UN Declares Transatlantic Slavery the Gravest Crime Against Humanity
By VIP News Network
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, March 25, adopted a Ghana-led resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade and the enslavement of Africans the gravest crime against humanity, in a vote that drew broad support and sharp opposition from a small number of states. The measure passed with 123 votes in favor, three against, and 52 abstentions.
Speaking on behalf of the 54-member African Group before the vote, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama urged member states to confront the historical record with honesty and to pair remembrance with reparative justice. He said the world had gathered “in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice.”
UN General Assembly votes on the resolution declaring the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity.
The resolution describes the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity because of its scale, brutality, duration, and the enduring damage it inflicted across generations. It also underscores the continuing effects of slavery in persistent racism, discrimination, and inequality.
UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said the slave trade and slavery were among the most severe violations of human rights in history and an affront to the values on which the United Nations was founded. She noted that the societies from which enslaved Africans were taken suffered a profound loss of people, talent, and development potential.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on governments to remove the barriers that still limit people of African descent and to commit fully to human rights, equality, and human dignity. He pointed to the Second International Decade for People of African Descent and the African Union’s Decade of Reparations as important frameworks for continued action.
The vote came as the General Assembly marked the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, turning the chamber into a moment of remembrance, political symbolism, and renewed debate over historical accountability.
— The Editorial Board, VIPNews.tv
