Countries obligated to consider repatriation for transatlantic slave trade

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has said countries are legally obliged to consider reparations for the harms caused by the transatlantic slave trade.

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Reuters reports that, in guidance published on Monday, the committee said states must provide broad reparations for the harms caused by their direct or indirect involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.

This report comes five months after the UN General Assembly voted to recognise the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity. PREMIUM TIMES reports that Ghana had introduced the resolution to the assembly. It asked that the UN members consider apologising for the slave trade and for the designation of a reparations fund.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, said the reparations funds will be used to repair the damage caused by slavery.

“We are demanding compensation – and let us be clear, African leaders are not asking for money for themselves. We want justice for the victims and causes to be supported, educational and endowment funds, skills training funds,” he said.

The resolution received overwhelming support at the General Assembly. A total of 123 Member States voted in favour of the resolution. However, the US, Argentina, and Israel voted against it, while 52 countries, including Britain, Portugal, and Spain, abstained.

According to the UN committee, the approach of the obligation of states is a “paradigm shift” away from debates over historical responsibility that governments have often ⁠used to resist reparations claims.

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“States Parties must implement comprehensive reparatory measures for people of African descent, covering all aspects of remedies,” the document read.

It argued that states remain responsible under current international obligations to address the continuing effects of the slave trade.

It insisted that this is irrespective of whether slavery and the slave trade were illegal under the laws at the time.

“Irrespective of the legal characterisation of the original historical acts, States Parties remain bound by their present obligations under the Convention to address structural inequalities,” the UN document stated.