New Delhi: The southern African nation of Namibia has rebuked Germany for declaring its intent to intervene in favour of Israel before the International Court of Justice, specifically noting that the German government had “yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed on Namibian soil”.

Accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, South Africa last week took the matter to the ICJ, seeking interim measures to halt Israeli military actions. The two-day hearings for interim measures concluded on Friday, January 13.

More than the 1,300 people were killed and 240 taken hostage in a terror attack by Hamas on October 7, in Israel. Since then, more than 23,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, are believed to have been killed in Israel’s military actions in Gaza. 

Germany announced on Friday that it rejected the accusation of genocide against Israel in ICJ and would intervene as a third party.

A day later, Namibia’s President Hage Geingob called on Germany to “reconsider its untimely decision to intervene as a third-party in defence and support of the genocidal acts of Israel before the International Court of Justice”.

Between 1904 and 1908, German colonisers killed more than 70,000 members of the Herero and Nama tribes, following a rebellion against seizure of land and cattle. As per the UN, more than 80 percent of the Herero people and half of the total Nama population were killed. Historians believe that this was 20th century’s first genocide.

The German statement on Friday had claimed that the case by South Africa was a “political instrumentalization” of the UN Genocide Convention. It noted that “in view of Germany’s history and the crime against humanity of the Holocaust, the Government sees itself as particularly committed to the Convention against Genocide”.

Namibia rejects Germany’s Support of the Genocidal Intent of the Racist Israeli State against Innocent Civilians in Gaza

On Namibian soil, #Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most… pic.twitter.com/ZxwWxLv8yt

— Namibian Presidency (@NamPresidency) January 13, 2024

Referring to the 1904-1908 genocide, the Namibian President noted that the German government is “yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed on Namibian soil”. President Geingob expressed “deep concern”  with Germany’s “inability to draw lessons from its horrific history” by taking the “shocking decision” to intervene in favour of Israel at the ICJ.

He said that Germany could not “morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza”. 

The Namibian leader asserted that several international organisations, such as Human Rights Watch had “concluded that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza”.

“Worryingly, ignoring the violent deaths of over 23 000 Palestinians in Gaza and various United Nations reports disturbingly highlighting the internal displacement of 85% of civilians in Gaza amid acute shortages of food and essential services, the German Government has chosen to defend in the International Court of Justice the genocidal and gruesome acts of the Israeli Government against innocent civilians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” he stated.

In 2021, German foreign minister Heiko Maas had asked “forgiveness” for Germany’s role in the massacre of Herero and Nama tribes in Namibia and officially described the massacre as genocide for the first time. Germany pledged $1.3 billion for development projects in Namibia, but refrained from explicitly terming it as reparations.