Global framework adopted on slavery reparations

A global framework for reparatory justice has been adopted at a conference in Ghana, as African and Caribbean leaders demanded formal apologies from countries that benefited from the transatlantic slave trade, reports The Guardian. Heads of state and government and other officials formally approved the strategy on Friday at a gathering in a hotel in the capital, Accra, which was the first major meeting since the adoption of the landmark UN resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. The document lays out a 19-point global framework for reparatory justice. They include a call for ‘all state and non-state institutions yet to do so’ to ‘offer full, formal and unconditional apologies as a foundational step towards reconciliation, trust-building and reparatory justice’. It also includes resolving to ensure fair and adequate compensation for Africans and people of African descent affected by legacies of enslavement, colonialism, genocide and apartheid, and to expedite the return of cultural property, human remains, archives and heritage to their countries of origin. The framework calls for multilateral measures to address sovereign debt burdens, including debt relief, to tackle lasting socioeconomic impacts of enslavement, colonialism and related historical injustices. The adoption came on the last day of a three-day conference billed Next Steps that also resulted in the establishment of three global panels on reparatory justice and restitution. On Thursday, Ghana’s President, John Mahama, announced the creation of an advisory panel on reparatory justice, an expert panel on the restitution of cultural artefacts, and a legal panel on reparatory justice ‘to serve as the pillars of the next phase of this international effort’.