The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on Wednesday declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest crime against humanity” and calling for reparations as a necessary step to address historical injustices. The non-binding measure, which also demands the unconditional return of cultural artifacts to their countries of origin, was adopted by a vote of 123 in favour, with three against—the United States, Israel, and Argentina—and 52 abstentions, including Britain and several European Union member states.
The resolution, spearheaded by Ghana, represents a formal call for restorative justice. It urges nations involved in the slave trade to engage in reparative actions and highlights the enduring legacy of slavery in contemporary racial discrimination and neo-colonial practices. Ghanaian President John Mahama, present at the UN headquarters in New York, described the adoption as a safeguard against forgetting and a path toward healing. “We come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice,” he stated.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres reinforced the resolution’s premise, stating the slave trade “struck at the core of personhood, broke up families, and devastated communities.” He noted that slavery’s proponents constructed a racist ideology to justify the practice, turning prejudice into a pseudoscience.
Despite the broad support, key nations voiced strong objections. The United States rejected the resolution as “highly problematic,” with Ambassador Dan Negrea stating the U.S. “does not recognise a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred.” Washington also opposed “the resolution’s attempt to rank crimes against humanity in any type of hierarchy.” Similar reservations were raised by France and other European states, with the French representative warning the text risks “pitting historical tragedies against each other that should not be compared.”
In response, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, asserted the resolution sends a clear message that “the day of reckoning will come.” He called for formal apologies from European nations and the United States, identifying them as the known perpetrators of the transatlantic slave trade.
The measure goes beyond symbolic acknowledgment by explicitly requesting the restitution of cultural items—including artworks, monuments, and archives—without charge. Between 1500 and 1800, an estimated 12 to 15 million Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas, with over two million perishing during the Middle Passage.
While lacking legal enforceability, the resolution amplifies a decades-long demand for accountability and symbolic restitution from African nations and diaspora advocates. Its passage marks a significant, though contested, moment in multilateral discussions on repairing the enduring consequences of one of history’s most brutal systems of exploitation. The debate now shifts to how, or whether, the represented states will respond to its calls.
