The UN General Assembly on Wednesday formally designated the transatlantic African slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity,” despite opposition from the United States and several other countries.
The resolution, adopted to applause, passed with 123 votes in favor, three against, and 52 abstentions. The United States, Israel, and Argentina voted against it, while Britain and member states of the European Union abstained.
Advocates welcomed the move as a significant step toward historical acknowledgment, healing, and the possibility of reparations.
Ghana’s President, John Mahama, one of the African Union’s most vocal proponents of reparations, attended the session at UN headquarters in New York in support of the measure.
“Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a path to healing and reparative justice,” Mahama said. “The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting.”
Although non-binding, the resolution goes beyond symbolic recognition, urging countries historically involved in the slave trade to engage in restorative justice efforts. It also underscores the enduring legacy of slavery, citing the continued presence of racial discrimination and neo-colonial structures in modern society.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the transatlantic slave trade as a crime that “struck at the core of personhood, broke up families, and devastated communities.”
“To justify the unjustifiable, slavery’s proponents and beneficiaries constructed a racist ideology, turning prejudice into a pseudoscience,” he added.
Disagreements over framing
The United States described the resolution as “highly problematic.”
US Ambassador Dan Negrea stated that Washington does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical injustices that were not considered illegal under international law at the time they occurred. He also criticized what he described as an attempt to rank crimes against humanity.
“The United States strongly objects to the resolution’s attempt to create any hierarchy among such crimes,” he said.
Britain and several EU countries expressed similar concerns, while still acknowledging the historical wrongs of slavery. French representative Sylvain Fournel warned that the resolution “risks pitting historical tragedies against one another in ways that undermine the memory of victims.”
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa rejected these criticisms, insisting that the resolution does not seek to rank suffering but to address historical accountability.
“The perpetrators of the transatlantic slave trade are known, the Europeans and the United States of America,” he said. “We expect formal apologies to Africa and to people of African descent worldwide.”
Ablakwa also outlined potential pathways toward restorative justice, including the return of looted artifacts, continued efforts to dismantle structural racism, and the possibility of compensation for affected communities.
AFP
