Top UN official advocates reparations for enslavement of Africans – JURIST

On Tuesday, Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, spoke at the fifth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, where he described reparations as “key to dismantling systemic racism.”

Türk called for member states to adopt and enforce anti-racism law, policies, and practices; include young people of African descent and members of civil society at all levels of decision-making; and maintain momentum towards reparatory justice. He welcomed advances in racial equality and justice, including anti-discrimination laws and the creation of human rights and equality institutions but warned that progress is uneven, fragile, and often held back.

“Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric still pervade our public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he warned, adding that “digital technologies, including AI are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”

Türk’s remarks follow the UN General Assembly passage of Resolution A/80/L.48 on March 25–the Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity. The resolution, spearheaded by Ghana, was adopted with a 123-3 vote and declared the trafficking and enslavement of Africans as the “gravest crime against humanity” for the “scale, duration, systemic nature, brutality, and enduring consequences” for people of African descent. Only Argentina, Israel, and the United States voted against the resolution.

The UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent is a UN consultative entity formed by General Assembly Resolution 75/314 on August 2, 2021. It tasks nations with “improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent” and produces advice and recommendations to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.

The fifth session, which takes place April 14-17, will discuss ways to advance the 2001 Durban Declaration, a global framework for combatting racism, discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, reparatory justice in relation to museums and restitution, and youth of African descent as rights-holders and agents of change.