UN Declares Transatlantic Slave Trade Crime Against Humanity

• 123 countries voted in support
• 3 countries voted against
• 52 European countries abstained

BY BONNY AMADI

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has voted to recognise the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity. Ghana, on Wednesday, introduced the resolution to the assembly and urged the contribution of a reparations fund.

The country also asked UN members involved to consider apologising for the slave trade. According to Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Ablakwa, the reparations fund will be used to repair the damage caused by the slave trade.

We are demanding compensation – and let us be clear, African leaders are not asking for money for them- selves.

“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, with 123 member states voting in favour.

Only three countries voted against it: Argentina, Israel, and the US, while 52 countries — primarily European countries— abstained from voting.

This includes Britain, Portugal, and Spain, who were, arguably, most guilty of the slave trade and colonialism.

Nigeria and other African countries voted in support of the resolution.

The transatlantic slave trade represents one of the darkest chapters in human history, marked by the systematic exploitation, displacement, and dehumanisation of millions of Africans.

An estimated 15 million Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic between the 15th and 19th centuries. Many died during the Middle Passage, while survivors were subjected to forced labour and systemic abuse in the West.

Mr Ablakwa declared that “many generations continue to suffer the exclusion, the racism because of the transatlantic slave trade which has left millions separated from the continent and impoverished.”

The resolution noted that the impact of slavery persists in the form of racial inequalities and under-development, “affecting Africans and people of African descent in all parts of the world.”

It also called for the return of cultural artefacts stolen during the colonial era to their countries of origin.