Germany is sued in U.S. over early-1900s Namibia slaughter
NEW YORK - Germany was sued for damages in the United States on Thursday by descendants of the Herero and Nama people of Namibia, for what they called a genocide campaign by German colonial troops in the early 1900s that led to more than 100,000 deaths.
According to a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Germany has excluded the plaintiffs from talks with Namibia regarding what occurred, and has publicly said any settlement will not include reparations to victims, even if compensation is awarded to Namibia itself.
"There is no assurance that any of the proposed foreign aid by Germany will actually reach or assist the minority indigenous communities that were directly harmed," the plaintiffs' lawyer Ken McCallion said in an email. "There can be no negotiations or settlement about them that is made without them."
The proposed class-action lawsuit seeks unspecified sums for thousands of descendants of the victims, for the "incalculable damages" that were caused.
