UN Approves Resolution on Slave Trade as Crime, Urges Reparations

The United Nations General Assembly last week approved a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity and urging reparations to address its enduring impacts. The measure, introduced by Ghana on March 25 during the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, passed with 123 votes in favor, three against, and 52 abstentions.

The resolution highlights the trafficking and enslavement of an estimated 12 to 15 million Africans by European powers between the 15th and 19th centuries, emphasizing its scale, brutality, and lasting effects on global economies and societies. It calls for member states to pursue reparatory justice through measures such as formal apologies, financial compensation, developmental aid, the return of cultural artifacts, and reforms to address ongoing inequalities rooted in racialized systems of labor and capital.

Ghana led the effort, with President John Dramani Mahama urging nations to engage in "inclusive, good-faith dialogue on reparatory justice, including a full and formal apology as well as measures of restitution and compensation." Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto...