Is there a price for human life?

Germany's military commander vowed to wipe out the Herero

This January marks the 100th anniversary of a massacre of the Herero people of Namibia by German colonialists.

Tens of thousands of Hereros were hunted down and shot by the Germans.

A series of events have been held in Namibia this month commemorating the massacre.

Some Hereros are demanding financial compensation from the German Government.

This month also saw a $3 million payout to the family of Amadou Diallo, a young Guinean immigrant, who was gunned down by New York police despite being unarmed.

Is it possible to put a price on a human life?

Is a financial payout the best way to compensate people for wrongs done to them in the past?

A selection of your comments will be broadcast on the BBC's Focus on Africa programme on 1 February, at 1705 GMT

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Money cannot bring back a lost life, but financial payouts are often used to stop those left behind from speaking louder and trying harder to get better justice. There has to be some international law that will protect foreigners' rights in any and every country.
Kalkidan, USA

Financial compensation by the Germans for the victims of Nazi genocide has been the set standard for reparation. So, why not compensate the Africans for their suffering and persecution at the brutal hands of the colonizers? Of course they should be compensated. The Jewish community is still pressing for payment from the culprits and collaborators in the extermination, and from the economic beneficiaries of their forced free labour.
ammanuel, usa

I think reparations should definitely be paid to people or nations who are victims of racism, slavery, police brutality and colonialism. The ones who perpetrated the crimes should also go to jail. The four New York cops who killed Amadou Diallo did not go to jail so no justice was truly served. The payoff of US$3 million is not enough. It would have been better to jail the four cops for real justice to be served. A country that has been destroyed by another country by massacres such as what the Germans did to the Hereros in Namibia or what the Americans did in the Atlantic slave trade, should be compensated by the perpetrators. Money should be put into education for the children and grandchildren of the victims who have been kept back because of these horrific acts of slavery and colonialism.
Ayman El-Sayed, NY, USA

No amount of money can fully compensate for the wrongful killing of loved ones. A human life can never be replaced, and financial payouts are used simply to pacify relatives. Even if those who perpetrated the dastardly act are also killed, this would not fully compensate those left behind. The best way of deterring wrongful killings is to convict and imprison the perpetrators as well as financially compensating the victim's relatives. But when someone is killed in this manner, relatives and friends are traumatised forever.
Kayode Olajide, New York US

I am originally from Burundi and I come from the Tutsi tribe. I came to the UK in 1999, and am still a young person. I grew up losing friends, who were burned to death in their schools or chopped into pieces. This even happened to babies and pregnant women. I believe money is the source of all evil, and no amount of financial compensation for the loss of my friends and loved ones would ever take away my pain. I want to start a project that would stop such unlawful killings in the future. I would call it "Breaking the Cycle", and would encourage all young people from all over the world to stop following in the footsteps of their forefathers, and to put a stop to all these evil strategies. They would be taught to invest in people's lives rather than violating them.
Desire Katihabwa, New Barnet,UK

No amount of money could ever replace the void once filled by a loved one. But, as far as I can see, a financial payout is the only practical way of compensating those left behind.
Boris Forey, Singapore

Money can never compensate for a life snuffed out because life can never be bought. No matter how much you pay in compensation to a family who have lost one of their own, the vacuum can never be filled because somebody's son, daughter, wife, husband, mother, father, brother or sister will never return. What should be done, however, is to try and stop the unlawful killings. Let's show more love and this world would be a better place for all to live in.
Aderayo Edalere, Lagos, Nigeria

Perpetrators of such horrible crimes should not get out of paying money because "you can't put a price on a human life." No, you can't, but its a start toward deterrence. Crime should cost. To impact the criminals financially should be part of their punishment. To leave the victims or their families poor as well as grief-stricken is a double cruelty. The criminals should be punished fully AND have to pay financially.
K. C., USA

Yes, you can put a price on life. Take the horrible crimes of slavery and colonialism. Try these figures for size. $350 trillion should be paid by the West to Africa. And it will be one day, when Africa is in the position to be the piper who plays the tune.
Charles Massaquoi, USA

As long as human beings are allowed to act like beasts, slaughtering each other in the name of religious, racial, or political superiority, then financial compensation in the name of justice will not make much of a difference. Financial compensation might assist the victim's family for lost wages but it will never replace the lost lives or heal the broken hearts of the victim's families. Those who live by the sword should die by the sword.
Gerrie Lijam, San Jose, Ca. USA, San Jose, Ca. USA

Absolutely - a price can be put on a human life. This is more or less the only way that the German government can address the situation in Namibia. With the German colonialists' atrocities in Africa, I don't see a reason not to pay. The atrocities committed against the Hereros were just as bad, if not worse, than the Holocaust in mainland Europe. The Germans went to a territory that wasn't even Europe and just imposed their rule imperialistically. What business did the Germans have in Africa? This was worse than Hitler's policies.
Denny Tsang, Edmonton, Canada

Who says you can't put a price on human life? The criminal cannot hang onto his money while the victim's family suffers from poverty as well from his crime? You should hit the criminal in the pocketbook as well as imposing other harsh punishments. At least the families can grieve without financial hardships as well.
Ava F, USA