The United Nations General Assembly has recognised the enslavement of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity,” marking a historic moment that advocates say could pave the way for justice and healing.
The resolution, proposed by Ghana, also calls on UN member states to consider issuing apologies for the slave trade and contributing to a reparations fund, though it does not specify any amount.
The vote saw 123 countries in favour, three against, the United States, Israel, and Argentina, while 52 countries, including the United Kingdom and European Union members, abstained.
Nations such as the UK have consistently rejected reparations, arguing that modern institutions cannot be held accountable for historical wrongs. Unlike UN Security Council resolutions, General Assembly decisions are not legally binding but carry the weight of global consensus.
Ahead of the vote, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama addressed the assembly, saying: “Let it be recorded that when history beckoned, we did what was right for the memory of the millions who suffered the indignity of the slave trade and those who continue to suffer racial discrimination.” He added, “The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting. It also challenges the enduring scars of slavery.”
Between 1500 and 1800, approximately 12 to 15 million Africans were captured and transported to the Americas, where they were forced into slavery. More than two million are estimated to have died during the transatlantic journey. President Mahama, speaking on behalf of the 54-member African Group, said: “Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice.”
For over 400 years, millions of Africans were stolen from their homeland, shackled, and shipped to the New World to toil under harsh conditions in cotton, sugar, and coffee plantations. Denied basic humanity and stripped of their identities, generations endured exploitation whose effects continue today, including persistent anti-Black racism and discrimination.
The resolution underscored “the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity by reason of the definitive break in world history, scale, duration, systemic nature, brutality and enduring consequences that continue to structure the lives of all people through racialized regimes of labour, property and capital.”
Esther Philips, First Poet Laureate of Barbados, said: “There are spirits of the victims of slavery present in this room at this moment, and they are listening for one word only: justice.” The measure highlighted the importance of addressing historical wrongs against Africans and people of the diaspora in ways that promote dignity, human rights, healing, and reparatory justice.
The United States opposed the resolution, with Ambassador Dan Negrea calling the text “highly problematic in countless respects” and stating that Washington does not recognise a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs. He added that the UN exists to maintain international peace and security, not to create costly reporting mandates or celebrate niche international days.
The horrors of slavery reverberated through the General Assembly Hall, which marked the International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said: “The slave trade and slavery stand among the gravest violations of human rights in human history – an affront to the very principles enshrined in the Charter of our United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, themselves born, in part, from these injustices of the past.” She added that African countries suffered a “hollowing out” with entire generations lost, calling it “mass resource extraction.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged nations to tackle the lasting legacies of slavery, including inequality and racism. “Now we must remove the persistent barriers that prevent so many people of African descent from exercising their rights and realising their potential,” he said. He highlighted the Second International Decade for People of African Descent and the African Union’s Decade of Reparations as opportunities to promote systemic change.
Guterres also stressed that countries must respect African nations’ ownership of natural resources and ensure their equal participation in the global financial system and UN decision-making. “But far bolder actions — by many more States — are needed,” he said, emphasising that reparatory justice, equality, and human rights must guide future efforts.