The application by South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the plausible genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli government in the Gaza Strip, may open a window of opportunity for the descendants of the 1904-1908 Ovaherero and Nama genocide survivors by imperial Germany.
Human rights lawyer and activist Dr John Nakuta said the affected communities could approach President Nangolo Mbumba, who succeeded the late Dr Hage Geingob, who passed away on 4 February in the Lady Pohamba Hospital in Windhoek shortly after returning from the United States of America (USA), where he went to receive treatment after he was detected with cancerous cells.
“I submit that late president Hage Geingob’s scathing criticisms directed at Germany for intending to join Israel provides an ideal opportunity for the main protagonists of the Ovaherero/Nama genocide cause to sit down with the new president to seriously consider the option of approaching the ICJ for an advisory opinion, as noted above,” he stated.
“Should the Namibian government not be willing to take their case to the ICJ, which deals with only cases brought by State members to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the descendants can approach any other friendly government party to the Convention to take the matter on their behalf to the ICJ”, he reasoned.
Nakuta said this is because SA’s application has not only shown and made the world aware of this window of opportunity, but “we have seen that international solidarity is real”.
He added that the ICJ judges, to their credit, demonstrated courage, impartiality and judicial independence despite dealing with a politically sensitive and loaded issue.
The activist continued that the ICJ’s verdict on the measures, having established its jurisdiction in the matter, “unambiguously affirms that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.
“Genocide applies when human beings, not animals, are victims – even if they are “human animals,” he stated, likening the attitude of the Israeli government to that of the German government with respect to the demands of the Ovaherero and Nama.
“These statements are reminiscent of Germany’s argument for denying liability for the genocidal acts committed against the Ovaherero and Nama people during the 1904-08 genocide,” he noted.
Nakuta added: “The Germans, as is commonly known, also invoke the intertemporal principle of international law to evade liability for her genocide acts under the 1948 Genocide Convention. The doctrine of intertemporal law is thus a formidable obstacle in achieving reparatory justice for the crime of genocide committed against the Ovaherero and Nama people”.
He emphasised the need for the Ovaherero and Nama to internationalise their genocide, one such avenue for this being the ICJ.