Namibian groups are still demanding an official apology after the remains of tribesmen massacred between 1904 and 1908 were handed over to Namibia.
The skulls and human remains were handed over during a church ceremony in Berlin on Wednesday, after what historians call the first genocide of the 20th century.
Soldiers of German Kaiser Wilhelm killed more than 65,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama tribesmen after an uprising by the locals resulted in the death of 100 German settlers.
During the handover ceremony, Herero Chief Vekuii Rukoro accused the German government of taking too long to apologise.
“They are still negotiating on an appropriate text … for an apology. That’s a big joke,” Rukoro said, while blasting the decision to hold the ceremony at the Church.
“We don’t believe that it is bigger and more dignified than all the government buildings of the federal government in Berlin,” he stated.
“By trying not to acknowledge the past, the German government will continue to make serious mistakes as regards present and future policies,” Rukoro added.
A Namibian delegation formally received the remains, which including 19 skulls, a scalp and bones.
Michelle Muentefering, a Minister of State in the German Foreign Ministry, asked “for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart” as she handed over the remains to Namibia’s Culture Minister.
The German government announced in 2016 that it planned to issue an official apology for the atrocities committed but it remains locked in talks with the Namibian government on a joint declaration on the massacres.
During the uprising, dozens were beheaded and their skulls sent to researchers in Germany for experiments that purported to prove the racial superiority of white Europeans. These theories were later used to justify the murder of Jews.
Germany has previously repatriated human remains to Namibia in 2011 and 2014.
