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	Ongoing shortfalls and disparities leave over 1 billion people with disabilities behind by International Disability Alliance, agencies   The International Disability Alliance (IDA) operates as a global advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. IDA brings together over 1,100 organisations of persons with disabilities and their families from across eight global and six regional networks.   Together we promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities across global efforts to advance human rights and sustainable development. We support organisations of persons with disabilities to hold their governments to account and advocate for change locally, nationally and internationally.   With member organisations around the world, IDA represents over one billion people worldwide living with disabilities. Among them are some of the world’s largest – and most frequently overlooked – marginalised group.   3 Dec. 2024   Women and girls with disabilities are the best champions for upholding their rights. (OHCHR)   UN Experts urged governments to amplify the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future, particularly women and girls with disabilities:   "Despite the fast-approaching deadline for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the promise of full gender equality remains elusive. “For women and girls with disabilities, this goal is even more distant due to compounded discrimination,” the Experts stated.   Women and girls with disabilities are disproportionately affected by poverty, inadequate healthcare including sexual and reproductive health, limited access to inclusive education, employment in the open market, digital devices and technology, increased exposure to abuse and violence, including sexual violence, trafficking in persons, and limited access to justice.   And particularly for those with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, denial of legal capacity often strips them of the freedom to make critical choices, including over their own bodies.   “Women and girls with disabilities are too often invisible and their needs and concerns are insufficiently considered in public policies on gender equality and on the rights of persons with disabilities,” noted the Experts.   This is aggravated by the widespread lack of disaggregated quantitative and qualitative data based on disability, age, sex, and gender, and their intersection.   The Experts stressed that the voices and experiences of all women and girls with disabilities must be part of public policy and decision-making priorities and commitments.   “They need to be more represented in leadership roles across all sectors – including within movements promoting and advocating for the human rights of women and of persons with disabilities respectively. Women and girls with disabilities need to be fully consulted on all policies that affect their lives and to be included in all discussions and decision-making processes” the Experts urged.   Further, all aspects of the intersection between gender and disabilities need to be considered, for example how the situation of families – and mostly mothers and other female relatives – impacts the human rights of children with disabilities.   The Experts recalled the need to establish gender-responsive, disability-inclusive, and age-sensitive care and support systems.   The upcoming 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration provides a pivotal opportunity for governments to assess progress in advancing the rights of women and girls with disabilities, and all women and girls who are left behind and whose needs are insufficiently addressed. While recent national reports reveal achievements, persistent gaps highlight the need for targeted policies and investment.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-disability http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5856-thirty-years-implementation-beijing-declaration-and-platform   28 Oct. 2024   The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issues key recommendations on the rights of persons with disabilities in recent 76th session.   Earlier this month, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights published its Concluding Observations on Albania, Cyprus, Honduras, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, and Poland, adopted during its 76th session (9th to 27th September). The Committee included recommendations on and explicit references to issues of persons with disabilities in all the 13 concluding observations adopted during 2024, reaching a total of 65 recommendations and references.   The International Disability Alliance has produced its compilations of Disability-Related Extracts from the Concluding Observations for the sessions 75th and 76th held in 2024.   In 2024, the 75th and 76th sessions of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights covered a range of important issues related to the rights of persons with disabilities including: Discrimination and social inclusion; Access to inclusive quality education; Employment; Poverty and economic inequality; Social protection; Infrastructure and accessibility.   The 75th session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in February 2024 reviewed six countries and issued disability-related recommendations for all of them, reaching a total of 31 recommendations. Key issues include:   Indonesia: The Committee raised concerns over the use of shackling on people with psychosocial disabilities and recommended preventing this practice and improve mental health services. The Committee was concerned about the lack of school infrastructure and digital access, with recommendations to enhance education quality and access, especially for children with disabilities.   Iraq: The Committee raised concerns about unemployment, particularly among marginalized groups like people with disabilities. Recommendations included enhancing vocational training and combating poverty, with particular attention to disadvantaged groups including persons with disabilities.   Ireland: The Committee pointed out the lack of disaggregated data on discrimination, calling for better data collection and comprehensive anti-discrimination laws. It emphasized improving employment opportunities and tackling poverty, especially for disadvantaged groups. In particular, it recommended to "take measures to ensure that the minimum wage applies to all workers, all sectors and all forms of employment, including by repealing sections 35 (1), on different rates of remuneration for persons with disabilities, of the Employment Equality Act".   Mauritania: Issues with unemployment, education access, and social security, especially for marginalized groups, were highlighted. Recommendations included improving education quality and infrastructure and to "guarantee access to quality education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, in particular children with disabilities;"   Romania: Concerns were raised about discrimination against marginalized groups, lack of social housing, and high school dropout rates among Roma and rural children. Recommendations included addressing discrimination education, improving employment conditions for vulnerable groups, and to "increase the availability of adequate and affordable housing, in particular by expanding the supply of social housing, paying particular attention to members of disadvantaged and marginalized groups, such as persons with disabilities...";   Sweden: Concerns about discrimination, particularly in employment and housing, were raised. The Committee recommended stronger anti-discrimination measures, including ensuring that "effective judicial remedies and accessible legal aid, in addition to administrative remedies are available to victims of harassment, hate crimes and discrimination on the grounds of disability...", and seeking improvements in education, especially addressing disparities in access for marginalized students.   The 76th Session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in September 2024 covered seven countries: Albania, Cyprus, Honduras, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi and Poland. All seven countries received disability-related recommendations, with a total of 34 specific references to disabilities.   A common recommendation to Albania, Iceland, Malawi and Poland was to consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Other key issues include:   Albania: Issues with accessible infrastructure and inclusive education were identified. Recommendations included improving public infrastructure by fully implementing Law No. 93/2014 on Inclusion and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities and its related by-laws and other measures, and ensuring inclusive education for children with disabilities by " ensuring the provision of accessible and adapted materials, inclusive curricula, and individualised support and accommodation."   Cyprus: Concerns focus on unemployment among persons with disabilities and the lack of support for families with disabled children. Recommendations suggest targeted employment schemes and inclusive education reforms, as well as to "take all the necessary measures to ensure that children with disabilities can enjoy their right to grow up in a family environment".   Honduras: The focus is on combating discrimination against disadvantaged groups, including persons with disabilities. Recommendations stress the need for ensuring access to effective remedies and reparations to victims of discrimination and violence; and inclusive employment strategies and access to social security.   Iceland: High unemployment among persons with disabilities, violence against them, and poverty are significant issues. Recommendations include promoting employment and combating poverty for vulnerable groups, including by enhancing "efforts to increase the amount of old age pension, unemployment and disability benefits to ensure they provide an adequate standard of living for all recipients."   Kyrgyzstan: Persistent structural discrimination, including against persons with disabilities, is highlighted. The country was urged to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination laws, improve social security access and increase efforts to reduce unemployment by implementing public sector employment schemes, vocational training programmes, and partnerships with the private sector, ensuring that its policies tackle the root causes of unemployment, paying particular attention to persons with disabilities..".   Malawi: The country lacks a comprehensive anti-discrimination legal framework, leading to stigma and unemployment for disabled people. Recommendations call for better inclusive education, social protection through the Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) "providing both basic income security and, when necessary, disability-related costs", and adopting "a comprehensive labour strategy with a precise, time-bound action plan to support women, youth and persons with disabilities in accessing decent employment..".   Poland: Issues with non-discrimination, employment for persons with disabilities and insufficient enforcement of accessibility laws were noted. Recommendations encourage "public education programmes on discriminatory norms and beliefs to combat the stigmatization of persons with disabilities," and targeted employment programs and better legal protections.   http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/blog/committee-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-issues-key-recommendations-rights-persons http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/blog/cedaw-committee-releases-89th-session-concluding-observations-nearly-80-recommendations-and http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/blog/committee-rights-child-issued-recommendations-children-disabilities-its-97th-session http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/blog/opds-advocate-disability-representation-global-climate-policies http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/blog/summary-un-disability-and-development-report-2024   http://www.icj.org/africa-persons-with-disabilities-push-for-inclusive-and-accessible-justice-systems/ http://www.icj.org/africa-african-commission-on-human-and-peoples-rights-calls-for-the-full-continental-ratification-and-implementation-of-the-african-disability-protocol/ http://www.icj.org/resource/africa-bridging-the-gap-to-realization-of-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/ http://www.icj.org/asia-pacific-kathmandu-declaration-launched-calling-for-action-to-ensure-access-to-justice-for-persons-with-disabilities   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/03/hc-turk-technology-must-support-people-disabilities-not-deepen http://www.developmentpathways.co.uk/publications/good-practice-in-disability-inclusive-social-security-2/ http://social.desa.un.org/publications/un-flagship-report-on-disability-and-development-2024 http://atscalepartnership.org/ http://www.globaldisabilitysummit.org/resource/global-disability-inclusion-report/ http://www.globaldisabilitysummit.org/ http://social.desa.un.org/cosp/18th-session http://www.driadvocacy.org/news/dri-founder-eric-rosenthal-speaks-un-side-event-disability-trafficking http://news.un.org/en/audio/2025/06/1164366 Visit the related web page
	UN Secretary-General calls for reparations for enslavement and colonialism by UN News, OHCHR, news agencies   May 2025   ‘Justice is long overdue’: Guterres calls for reparations for enslavement and colonialism. (UN News)   UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his calls for Member states and the United Nations to work towards justice and reparations for Africans and the diaspora in a speech to the Africa Dialogue Series.   “Africa is a continent of boundless energy and possibility. But for too long, the colossal injustices inflicted by enslavement, the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism have been left unacknowledged and unaddressed,” he said.   The United Nations has repeatedly said that slavery and the transatlantic slave trade constituted crimes against humanity, and the Secretary-General has repeatedly called for redress for these injustices.   Speaking to the Africa Dialogue Series — which is focused on the theme of justice through reparations — the Secretary-General noted that the movement for reparatory justice is gaining momentum around the world as reflected by the declaration of the Second Decade for People of African Descent, which runs through 2035.   The last decade, which ended in 2024, yielded tangible results, with over 30 Member States revising laws to better tackle racial discrimination. However, the Secretary-General noted that much work remains.   “We point to the poisoned legacies of enslavement and colonialism, not to sow division but to heal them,” he said.   Mr. Guterres underlined the entrenched nature of racism and exploitative systems, saying that these systems have disadvantaged African countries and people of African descent beyond the end of colonialism and enslavement.   “Decolonization did not free African countries, or people of African descent, from the structures and prejudices that made those projects possible,” he said.   In fact, when the United Nations was founded and many of the global structures established, some African countries were still colonies. “When African countries gained their independence, they inherited a system built to serve others — not them,” the Secretary-General said.   The President of the UN General Assembly, Philemon Yang, underlined the importance of teaching this history through national education curricula. “Knowledge of our true history can serve as a powerful compass in our onward march towards progress,” he said.   To address the inequities of this system, the Secretary-General called upon the global community to take action on international financial systems which are burdening developing economies in Africa and the Caribbean. Specifically, he emphasized the importance of restructuring debt systems which are “suffocating” these countries’ economies.   UN reports have repeatedly noted that indebted poor countries are spending more on debt repayments than they do on health, education and infrastructure combined.   Mr. Guterres also called for massive investments into clean energy infrastructure in Africa which has been deeply impacted by climate change. “African countries did not cause the climate crisis. Yet the effects of our heating planet are wreaking havoc across the continent,” he said.   He reiterated his call for the establishment of a permanent Security Council position for an African Member State.   Mr. Yang, the General Assembly President, underlined the urgency of the Secretary-General’s remarks, urging member states to act. “Now is the moment to turn recommendations into rights, apologies into action and aspirations into accountability.”   http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/05/1163886 http://www.un.org/osaa/ads2025 http://www.cesr.org/leading-voices-call-for-a-new-development-human-rights-centered-approach-to-sovereign-debt-at-paper-series-launch/ http://iej.org.za/category/resourcing-for-rights-realisation/resourcing-for-rights-realisation_debt-justice/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/02/asg-brands-kehris-current-international-debt-architecture-unfair http://www.srpoverty.org/2024/10/17/statement-international-financial-system-not-fit-for-purpose-to-address-catastrophic-debt-crisis-un-poverty-expert/ http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2025/march/20250320_debt-crisis   http://sdg.iisd.org/commentary/guest-articles/african-unions-voice-at-the-icj-seeking-climate-justice/ http://www.srpoverty.org/2025/01/17/financing-social-protection-floors-contribution-of-the-special-rapporteur-to-ffd4/ http://reliefweb.int/report/world/human-cost-public-sector-cuts-africa-april-2025 http://actionaid.org/publications/2025/human-cost-public-cuts-africa http://www.ipsnews.net/2025/01/developing-countries-choked-debt-year-breaking-free/ http://debtjustice.org.uk/press-release/lower-income-country-debt-payments-hit-highest-level-in-30-years http://cafod.org.uk/campaign/the-new-debt-crisis http://tinyurl.com/y45jmkdd http://www.eurodad.org/g20_imf_world_bank_fail_debt_crisis   Apr. 2024   Africa and Caribbean unite on reparations. (Reuters)   Support is building among Africa and Caribbean nations for the creation of an international tribunal on atrocities dating to the transatlantic trade of enslaved people, with the United States backing a U.N. panel at the heart of the effort.   A tribunal, modelled on other ad-hoc courts such as the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals after World War Two, was proposed last year. It has now gained traction within a broader slavery reparations movement, Reuters reporting based on interviews with a dozen people reveals.   Formally recommended in June by the U.N. Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, the idea of a special tribunal has been explored further at African and Caribbean regional bodies, said Eric Phillips, a vice-chair of the slavery reparations commission for the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, which groups 15 member states.   The scope of any tribunal has not been determined but the U.N. Forum recommended in a preliminary report that it should address reparations for enslavement, apartheid, genocide, and colonialism.   Advocates, including within CARICOM and the African Union (AU), which groups 55 nations across the continent, are working to build wider backing for the idea among U.N. members, Phillips said.   A special U.N. tribunal would help establish legal norms for complex international and historical reparations claims, its supporters say. Opponents of reparations argue, among other things, that contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for historical slavery.   Even its supporters recognise that establishing an international tribunal for slavery will not be easy.   There are "huge obstacles," said Martin Okumu-Masiga, Secretary-General of the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum (AJJF), which is providing reparations-related advice to the AU.   Hurdles include obtaining the cooperation of nations that were involved in the trade of enslaved people and the legal complexities of finding responsible parties and determining remedies.   "These things happened many years ago and historical records and evidence can be challenging to access and even verify," Okumo-Masiga said.   Unlike the Nuremberg trials, nobody directly involved in transatlantic slavery is alive.   Asked about the idea of a tribunal, a spokesperson for the British Foreign Office acknowledged the country's role in transatlantic slavery, but said it had no plan to pay reparations. Instead, past wrongs should be tackled by learning lessons from history and tackling "today's challenges," the spokesperson said.   However, advocates for reparations say Western countries and institutions that continue to benefit from the wealth slavery generated should be held accountable, particularly given ongoing legacies of racial discrimination.   A tribunal would help establish an "official record of history," said Brian Kagoro, a Zimbabwean lawyer who has been advocating for reparations for over two decades.   Racism, impoverishment and economic underdevelopment are linked to the longstanding consequences of transatlantic slavery from the United States to Europe and the African continent, according to U.N. studies.   "These legacies are alive and well," said Clive Lewis, a British Labour MP and a descendant of people enslaved in the Caribbean nation of Grenada.   Black people "live in poorer and more polluted areas, they have worse diets, they have worse educational outcomes... because structural racism is embedded deep."   The proposal for a tribunal was discussed in November at a reparations summit in Ghana attended by African and Caribbean leaders.   The Ghana summit ended with a commitment to explore judicial routes, including "litigation options."   Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria, is in favour of the push for a tribunal, Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told Reuters in February, saying the country would support the idea "until it becomes a reality."   In Grenada, where hundreds of thousands were enslaved, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell is "in full support," a spokesperson said, describing the tribunal as a CARICOM-led initiative.   Phillips said the work to establish a tribunal would have to take place through the United Nations system and include conversations with countries, including Portugal, Britain, France, Spain, Netherlands and Denmark, that were involved in trading enslaved people to the Caribbean and other regions.   Reuters could not establish how many countries in Africa and the Caribbean were likely to support the idea.   Among the tribunal's most vocal advocates is Justin Hansford, a Howard University law professor backed by the U.S. State Department to serve at the U.N. forum. He said the idea will be discussed at the forum's third session, starting April 16, due to be attended by 50 or more nations.   Hansford then plans to travel to Africa to lobby for further support, with the goal of raising the proposal with stronger backing during the U.N. General Assembly in September, he told Reuters.   "A lot of my work now is to try to help make it a reality," he said of the tribunal, saying it could take three to five years to get it off the ground. Phillips said the goal was to garner enough support by 2025.   The United States, which has financed the U.N forum, "will make a decision on the tribunal when it has been developed and established," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said. "However, the United States strongly supports" the forum's work, the spokesperson added.   Regarding reparations, "the complexity of the issue, legal challenges, and differing perspectives among Caribbean nations present significant challenges," the spokesperson said.   The U.N. leadership has now come out in support for reparations, which have been used in other circumstances to offset large moral and economic debts, such as to Japanese Americans interned by the United States during World War Two and to families of Holocaust survivors.   "We call for reparatory justice frameworks, to help overcome generations of exclusion and discrimination," U.N. General Secretary Antonio Guterres said on March 25, in his most direct public comments yet on the issue.   "No country with a legacy of enslavement, the trade in enslaved Africans, or colonialism has fully reckoned with the past, or comprehensively accounted for the impacts on the lives of people of African descent today," said Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights office, in response to a question about the tribunal.   The Netherlands apologised for its role in transatlantic slavery last year and announced a roughly $200 million fund to address that past. A spokesperson for the foreign ministry said it was not aware of the discussions around a tribunal and could not respond to questions.   The French government declined to comment. The governments of Portugal, Spain and Denmark did not respond to requests for comment.   The push for a tribunal stems in part from a belief that claims need to be enshrined in a legal framework, said Okumu-Masiga, of the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum.   Several institutions, including the European Union, have concluded that transatlantic slavery was a crime against humanity.   After the 1940s Nuremberg trials, the U.N. formalised the structure of special tribunals - criminal courts set up on an ad-hoc basis to investigate serious international crimes, such as crimes against humanity.   The U.N. has since established two: one to prosecute those responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide and another to prosecute war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.   The Rwanda and Yugoslavia tribunals were established by the U.N. Security Council, however the International Criminal Court, another international U.N. tribunal, was founded through a General Assembly resolution, a possible route for a slavery reparations tribunal, Hansford said.   Okumu-Masiga said affected countries, descendents of enslaved people and indigenous groups could be potential claimants, while defendants could include nations and institutions with historic links to slavery or even descendants of enslavers.   An international tribunal is not the only judicial path available.   At a summit of Caribbean countries in February this year, the gathered prime ministers and presidents proposed working with the AU to request an ICJ advisory legal opinion on reparations through the U.N. General Assembly, a source familiar with the matter at CARICOM said.   Makmid Kamara, founder of the Accra-based civil society group Reforms Initiatives that works with the AU on reparatory justice, said decisions on which route to take would be made based on that advisory by the ICJ.   From the 15th to the late 19th century, at least 12.5 million enslaved Africans were forcibly transported by mainly European but also U.S. and Brazilian-flagged ships and sold into slavery.   Before pushing for the abolition of slavery, Britain transported an estimated 3.2 million people, the most active European country after Portugal, which enslaved nearly 6 million.   Those who survived the brutal voyage ended up toiling on plantations under inhumane conditions in the Americas, mostly in Brazil, the Caribbean and the United States, while others profited from their labour.   Calls for reparations started with enslaved people themselves.   "They ran away, they raised their voices in songs of protests, they fought wars of resistance," said Verene A. Sheperd, director of the centre for reparation research at the University of West Indies.   The movement later garnered support from quarters as varied as U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and the Caribbean's Rastafarians. In the past year, some of the world's largest institutions have added their voices.   Ghana led efforts to get African support for formally pursuing reparations, with Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa also taking up the cause, said Kamara.   Most discussion has focused on transatlantic trafficking, Hansford and Phillips said, rather than the older trans-Saharan trade to the Islamic world, estimated to have transported several million enslaved Africans.   What reparations would consist of in practice is debated. Some, including in the United States, have pushed for individual payments to descendants of enslaved people. CARICOM, in a 2014 plan, called for debt cancellation and support from European nations to tackle public health and economic crises.   The AU decision to join CARICOM has given new heft to the campaign, said Jasmine Mickens, a U.S.- based strategist for social movements who specialises in reparations.   The AU is now developing Africa's own white paper on what reparations might look like, said Okumu-Masiga.   "We have a global community behind this message," said Mickens, who attended the Ghana event. "That's something this movement has never seen before."   (Reporting by Catarina Demony in Lisbon; Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja, Maxwell Akalaare Adombila in Accra, John Irish in Paris and Lissandra Paraguassu in Brasilia)   * UN report on financial reparations for transatlantic slavery: http://tinyurl.com/3uce7wku   http://www.reuters.com/world/slavery-tribunal-africa-caribbean-unite-reparations-2024-04-04 http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/06/19/why-reparations-qa http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/18/africans-and-people-african-descent-call-europe-reckon-their-colonial-legacies http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/14/europe-has-yet-address-colonial-legacies-0 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/03/un-experts-urge-states-recognise-and-address-legacy-slave-trade http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/09/strong-leadership-and-political-will-crucial-ensure-reparatory-justice http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/forums/forum-african-descent/sessions/session1/statements/2023-01-23/Michael-McEachrane-Reparatory-Justice.pdf http://views-voices.oxfam.org.uk/2025/01/reparations-gender-justice/   Sep. 2023   A UN report calling on countries to consider financial reparations for transatlantic slavery has been hailed as a significant step forward by campaigners.   The report by the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said no country had comprehensively accounted for the past and addressed the legacy of the mass enslavement of people of African descent for more than 400 years.   “Under international human rights law, compensation for any economically assessable damage, as appropriate and proportional to the gravity of the violation and the circumstances of each case, may also constitute a form of reparations,” the report said.   “In the context of historical wrongs and harms suffered as a result of colonialism and enslavement, the assessment of the economic damage can be extremely difficult owing to the length of time passed and the difficulty of identifying the perpetrators and victims.”   The report stressed, however, that the difficulty in making a legal claim to compensation “cannot be the basis for nullifying the existence of underlying legal obligations”.   Michael McEachrane, a researcher and member of the UN permanent forum on people of African descent, said the report was “a huge step forward”, adding it came amid significant recent activity on the international stage.   McEachrane said: “There seems to be a big emphasis on reparations as a matter of financial compensation in the report. Various initiatives at the UN level, including the Caricom call for reparatory justice, moves way beyond a conception of reparations as a matter of financial compensation.   “There is no financial compensation for 500 years of enslavement and colonialism, and what most of us are calling for is a systemic and structural transformation.”   A recent report by the UN permanent forum on people of African descent, which was sent to the human rights council and general assembly, also called for reparative justice.   McEachrane said: “To address the lasting consequences of these histories – in terms of inequities, structural and systemic injustices, lack of equal enjoyment of human dignity and rights – that will include financing, but the point is not the financial compensation, but the structural and systemic transformation.”   The secretary general’s report concluded that states should consider a “plurality of measures” to address the legacies of enslavement and colonialism, including pursuing justice and reparations, and contributing to reconciliation.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/09/strong-leadership-and-political-will-crucial-ensure-reparatory-justice http://tinyurl.com/3uce7wku   Aug. 2023   UK cannot ignore calls for slavery reparations, says leading UN judge. (Guardian News)   A leading judge at the international court of justice has said the UK will no longer be able to ignore the growing calls for reparation for transatlantic slavery.   Judge Patrick Robinson, who presided over the trial of the former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, said the international tide on slavery reparations was quickly shifting and urged the UK to change its current position on the issue.   “They cannot continue to ignore the greatest atrocity, signifying man’s inhumanity to man. They cannot continue to ignore it. Reparations have been paid for other wrongs and obviously far more quickly, far more speedily than reparations for what I consider the greatest atrocity and crime in the history of mankind: transatlantic chattel slavery,” Robinson said.   “I believe that the United Kingdom will not be able to resist this movement towards the payment of reparations: it is required by history and it is required by law.”   Robinson spoke exclusively to the Guardian ahead of Unesco’s Day for Remembering the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Abolition. He is scheduled to make the keynote address at the London mayor’s office to mark the day.   The event follows the key role that Robinson played in writing and compiling the Brattle Group Report on Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery, which was published in June. The report, which has been described as the most comprehensive state-to-state reparations analysis, identifies the reparations that are due in respect of 31 countries in which transatlantic slavery was practised.   The study estimates that trillions of dollars are owed in reparations to countries affected by transatlantic slavery. The report, which was published by the University of the West Indies after a symposium held by the American Society of International Law, concludes that the UK alone is required to pay a sum of $24tn (£18.8tn) as reparations for transatlantic slavery in 14 countries. Of that sum, about $9.6tn is due to Jamaica. The report uses calculations made by the Brattle Group, which factors in the wealth and GDP amassed by countries that enslaved African people.   When asked if the high figures came as a surprise, Robinson said no. “These calculations are not over a period of five years or 10 years. They cover the entire duration of transatlantic chattel slavery, which means they cover hundreds of years. What is more, reparations have never been paid. So the calculations begin from day one of transatlantic chattel slavery, that is hundreds of years; and that alone explains the high figures.”   To address the figures, Robinson said the report proposed that payments be made over a longer period of time, between 10 and 25 years, rather than instantly.   At the launch of the report at the University of the West Indies in Kingston Jamaica, PJ Patterson, a former prime minister of Jamaica, reportedly said that reparations were owed to Jamaica and the other countries affected by transatlantic slavery, and would not rule out bringing the issue to courts.   On achieving reparations through international courts, Robinson said: “It’s possible, but frankly, I think the greater probability is for a settlement on a political diplomatic basis, which takes into account the relevant legal considerations … But I don’t rule out court proceedings.”   In April, the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, refused to apologise for the UK’s role in the slave trade or to commit to paying reparations.   Robinson said: “I have the highest regard for the prime minister of the United Kingdom, but I believe the stance that he has taken is regrettable and I very much hope that he will reconsider it.   “The tide is changing, the political tide, the global tide is moving. The United Kingdom – including both principle parties, the Conservative party and the Labour party and the other parties, which are just as important – need to take into account that movement is a movement in favour of reparations. The transatlantic chattel slavery is the greatest atrocity in the history of humankind without parallel for its brutality, without parallel for its length over 400 years, without parallel for its profitability.”   http://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/22/uk-cannot-ignore-calls-for-slavery-reparations-says-leading-un-judge-patrick-robinson http://www.brattle.com/insights-events/publications/brattle-consultants-quantify-reparations-for-transatlantic-chattel-slavery-in-pro-bono-paper/ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/17/african-and-caribbean-nations-agree-move-to-seek-reparations-for-slavery http://globalvoices.org/2023/12/02/a-movement-is-growing-across-africa-and-diaspora-demanding-reparations-for-the-impacts-of-slavery-and-colonialism/ http://africanarguments.org/2024/11/a-robbery-on-so-large-a-scale-140-years-after-the-berlin-west-africa-conference/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2023/12/un-experts-urge-shift-towards-human-rights-economy-prevent-contemporary-forms   http://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/legacy-slavery-caribbean-and-journey-towards-justice http://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/deep-legacy-slavery http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/04/1148166 http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/02/tulsa-race-massacre-survivors-ask-biden-investigate http://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr/publications/global-anti-blackness-and-legacy-transatlantic-slave-trade http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/03/18/submission-un-committee-elimination-racial-discrimination http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/ http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Racism/SR/A_74_231_Reparations__SR_Racism.pdf Visit the related web page
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