UN Declares Slavery ‘Gravest Crime Against Humanity,’ Calls for Reparations

The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution Wednesday labeling the enslavement of Africans as the most severe crime against humanity and demanding reparations. While African nations and advocacy groups celebrate the historic vote, debate continues over what form these reparations should take.

ABUJA, Nigeria — A groundbreaking United Nations General Assembly decision on Wednesday has sparked celebration across Africa after lawmakers labeled the enslavement of Africans as “the gravest crime against humanity” while demanding reparations for descendants.

The historic resolution has generated widespread support from African leaders and justice advocates, though many are questioning what concrete actions will follow and how reparations might actually work.

European powers forcibly removed approximately 12 million Africans between the 16th and 19th centuries, enslaving them on plantations that generated enormous wealth through human suffering.

Ghana spearheaded the legislative effort, which also demands “the prompt and unhindered restitution” of cultural artifacts — including artwork, monuments, museum collections, documents and national archives — returned to their home countries at no cost.

Ghana’s foreign affairs minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa commented following the vote: “It recognizes that even within (its) complexity, there are moments in history that stand apart … To acknowledge this is not to diminish any other history; it is to deepen our collective moral awareness.”

While General Assembly decisions carry no legal enforcement power, they represent significant global sentiment and frequently serve as foundational frameworks for various causes.

The African Union described the outcome as “marks an important step toward truth, justice and healing” in an official statement.

The measure passed with 123 nations supporting it, while Argentina, Israel and the United States cast opposing votes. Britain and all 27 European Union countries joined 52 other nations in abstaining.

Before the voting began, U.S. deputy ambassador Dan Negrea explained that while America condemns the trans-Atlantic slave trade and all slavery forms, it “does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred.”

France’s UN mission legal adviser Sylvain Fournel contended the resolution “seems to establish a hierarchy among crimes against humanity,” creating “serious legal difficulties and runs the risk of creating a competition against historic tragedies.”

Erieka Bennett, who founded the Ghana-based Diaspora African Forum connecting people of African heritage with their continental roots, called the UN resolution “an answer to the prayers of our kidnapped, oppressed and murdered ancestors.”

“This vote will energize our collective resolve to continue the fight for the dignity of African people and the liberation of our Motherland from the stranglehold of Western domination,” Bennett continued.

Nadege Anelka, a travel agent from Martinique who relocated to Benin and gained citizenship through a 2024 law allowing those with slave trade ancestry to become citizens, called Wednesday’s decision “fantastic news” despite limited immediate impact on her personally. “Having returned to Benin, I already feel like I have undergone my ‘journey of reparations’,” the 58-year-old explained.

Gilles Olakounle Yabi, who established WATHI, the West Africa Citizen Think Tank, characterized the resolution as “symbolic” during a period when few want to acknowledge slavery’s true cost.

Yet Yabi noted that opposing votes and abstentions show “it’s still not so clear that people recognize the immensity of the crimes that were committed.”

During a 2023 reparations conference in Ghana, international participants attempted to address these questions by creating a Global Reparation Fund seeking financial compensation as reparations, though without defined implementation methods.

Recent American polling suggests limited support for reparations. A 2021 Pew Research Center study found only approximately 30% of U.S. adults believed descendants of enslaved Americans should receive some form of compensation, whether money or land.

Some advocates argue reparations should extend beyond direct monetary payments to include development assistance for affected countries, returning colonized resources and systematically correcting oppressive policies and legislation.

Elkory Sneiba from SOS Esclaves, a Mauritanian anti-slavery organization, emphasized that reparation efforts must deliver “justice for those communities who have suffered from this abject, inhuman and serious practice.”

Beverly Ochieng, a Senegal-based Control Risks Group analyst, expressed skepticism that Western governments will actually allocate funds for slavery payments.

“Some will argue that they have tried to develop former colonies and countries they exploited,” Ochieng observed.

Olivette Otele, Distinguished Research Professor of the Legacies and Memory of Slavery at SOAS, University of London, previously noted that reparations advocates “hardly ever” seek only financial compensation. She explained “their work is grounded in an understanding that the social, the political and the economic are bound together and must be addressed together, creating the possibility of a better world.”