| From: | "Jim Yarker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | |
| To: | [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
| Subject: | a case that WON'T be heard at Arusha |
| Date: | Mon, 18 Mar 2002 05:26:16 -0500 |
�The Namibian National Farmers' Union said the government's willing-seller, willing-buyer policy had failed to address the land imbalance in Namibia because white commercial farmers were unwilling to sell.�
[Sound familiar?]
African Perspective, 3/2/02
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Namibia: Suing German Companies |
A Namibian tribe says it is suing Germany's largest bank for allegedly being involved in the slaughter of tens of thousands of its people.
The Herero tribe in Namibia claims Deutsche Bank was linked to a policy of genocide in the first few years of the 20th century.
It says more than 100,000 of their people died at the hands of German colonial armies between 1904 and 1907.
Many were killed by German soldiers. Others were poisoned or turned into slaves. Now they have filed a $2bn lawsuit against the German government in a court in the United States.
Paramount tribal chief Kuaima Riruako told World Business Report that it was a question of justice: "I am suing legitimate governments and companies who happened to function in the colonial days," he said.
Bank targeted
Chief Riruako says the lawsuit also seeks damages against Germany's largest bank, Deutsche Bank, which financed the German government and companies linked with its colonial rule in Southern Africa.
The companies have two months to respond, although the Deutsche Bank's press office said it was not aware of receiving any formal notification of the law suit.
In a statement to World Business Report, a spokesman said: "In our view the accusations are unfounded and furthermore, we consider the issue a political rather than a legal one."
Earlier this year Germany pointed out that it is giving hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Namibia.
At first the annexation meant little, but in 1894 crack imperial troops, the Schutztruppe, arrived to enforce rule from Berlin.
Stone forts were built across the territory. Their arrival spurred the growth of colonial communities and white farmers moved further and further into the interior.
The Herero and Nama resented Germans taking their land and introducing foreign laws and taxation.
Rebellion
Towards the end of 1903, under the leadership of Hendrik Witbooi, the Nama rebelled.
Although it was an unequal struggle, the Nama used guerrilla tactics against the Germans. Months later, the Herero took to the field, and opened one of the bloodiest chapters in colonial history.
On 2 October 1904 the German commander, General von Trotha issued the following proclamation:
"I, the great general of the German troops, send this letter to the Herero people... All Hereros must leave this land... Any Herero found within the German borders with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot. I shall no longer receive any women or children; I will drive them back to their people. I will shoot them. This is my decision for the Herero people."
Death
The Herero were machine gunned and their wells were poisoned. Finally they were driven into the desert to die.
This was how colonization began in what is today Namibia. Since then land has remained a big issue for Namibian Blacks.
Black communal farmers in Namibia have urged the 4,000 mainly-white commercial farmers to speed up land reform to avoid what they called Zimbabwe-style farm invasions.
The Namibian National Farmers' Union said the government's willing-seller, willing-buyer policy had failed to address the land imbalance in Namibia because white commercial farmers were unwilling to sell.
The union's leader, Pintile Davids, has warned that the slow pace of land reform could produce another Zimbabwe, where hundreds of white-owned farms have been seized by self-styled liberation war veterans with the support of President Robert Mugabe's government .
Only some 35,000 Namibians have been resettled on commercial farmland since independence from South Africa in 1990.
1886-90 - Present international boundaries established by German treaties with Portugal and Britain. Germany annexes the territory as South West Africa.
1892-1905 - Suppression of uprisings by Herero and Namas. Possibly 60,000, or 80 per cent of the Herero population, are killed, leaving some 15,000 starving refugees.
1915 - South Africa takes over territory during First World War.
1920 - League of Nations grants South Africa mandate to govern South West Africa (SWA).
1946 - United Nations refuses to allow South Africa to annex South West Africa. South Africa refuses to place SWA under UN trusteeship.
1958 - Herman Toivo Ya Toivo and others create the opposition Ovamboland People's Congress, which becomes the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960.
1961 - UN General Assembly demands South Africa terminate the mandate and sets SWA's independence as an objective.
1966 - SWAPO launches armed struggle against South African occupation.
1968 - South West Africa officially renamed Namibia by UN General Assembly.
1972 - UN General Assembly recognises SWAPO as "sole legitimate representative" of Namibia's people.
1988 - South Africa agrees to Namibian independence in exchange for removal of Cuban troops from Angola.
1989 - UN-supervised elections for a Namibian Constituent Assembly. SWAPO wins.
1990 March - Namibia becomes independent, with Sam Nujoma as first president.
1994 - South African exclave of Walvis Bay turned over to Namibia.
1994 - Nujoma and SWAPO re-elected.
1998 - Hundreds of residents of the Caprivi Strip flee to Botswana, alleging persecution by the Namibian goverment.
1998 August - Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe send troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo to support President Laurent Kabila against rebels.
1999 August - Emergency declared in Caprivi Strip following series of attacks by separatists.
1999 December - Nujoma wins third presidential term.
1999 December - World Court rules in favour of Botswana in territorial dispute with Namibia over the tiny Chobe River island of Sedudu - known as Kasikili by the Namibians.
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