UN designates African slave trade as ‘gravest crime against humanity’

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday designated the transatlantic African slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity”, despite opposition by the United States and some European countries.

In a move advocates hailed as a step towards healing and possible reparations, the resolution was adopted to applause by a vote of 123 in favour, three against and 52 abstentions.

The US, Israel and Argentina opposed the measure, while Britain and EU member states abstained.

Ghana’s President John Mahama, one of the African Union’s most vocal supporters of slavery reparations, was at the United Nations headquarters in New York to support the vote.

“Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice. The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting,” said Mahama.