The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has stated that countries are legally obligated to consider reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and to implement measures addressing the enduring legacy of racial discrimination.
Guidance published on Monday by the committee asserts that these obligations arise from the legally binding 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, not from legal standards that existed during the slave trade era. The committee described this approach as a “paradigm shift” away from debates over historical responsibility that governments have often used to resist reparations claims.
UN Committee's Landmark Guidance on Reparations
The UN document, which may be cited in courtrooms, states: “States parties must implement comprehensive reparatory measures for people of African descent, covering all aspects of remedies.” At least 12.5 million Africans were taken and sold between the 15th and 19th centuries in what CERD called the largest forced displacement in history.
Calls for reparations – ranging from official apologies to financial compensation – have gained momentum internationally, though opponents argue states and institutions should not be held responsible for historical crimes. The EU and Britain abstained from a UN resolution on slavery in March.
Addressing the Intertemporality Principle
Some states have sought to dodge claims for justice in courtrooms by arguing that there were no international laws outlawing the slave trade at the time – the so-called intertemporality principle. However, the UN document argues that, regardless of whether slavery and the slave trade were illegal under the laws of the day, countries remain responsible under current international obligations to tackle their continuing effects.
“Irrespective of the legal characterisation of the original historical acts, states parties remain bound by their present obligations under the convention to address structural inequalities,” the UN document says.
Beyond Financial Compensation
Financial compensation alone is not sufficient, it adds, urging “transformative” measures including opening archives, revising public memorials, and establishing independent truth commissions. Pela Boker Wilson, a committee expert from Liberia who helped draft the document, said she expected states to move beyond broad expressions of regret and review policies and laws.
“We are calling on state parties to take concrete and meaningful action,” she told Reuters. “We want to affirm the dignity of those whose suffering was denied, whose suffering was minimised or forgotten.”
