Hereros claim against Berlin

Lawyers representing the Chief Hosea Kutako Foundation have temporarily withdrawn a legal claim for reparations against a German company but added another against the German government, ‘The Namibian’ said on Thursday. Lawyer Philip Musolino was quoted as saying the case against Terex Corporation had been temporarily dropped after the company claimed in court papers submitted recently that it was under different management at the time of the atrocities. “We have dismissed them from the case provided they open their books for inspection,” Musolino said.

Musolino and Dessel act on behalf of the Chief Hosea Kutako Foundation which claims a combined US $2 billion in reparations from Deutsche Bank and Woermann Line (now known as SAFmarine). They have also filed another lawsuit for US $2 billion against the German government on Tuesday.

The foundation, headed by Herero Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako, has accused the German companies and the government of forming a “brutal alliance” to exterminate over 65,000 Hereros between 1904 and 1907.

Musolino said the companies were expected to file their responses in 60 to 90 days where after the Hereros would have 30 days to reply. In the court papers, Riruako and others state that the companies helped imperial Germany to relentlessly pursue the enslavement and genocide of the Hereros.

The Hereros handed over a formal request to the then President of Germany, Roman Herzog when he visited Namibia in March 1998, in an effort to be compensated. During his visit, Herzog said the Hereros could not claim any compensation from Germany as international rules on the protection of rebels and the civilian population were not in existence at the time of the conflict.