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![\"Ghana\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ghana.gif\")
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\n 30 Mar 2026
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PREVIEW<\/p>\n
\n Landmark resolution classes the trans-Atlantic slave trade as \u2018gravest crime\u2019 against humanity, urging apologies and reparations<\/p>\n
Ghana and the African Union have secured a diplomatic triumph after winning a sweeping majority in the United Nations for a resolution drafted by Accra calling for reparations for slavery (Dispatches, 16\/3\/26, Mahama to take reparations campaign to the UN<\/a>). Argentina, Israel and the United States were the only votes against the resolution which obtained 123 votes in favour. Former colonising and slave-trading countries such as Britain, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain were among the 52 countries that abstained. Member states of the European Union accounted for half the abstentions. The resolution, which is not legally binding, urges countries involved in the slave trade to begin \u2018good-faith dialogue on reparatory justice, including a full and formal apology, measures of restitution, compensation\u2019.<\/p>\n It also insisted that \u2018wrongful acts entail a duty of reparation\u2019. The EU cited the clause describing slavery as \u2018the gravest crime against humanity\u2019 as the reason for its abstention. Gabriella Michaelidou, the Cypriot deputy UN ambassador, whose government holds the EU\u2019s six-month presidency, warned that such phraseology could imply \u2018a hierarchy among atrocity crimes.\u2019<\/p>\n Britain\u2019s representative and Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires to the UN, James Kariuki, who is of Kenyan heritage, made a similar argument on behalf of Whitehall. Michaelidou added that the EU rejected the premise of retroactive reparations as did Britain (AC Vol 64 No 25, The case for reparations<\/a>).<\/p>\n The resolution made headlines in the US where the campaign for reparations gained momentum following the \u2018Black Lives Matter\u2019 campaign and murder of George Floyd at the hands of a policeman in 2020.<\/p>\n The US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Dan Negrea said the Trump administration opposed the text and \u2018does not recognise a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred.\u2019 And unusually in a UN debate, Negrea made several partisan points about how much the Trump administration has done for the African-American community in the US.<\/p>\n Click the above to claim\u00a015% discount\u00a0off your first Africa Confidential subscription. Alternatively, email\u00a0your interest to\u00a0subscriptions@africa-confidential.com<\/a>\u00a0or call us on\u00a0+44(0) 1638 743 633<\/a>.\u00a0Offer is based on our 2026 rates and is applicable against all subscription types and pricing tiers.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n