UN backs resolution calling slave trade ‘gravest crime against humanity. The United States, Israel and Argentina opposed the measure.

[Mel Hopkins]

UN backs resolution calling slave trade ‘gravest crime against humanity’
 

RFI

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 4:08 AM EDT

2 min read

 

A memorial sculpture by Sandrine Plante-Rougeol in Bordeaux, a historic slave-trading port, where the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade remains central to debates on recognition and reparations.

(AFP - GEORGES GOBET)More

The resolution – proposed by Ghana – was adopted to applause by a vote of 123 in favour.

The United States, Israel and Argentina opposed the measure. There were 52 abstentions, including the UK and all 27 members of the EU.

Ghana's President John Mahama, one of the African Union's most vocal supporters of slavery reparations, was at the UN headquarters in New York to support the vote.

"Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice," said Mahama. "The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting."

 

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Despite being non-binding, the resolution goes beyond simple acknowledgment and asks nations involved in the slave trade to engage in restorative justice.

It also highlights the legacy of slavery via "the persistence of racial discrimination and neo-colonialism" in today's society.

"The transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity that struck at the core of personhood, broke up families, and devastated communities," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

"To justify the unjustifiable, slavery's proponents and beneficiaries constructed a racist ideology -- turning prejudice into a pseudoscience."

During discussions over the resolution, US ambassador Dan Negrea said the text was highly problematic.

"The US also does not recognise a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred."

He added: "The US also strongly objects to the resolution's attempt to rank crimes against humanity in any type of hierarchy."

The UK and EU countries put forth similar arguments while acknowledging the wrongs of slavery.

"The resolution risks pitting historical tragedies against each other that should not be compared, except at the expense of the memory of the victims," said French representative Sylvain Fournel.

 

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For African Union officials, the language of the resolution is central to its purpose.

Amma Adomaa Twum-Amoah, the AU’s Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Development, said clearly naming these events removes any lingering ambiguity about their nature.

“It is to say that what was done to Africans was not a tragic accident of history, but the result of deliberate policies whose legacies structure today’s inequalities,” she said. “Justice begins with calling things by their proper names.”

Beyond recognition, the resolution encourages countries historically involved in the slave trade to engage in processes of restorative justice.

 

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has been explicit about what that could entail.

“The perpetrators of the transatlantic slave trade are known – the Europeans, the United States of America,” he told reporters. “We expect all of them to formally apologise to Africa and to all people of African descent.”

He pointed to the return of looted cultural artefacts as one possible step, alongside continued efforts to dismantle structural racism and, potentially, financial compensation for affected communities.

 

[Pioneer1]

A LOT of people have been talking about this online

Russia and China apparently support it.

[Mel Hopkins]

1 minute ago, Pioneer1 said:

Russia and China apparently support it.

Weren't the Russians, and Ukranians Slavs? The Slavs were enslaved  back in the 9th and 10th century. If they supported it , it would make sense.  The U.S. kicked China out of the U.S. country in the 19th century.

"In 1882, Congress took up the power to restrict immigration by banning the further immigration of Chinese." 

[Pioneer1]

9 minutes ago, Mel Hopkins said:

Weren't the Russians, and Ukranians Slavs? The Slavs were enslaved  back in the 9th and 10th century. If they supported it , it would make sense.  The U.S. kicked China out of the U.S. country in the 19th century.

Yep.
Most people don't know that this is where the word "slave" comes from....the Slavs

Places like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia and Slovenia....the slavic regions of Europe where the Arabs and Africans used to go and get slaves to bring back to the Middle East and North Africa.
Called "Mamlukes" 

So....
Are you done hibernating?

Like a bear or groundhog.....lol....you've decided to come outside and join us for the Spring?

[Mel Hopkins]

2 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Yep.
Most people don't know that this is where the word "slave" comes from....the Slavs

I was included. I didn't know until this semester.  I'm taking this awesome history class at my local university.

[Pioneer1]

8 minutes ago, Mel Hopkins said:

I'm taking this awesome history class at my local university.

Come on now....
If you're looking for a young man....there are less expensive and time consuming ways to find one, than that.....lol.

[Mel Hopkins]

45 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Come on now....
If you're looking for a young man....there are less expensive and time consuming ways to find one, than that.....lol.

OMG! Do you know that my ex-husband said the same exact thing LOL! 
|
I'm not on the campus this semester. I've only registetered for asynchronous online classes.  

[ProfD]

Awesome gesture introduced to UN by the West African nation of Ghana.

 

There should be no confusion among FBA/AfroAmericans about where our birthplace stands as it relates to the original sin of slavery & acknowledging it through a series of actions including recognition, apology & reparations to name a few.

[Pioneer1]

Mel

 

OMG! Do you know that my ex-husband said the same exact thing LOL! 

 

Maybe I'm subconsciously auditioning for the same exact role.

But then again, maybe saying shit like that is one of the reasons WHY he's your "ex"....lol.

 

 

 

ProfD

 

There should be no confusion among FBA/AfroAmericans about where our birthplace stands as it relates to the original sin of slavery & acknowledging it through a series of actions including recognition, apology & reparations to name a few.

Both FBA and ADOS have made it crystal clear that ONLY descendants of American slavery are entitled to Reparations from the United States.
 

If Ghana and other African nations had a SERIOUS shot at somehow FINESSING some money and resources out of the West and even the United States in Reparations payments...I wonder would the most outspoken representatives of these movements eat humble pie and get behind their program, lol.

That's why it's not good to burn bridges.

[ProfD]

10 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Both FBA and ADOS have made it crystal clear that ONLY descendants of American slavery are entitled to Reparations from the United States.

Right. FBA/ADOS/AfroAmericans are having a hard time getting Black politicians to put forth reparations legislation. 

10 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

If Ghana and other African nations had a SERIOUS shot at somehow FINESSING some money and resources out of the West and even the United States in Reparations payments...

Of course, if pressed on it, the US & every other country involved in the transatlantic slave trade would turn the tables on the Africans nations that sold folks into slavery.

 

10 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

...I wonder would the most outspoken representatives of these movements eat humble pie and get behind their program, lol.

That's why it's not good to burn bridges.

The bridges built between FBA/ADOS/AfroAmericans & other Black folks isn't strong enough to present a united front or offensive.

 

The movement for reparations requires organization & codification.