‘Slavery is not a thing of the past’: UN supports call for reparations

The committee is calling on States to implement comprehensive restorative justice, combining compensation, restitution, rehabilitation and structural reforms.

The passage of time cannot serve as a pretext for States to refuse to recognise these historical injustices or to adopt “appropriate measures of restorative justice and accountability for these crimes”, according to the committee.

Comprising18 independent human rights experts elected for four-year terms, the committee’s main task is to examine the periodic reports submitted by member countries on the measures taken to combat racism and discrimination. 

It also advocates for comprehensive and far-reaching remedial measures, both financial, non-financial and structural, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-recurrence.

National plans and deadlines

“The elimination of racial discrimination cannot be effective, complete or sustainable without a full commitment to review and redress the ongoing harms and consequences of the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised slavery,” the experts said in a statement.

To ensure the effectiveness of reparations, they advocate the implementation of national action plans with specific deadlines, developed in consultation with people of African descent and the committees in charge of reparations.

The committee also called on States to repeal or revise laws and policies that perpetuate racism or discrimination or that obstruct restorative justice. It demanded transformations of laws, policies, and institutions that continue to perpetuate racial inequalities.

“Acknowledgments and apologies should be accompanied by concrete measures and should not replace other appropriate forms of redress,” the experts argued.

Private actors face responsibilities

CERD also examined the responsibility of private and other non-State actors, including religious organizations, universities, businesses, banks, insurers and other financial institutions that participated in, facilitated or profited from the trafficking of enslaved Africans.

The committee also called on States to ensure that these actors contribute effectively to restorative justice, in particular by recognising their historical role, opening relevant archives and contributing to reparation measures “in a manner proportionate to their involvement and the benefits they have derived from it”.

The committee stressed that these responsibilities remain relevant: the harms linked to the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised slavery persist in the form of “systemic racial discrimination and structural inequalities”.

Committee members specifically pointed to racialised violence, stereotypes and structural barriers that fuel disparities in education, health, economic mobility and environmental security. 

These legacies of slavery have been “reinforced by policies perpetuating anti-Black racism”.