Namibia: Second Genocide Hearing Postponed in NY

New York — The second hearing in the case lodged against Germany for colonial-era genocide in Namibia, scheduled for July 21 has been postponed until October after the plaintiffs requested an adjournment of the July conference last week, because Germany refused to accept the summons.

The plaintiffs, which include Ovaherero Chief Vekuii Rukoro, his Nama counterpart David Frederick, and Veraa Katuuo, a founding member of the U.S.-based Association of the Ovaherero Genocide Foundation, contend that Germany has excluded representatives of the Ovaherero and Nama communities from talks with Namibia regarding the genocide. On January 5, they filed a class action lawsuit against Germany with a U.S. federal court in New York under the Alien Tort Statute, a law dating back to 1789 often invoked in human rights cases. A pre-trial conference was held in New York on March 16. The hearing itself was postponed until July, as Germany failed to appoint counsel, despite the plaintiffs' attempts to serve the complaint to the German Embassy in Washington.

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