589000802332531
[26] Almaz Teffera, “Namibian Communities Deserve a Say in German Reparations Deal,” Human Rights Watch, 30 March 2023, https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/30/namibian-communities-deserve-say-german-reparations-deal
[27] Andrew Meldrum, “German Minister Says Sorry for Genocide in Namibia,” The Guardian, 16 August 2004, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/aug/16/germany.andrewmeldrum
[28] Henning Melber, “Germany and Reparations: The Reconciliation Agreement with Namibia,” The Round Table 111, no. 4 (2022), 478, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00358533.2022.2105540
[29] Ibid., 480.
[30] The SWAPO Women’s Council, “Namibian Women in the Struggle for National Liberation, Independence, and Reconstruction,” United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, 1983, 14, https://constitutionnet.org/sites/default/files/unesco_paper_prepared_by_swapo_womens_council_1983_on_the_independence_of_namibia.pdf
[31] Ibid. 14.
[32] Anne Murray‐Hudson, “SWAPO: Solidarity with Our Sisters,” Review of African Political Economy 10, no. 27-28 (1983), 122, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03056248308703550
[33] Suzanne LaFont, “Overview: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia,” in Unravelling taboos: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia (2007), 4, https://www.namibiadigitalrepository.com/items/show/414
[34] Mariana Martin, “Violence Against Women and Children in Namibia: Perspectives and Systematic Measures to Support Perpetrators,” Submission to the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, 36, https://unafei.or.jp/publications/pdf/RS_No110/No110_10_No173_VE_Martin_1.pdf
[35] Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, “Sixth Periodic Review Report of Namibia,” 2022, https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2022/06/experts-committee-elimination-discrimination-against-women-congratulate-namibia
[36] Larissa Kojoue, “Namibia Court Decriminalizes Consensual Same-Sex Conduct: A Major Step for Equality, Non-discrimination, and Inclusion in Africa,” Human Rights Watch, 24 June 2024, https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/25/namibia-court-decriminalizes-consensual-same-sex-conduct
[37] Gwinyay Dzinesa, “The Role of Ex-Combatants and Veterans in Violence in Transitional Societies,” Violence and Transition Roundtable 7 (2008), 8, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/gwinyayi-dzinesa/publication/265739120_the_role_of_ex-combatants_and_veterans_in_violence_in_transitional_societies/links/54d1bdae0cf25ba0f041b008/the-role-of-ex-combatants-and-veterans-in-violence-in-transitional-societies.pdf
[38] German Embassy Windhoek, “German Development Cooperation with Namibia,” https://windhuk.diplo.de/na-en/germany-and-namibia/dt-entwicklungszusammnarbeit/1050588
