Global framework for reparatory justice adopted at landmark conference in Ghana | Reparations and reparative justice

A global framework for restorative justice was adopted at a conference in Ghana.

Heads of state and government and other officials formally approved the strategy at a meeting at a hotel in the capital Accra on Friday; This was the first major meeting since the adoption of the landmark United Nations (UN) resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans the greatest crime against humanity.

The document sets out a 19-article global framework for restorative justice. These include deciding to provide fair and adequate compensation for Africans and people of African descent affected by the legacies of slavery, colonialism, genocide and apartheid, and deciding to expedite the return of cultural property, human remains, archives and heritage to their countries of origin.

The framework also calls for multilateral measures to address sovereign debt burdens, including debt relief, to address the persistent socioeconomic impacts of enslavement, colonialism, and related historical injustices.

“We recognize and honor the comprehensive efforts of various governments, intergovernmental organizations, ancestors, individuals, and civil society partners in Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas, as well as Europe and Asia, across generations to shape the global reparations agenda,” participants said. in the document.

“We embrace this document as the basis for global cooperation and are committed to transparent, constructive and good-faith dialogue to advance reparations and restorative justice among all state and non-state actors.”

Ruth Ogbewekon, restorative justice project leader at the Pan African Lawyers Union, which supported the drafting of the document, said the process sought to be inclusive, given pressures to build momentum for the resolution towards a global movement for restorative justice.

He added that representatives from Africa and the African diaspora, as well as non-African allies, had been consulted for several weeks. “Ultimately, it was a process where people wanted to have their voices heard and to see themselves heard, and the events in Accra ensured this,” he said.

The adoption took place on the last day of a three-day conference. Next Steps this also resulted in the establishment of three global panels on restorative justice and reparations.

On Thursday, Ghanaian President John Mahama announced the establishment of an advisory panel on restorative justice, an expert panel on the return of cultural artifacts, and a legislative panel on restorative justice “to serve as the pillars of the next phase of this international effort.”

“These panels are not intended to replace the work of governments, regional organizations or international institutions,” Mahama told hundreds of attendees. “Rather, it aims to strengthen this work by providing intellectual, technical and policy support as the international community moves from recognition to implementation.”

The advisory panel on restorative justice consists of leaders from countries with historical ties to the transatlantic slave trade in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. These include Mahama, prime minister Mia Mottley of Barbados and presidents Joseph Boakai Sr, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Liberia, Namibia and Senegal.

The three-day event started on Wednesday and was attended by heads of state and government, ministers, civil society representatives, historians, researchers and legal experts from more than 80 countries.

The conference comes nearly three months after the UN general assembly adopted a proposal on behalf of African Union member states to recognize Ghana’s trade in enslaved Africans and the racial enslavement of people on the continent as the greatest crime against humanity.

The resolution, a landmark in Africa’s quest for restorative justice, calls on UN member states to engage in “inclusive, good-faith dialogue” on restorative justice and the “prompt and unimpeded” return of property of value to their countries of origin.

Thursday’s events also included documentary screenings, musical performances, stage plays and speeches by heads of state and government, ministers, civil society representatives and leaders of international organizations. Many have called for a collaborative approach to the pursuit of restorative justice.

In his opening remarks, Mahama, who is also the African Union Reparations Champion, said the adoption of the resolution aimed to lay the groundwork for “more meaningful” engagement, reflection and action on reparative justice.

He called for a global partnership by a broader community of nations and institutions in the pursuit of reparative justice, noting that the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom’s) 10-point reparations plan would serve as “an important starting point for the work of the new panels.”

“We are here because recognition creates responsibility, and the lasting consequences of this history require thoughtful, coordinated and sustained international engagement,” he said.

“The crime we seek to address has become transcontinental. Its consequences remain transcontinental in its impact, and so the pursuit of justice must have a transcontinental ambition.”

Mottley announced the revision of Caricom’s 10-point reparations plan to take into account the disproportionate impact of slavery on girls and women. It also spurred a coordinated global effort to achieve restorative justice.

“Let us not embark on separate journeys, but let us reflect unity of purpose today, whether through advocacy or consultative views or actions, recognizing that our role is to ensure there is no backsliding from our demands and that we recognize that repair comes after recognition,” he said. “Because in everything we do for the rest of our lives, repair is always, always necessary when damage occurs.

Boakai Sr said the UN resolution “opens a door” and that the collective solution will determine whether it will lead to “meaningful justice, reconciliation and healing”.

“Let us not be remembered for a moment as another conference or another decision that stirred consciences before we disappear into history,” he said.

“Let us leave Accra together with purpose and resolve to ensure that the greatest crime against humanity is met with one of humanity’s greatest responses: a determined global effort to restore dignity, repair historical wrongs, and build a future based on equality, shared prosperity, and our common humanity.”

Thursday’s events were preceded on Wednesday by technical experts’ consultations to formulate the framework.

Later Friday, at Osu Castle, a 17th-century fort built in the capital by the Danes that served as a hub for the transatlantic slave trade, participants were to celebrate Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the United States.

The Guardian’s links to enslavement: Can an institution atone for its own past?

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