Last Wednesday (25 March), the UN General Assembly passed a resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans 'the gravest crime against humanity'.
The resolution also called for reparations as 'a concrete step towards remedying historical wrongs' as well as urging 'the prompt and unhindered restitution' of cultural items, including artworks, monuments, museum pieces, documents and national archives, to their countries of origin without charge.
Only three countries voted against the decision.
While General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, they are an important reflection of world opinion.
Advert
"Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice," Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, a key architect of the resolution, told the assembly before the vote.
"The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting," he said.
"Let it be recorded that when history beckoned, we did what was right for the memory of the millions who suffered the indignity of slavery."
The vote in the 193-member world body was 123-3, with 52 abstentions.
Argentina, Israel and the United States were the three members voting against the resolution.
Between the 15th and 19th centuries, an estimated 12 to 15 million African men, women and children were captured and forced across the Atlantic into slavery, per the BBC.
They were taken to colonies ruled by European powers, including Spain, Portugal, France and Britain. Around two million are thought to have died during the brutal sea journey.
The impact of this sustained exploitation is still felt to this day.
There is a historical precedent for reparations, with the most widely cited example being Germany, which since 1952 has paid more than $80bn (£60bn) to Jewish victims of the Nazi regime, including funds to Israel.
No country has paid reparations to the descendants of enslaved Africans or to affected nations across Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
In the 19th century, most government payouts linked to slavery went to slave owners, not to the people who had been enslaved.
The UK’s acting UN ambassador, James Kariuki, said the history of slavery and 'its devastating consequences and long-lasting impacts' must never be forgotten.
Western nations are committed to tackling the root causes that persist today, he said, pointing to racial discrimination, racism, xenophobia and intolerance.
He said 'the scourge of modern slavery' must also be addressed – trafficking, forced labour, sexual exploitation and forced criminality.
The resolution 'unequivocally condemns the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans, slavery and the transatlantic slave trade as the most inhumane and enduring injustice against humanity'.
In approving the resolution, the General Assembly affirms the importance of addressing the historical wrongs of slavery 'in a manner that promotes justice, human rights, dignity and healing'.
The resolution calls on UN member nations to engage in talks 'on reparatory justice, including a full and formal apology, measures of restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, guarantees of non-repetition and changes to laws, programmes and services to address racism and systemic discrimination'.
It encourages voluntary contributions to promote education on the transatlantic slave trade and asks the African Union, the Caribbean Community and the Organisation of American States to collaborate with UN bodies and other nations 'on reparatory justice and reconciliation'.
Rhiannon Ingle