4 hours ago 
Reuters
Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and different dignitaries be a wreath-laying lawsuit astatine the Christiansborg Castle, a erstwhile enslaved post, during a high-level consultative league connected the adjacent steps to the landmark United Nations solution connected the trafficking of enslaved Africans, successful Accra, Ghana, June 19, 2026
African and Caribbean countries person called for a ceremonial apology and reparations from countries that benefited from the transatlantic enslaved trade.
The demands travel astatine the extremity of a 3 time league successful Ghana which looked to beforehand the propulsion for reparatory justice.
It follows a landmark UN solution earlier successful March which recognised transatlantic slavery arsenic the "gravest transgression against humanity", urging UN subordinate states to lend to a reparations fund.
Around 12-15 cardinal African men, women and children were captured and trafficked to the Americas to enactment arsenic slaves from the 15-19th century.
A 19-point reparations program has been endorsed arsenic portion of the "Next Steps" league successful the Ghanaian superior of Accra.
It calls for broad indebtedness relief, the restitution of looted taste property, and the constitution of a planetary reparations fund, though nary circumstantial magnitude was stated. It besides addresses the disproportionate interaction of slavery connected African women and girls.
The league leaders besides called connected countries formerly progressive successful the enslaved commercialized to connection their "full, ceremonial and unconditional apologies".
Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama told delegates: "History does not inquire america to inherit guilt, but it asks america to inherit responsibility".
French President Emmanuel Macron besides gave a virtual enactment astatine the conference, wherever helium recognised that enslaved radical were "dehumanised and treated arsenic goods".
However, helium cautioned against reducing reparations for slavery to fiscal compensation alone, saying they should not beryllium seen arsenic a "cheque written to bring the communicative to a close".
The UN General Assembly ballot took spot successful March, with 123 votes successful favour, and 3 votes - the United States, Israel and Argentina - against declaring the transatlantic enslaved commercialized a transgression against humanity.
52 countries, including the United Kingdom and European Union subordinate states abstained.
Unlike UN Security Council resolutions, those from the General Assembly are not legally binding.
The UK has agelong rejected calls to wage reparations, saying today's institutions cannot beryllium held liable for past wrongs.
"No azygous acceptable of atrocities should beryllium regarded arsenic much oregon little important than another," UK ambassador to the UN James Kariuki had past said.
The US ambassador to the UN echoed this, saying his state did not "recognise a ineligible close to reparations for humanities wrongs that were not amerciable nether planetary instrumentality astatine the clip they occurred".
He added that the UN solution was unclear arsenic to "whom the recipients of 'reparatory justice' would be".
No state has ever paid reparations to the descendants of enslaved Africans oregon affected African, Caribbean and Latin American nations.
Most of the reparations paid by governments came successful the signifier of compensation to enslaved owners successful the 19th Century, alternatively than to those who had been enslaved.
That includes the UK - successful the 1830s, pursuing the abolition of slavery, the state paid owners the equivalent of much than $21bn (£16bn) successful today's money.
English (US)·