A U.N. committee warned Monday a host countries are legally bound to offer immediate cash settlements as reparations for the transatlantic slave trade alongside other yet to be determined measures – including, but not limited to “truth commissions” – to address the “enduring legacy of racial discrimination” it cautions still envelops the world to this day.
The beneficiaries will be “people of African descent.”
Reuters reports the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated the obligations arise from a legally binding 1965 convention on racial discrimination, not from the legal standards that existed when the slave trade took place.
The committee described the approach as a “paradigm shift” to end debate and force action away from arguments over historical responsibility that have been used to forestall reparations claims.
The U.N. document, which reportedly may be cited in courtrooms, says:
States Parties must implement comprehensive reparatory measures for people of African descent, covering all aspects of remedies.
According to U.N. estimates some 12.5 million Africans were taken and sold between the 15th and 19th centuries in what the committee called the largest forced displacement in history.
A total of 182 countries have been targeted as due to pay, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Portugal and others that were heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade, which from the 16th to 19th century saw millions of African men, women and children shipped to the Americas.
An infographic details growing demands for slavery reparations. (Ufuk Celal Guzel/Anadolu via Getty)
Calls for reparations – ranging from official apologies to financial compensation – have gained momentum internationally although opponents argue people today should not be held accountable for crimes allegedly committed by their ancestors.
The European Union and Britain abstained from a U.N. resolution on slavery in March.
Their abstention is in line with other states who have argued in court there were no international laws outlawing the slave trade at the time – the so-called intertemporality principle.
“Irrespective of the legal characterization of the original historical acts, States Parties remain bound by their present obligations under the Convention to address structural inequalities,” the U.N. document states by way of caution to any states preparing to resist reparations directives per the Reuters report.
Financial compensation alone is not sufficient, it adds, urging “transformative” measures including opening archives, revising public memorials and establishing independent truth commissions.
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Pela Boker-Wilson, a lawyer from Liberia who helped draft the document, said she expects states to move beyond broad expressions of regret and review policies and laws.
“We are calling on state parties to take concrete and meaningful action,” she told Reuters. “We want to affirm the dignity of those whose suffering was denied, whose suffering was minimised or forgotten.”