Archive · 31 Aug 2026
U.N. Committee Urges Countries to Consider Slave Trade Reparations
A U.N. committee says countries should take action to repair harms linked to the slave trade.
It says this duty comes from a racial-discrimination agreement adopted in 1965.
The committee says it does not matter whether slavery was illegal under the laws of that time.
Countries still have duties today because its effects may continue.
Reparations could include money, official apologies and other actions.
The committee also suggested opening archives and changing public memorials.
It called for independent groups to investigate and record what happened.
Some governments and institutions disagree and say they should not be blamed for crimes committed long ago.
A U.N. committee said countries must consider reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.
The guidance bases these obligations on the 1965 racial-discrimination convention, not historical-era laws.
The committee said current obligations require states to address continuing structural inequalities and discrimination.
It recommended apologies, compensation, archive access, revised memorials and independent truth commissions.
Opponents argue governments and institutions should not be held responsible for historical crimes.
- Who
- The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, with expert Pela Boker-Wilson, addressed states that are parties to the convention.
- What
- The committee published guidance saying states must consider comprehensive reparations and other measures for people of African descent affected by the slave trade’s continuing legacy.
- When
- The guidance was published on Monday; the Reuters report is dated Aug. 31.
- Where
- The guidance was issued by the U.N. committee; the report was filed from Geneva, with additional reporting from Paris.
- Why
- The committee said racial discrimination and structural inequalities linked to the slave trade persist, creating obligations under the current convention.
Reparations Advocates
Reparations Opponents
Legal responsibility
Reparations Advocates
The committee says states remain bound by present obligations under the racial-discrimination convention, regardless of whether slavery was illegal when it occurred.
Reparations Opponents
Opponents argue that states and institutions should not be held responsible for historical crimes and have used the lack of historical international prohibitions to resist claims.
What reparations should include
Reparations Advocates
The committee supports comprehensive and transformative measures, including compensation, apologies, archive access, revised memorials and truth commissions.
Reparations Opponents
Opponents are described as resisting reparations claims; the articles do not identify specific alternative remedies they support.
Government action
Reparations Advocates
The committee urged states to move beyond expressions of regret and review policies and laws to address continuing inequalities.
Reparations Opponents
Some governments have sought to avoid legal claims by invoking the intertemporality principle, which focuses on the laws in force when the slave trade took place.
- Estimated number displaced
- At least 12.5 million Africans were taken and sold between the 15th and 19th centuries.
- Legal basis cited
- The 1965 convention on racial discrimination.
- Recommended remedies
- Official apologies, financial compensation, archive access, revised memorials and independent truth commissions.
- Committee’s position
- Current international obligations apply regardless of how the original historical acts were legally characterized.
- Scope of measures
- The committee called for comprehensive reparatory measures covering all aspects of remedies.
- Recent international response
- The European Union and Britain abstained from a U.N. resolution on slavery in March.