UN Passes Resolution Declaring Slave Trade Gravest Crime

The United Nations General Assembly in New York passed a resolution on Wednesday declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans, along with the racialized chattel enslavement of Africans, slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, as the gravest crime against humanity. The measure, adopted on the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, calls for reparations as a step toward remedying historical wrongs and urges the prompt restitution of cultural artifacts to their countries of origin.

The vote among the 193 member states resulted in 123 in favor, three against and 52 abstentions. Argentina, Israel and the United States opposed the resolution, while the United Kingdom and several European Union members chose to abstain. Although General Assembly resolutions lack the legal force of those from the Security Council, they carry significant weight as indicators of global sentiment.

Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, a leading proponent of the initiative, addressed the assembly before the vote. "Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice," Mahama said. He...