The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a landmark resolution describing the trafficking of enslaved Africans as “the gravest crime against humanity,” marking a significant moment in Africa’s long-standing call for historical justice and reparations.
The resolution, passed with 123 votes in favour, calls for reparations as “a concrete step towards remedying historical wrongs” and urges the unconditional return of cultural artefacts taken from African countries during centuries of exploitation. These include artworks, archives, monuments and other heritage items that remain housed in institutions across Europe and North America.
The vote exposed enduring global divisions. The United States, Israel and Argentina opposed the resolution, while 52 countries, including Britain and several European Union states, abstained.
Tabled by Ghana and championed by President John Mahama, the resolution reflects a growing momentum among African states and the global African diaspora to confront the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade not only as history, but as a continuing source of inequality.
“Today, we affirm truth and pursue a path to healing and reparative justice,” Mahama said at UN headquarters in New York, framing the vote as a safeguard against historical erasure.
Although non-binding, the resolution goes beyond symbolic recognition. It calls on nations that profited from slavery to engage in restorative justice and acknowledges the lasting impact of slavery through systemic racial discrimination and neo-colonial economic structures that continue to shape global power dynamics.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the transatlantic slave trade as a crime that “struck at the core of personhood,” noting that its architects constructed racist ideologies to justify exploitation and entrench inequality.
For African policymakers, the resolution signals a shift in tone within international diplomacy. Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the vote sends a clear message that impunity for historical injustices can no longer be sustained.
“The day of reckoning will come,” Ablakwa said, emphasizing that accountability remains central to Africa’s engagement with global institutions.
However, Western opposition highlighted persistent resistance to reparations. The United States rejected the notion of a legal obligation to compensate for historical injustices, arguing that such acts were not illegal under international law at the time. European representatives echoed similar concerns, warning against what they described as the ranking of historical tragedies.
African leaders have dismissed these arguments as attempts to avoid responsibility. Ahead of the vote, Ablakwa called for formal apologies from countries that played central roles in the slave trade, naming European nations and the United States.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, an estimated 12 to 15 million Africans were forcibly taken across the Atlantic, with more than two million dying during the journey. For many across the continent and the diaspora, the consequences of that system remain visible in global inequalities, cultural loss and economic disparities.
The resolution underscores a broader Pan-African push to reframe the narrative, positioning reparations not as charity, but as justice tied to historical accountability and the future of global equity.