General Assembly Declares Enslavement of Africans ‘Gravest Crime against Humanity', Debates Legal Implications

General Assembly Declares Enslavement of Africans 'Gravest Crime against Humanity', Debates Legal Implications

The General Assembly today declared the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity as Member States debated the legal ramifications of such a declaration.

The Assembly adopted the text "Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity" (document A/80/L.48) with a recorded vote of 123 in favour to 3 against (Argentina, Israel, United States), with 52 abstentions.

By its terms, the Assembly affirmed the importance of addressing historical wrongs affecting Africans and people of African descent and emphasizes that claims for reparations represent a concrete step towards remedying historical wrongs.

United States, European States Take Issue with Legal Implications

The representative of the United States opposed the resolution, describing it "highly problematic in countless respects". Stressing that the UN was not founded to advance narrow interests, establish niche international days or create costly meeting and reporting mandates, he said: "This resolution does all three."

Further, he underlined that his delegation does not recognize the legal right to reparation for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred and objects to its attempt to "rank crimes against humanity in any type of hierarchy". Additionally, he rejected the "cynical usage of historical wrongs as a leverage point in an attempt to reallocate modern resources to people and nations who are distantly related to the historical victims".

These points were raised also by many others, including the members of the European Union.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Foreign Minister of Ghana, speaking on behalf of the African Group, presented "L.48", stressing the text is "not about reopening history" or targeting individual States, and "does not create legal hierarchies of crime". Rather, it aims to complete history by establishing a principled framework for reconciliation grounded in truth and rooted "not in retribution, but in moral recognition".

The text's objectives, he explained, are to secure formal and unequivocal recognition of slavery's world-breaking impact, affirm its enduring consequences, reinforce global efforts towards "reparatory justice through dialogue and cooperation" and strengthen solidarity against "systemic racism and historical denialism". While legal technicalities and procedural arguments were said to have been used "to once again silence voices", the message is clear: "Justice does not expire with time," and affirming the declaration would strengthen the very foundations of justice upon which the United Nations was built.

Today's meeting was held in commemoration of International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. On 25 March 1807, the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed in the United Kingdom. In 2006, the United Nations General Assembly, through resolution 61/19, recognized that "the slave trade and slavery are among the worst violations of human rights in the history of humanity, bearing in mind particularly their scale and duration", and designated 25 March 2007 as the International Day for the Commemoration of the 200^th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The following year, through resolution 62/122, it designated 25 March as an annual International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, beginning in 2008.

This year's theme, "Justice in Action", calls on the global community to confront this history with honesty and to acknowledge its enduring impact.

UN Not Shying Away from Truth

In her opening remarks, the Assembly's President Annalena Baerbock (Germany)remembered the millions of Africans "stolen, shackled and shipped like cargo" and invoked writer and abolitionist Olaudah Equiano's account of enslavement to underscore the gravest violations of human rights committed through the transatlantic slave trade. Many perished before even reaching land and survivors were subjected to "the lash and the whip", robbed of freedom, dignity, even their names.

Ms. Baerbock stressed that this is "not only tragic history", noting the UN's The Ark of Return as a permanent reminder that, although slavery was abolished, "its consequences endure", shaping descendants' lives through poverty, discrimination and underrepresentation, while countries of origin suffered a hollowing out of generations.

Calling redress a moral imperative, she argued it requires both truth-telling and concrete action: "an imperative that demands action to challenge long-entrenched discrimination", and calls for candid, even painful self-reflection and accountability. She also welcomed the fact that the UN is confronting these issues openly, emphasizing that modern forms of exploitation - forced labour, trafficking and debt bondage - persist.

"We will never forget the victims of slavery," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, urging: "And we must never forget the malevolent system that sustained it for so long." "This perverse global order thrived because power acted without conscience," and he stressed: "We must use our power for better ends."

This means rejecting the false narrative of racial hierarchy, dismantling its damaging falsehoods and working for truth, justice and repair, he said. Urging action in three critical areas - eradicating systemic racism, ensuring reparatory justice and accelerating inclusive development - he welcomed the steps taken by some countries to apologize for their role in the evil of slavery. "But, far bolder actions - by many more States - are needed," he urged.

These, he said, include commitments to respect African countries' ownership of their natural resources, as well as steps to ensure their equal participation and influence in the global financial architecture and the Security Council.

Poets Press for Further Action through Storytelling

Also marking the Day, two poets used spoken-word storytelling to connect remembrance with responsibility. Esther Phillips, First Poet Laureate of Barbados, read two poems that centre the afterlife of slavery in the present day. In My Ancestors Gifted Me Their Silence, she imagines an 11-year-old girl walking a former sugar plantation while the voices of her enslaved ancestors rise "into those silences", pleading that the child be spared the brutal meanings buried in the landscape.

Her second poem, Hard Love, turns to an enslaved mother's terror and tenderness, capturing the agony of giving birth while knowing her child could be taken at any moment. Closing, she urged the General Assembly to ignite "conscience, empathy, unity and equity" and insisted that "there can be no peace without justice - reparatory justice".

Shahaddah Jack, First Youth Poet Laureate of Toronto, Canada, first observed that the spoken word is "considered the closest and most foundational art form to African ancestral storytelling". On the poem she read today - Reclaiming Our Pen - she said: "It is a remembering and it is a call for all of us, especially the youth in this room, to continue telling our stories loudly, truthfully and without permission."

In it, she recalled that, when she was young, her mother taught her "that there are pages missing from world history and they sound like our names". Meanwhile, her DNA remembers that "we were whole" before the ships and chains, that dignity was something already carried and that liberty was not a "colonial gift", but a birthright. "Slavery was merely an interruption, not our origin story," she continued, recalling that history did not forget the centuries of African royalty or dynasties off which museums now profit. "It simply stole the pen from our grip and edited us out," she said.

Regional Groups' Perspectives

In the ensuing discussion, Ghana's representative, speaking for the African Group, said that remembrance through books, music, education and memorials helps the world document, educate, and begin to heal. Recalling how Member States decided 20 years ago, in 2006, to designate 25 March as a day of remembrance and then made it annual, Accra framed the commemoration as "little steps" that build "forward motion towards something better". This year's draft resolution declaring the trafficking and enslavement of Africans among the gravest crimes against humanity follows months of consultation to build consensus "grounding the final outcome in truth, compassion and moral conscience", he said.

Cuba's speaker, speaking for Caribbean Community (CARICOM), urged the international community to move "from remembrance to action" in confronting the legacies of slavery. He stressed the need to dismantle systemic racism that continues to harm people of African descent worldwide. He further highlighted the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, which recognizes slavery and the slave trade as "a crime against humanity". The Group also echoed the calls of several other speakers for "reparatory justice frameworks", saying reparations are essential to repairing the present and building a future founded on justice.

The representative of Lebanon, speaking for the Asia-Pacific States Group, said that today's observance "reminds us of our shared responsibility" to preserve the truth of history and to firmly oppose racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and "related intolerance in all their forms". And the fight against slavery is not only a legal or political obligation - it is a moral imperative. "Only through remembrance, reflection and action can we ensure that such atrocities are never repeated," he said.

"We cannot change history, but we can - and should - talk about it," said the representative of the United Kingdom, speaking for the Western European and Other States Group. Meaningful dialogue on sustainable development, education, health and climate is important, and continued progress requires confronting the barriers and inequalities that persist today. He also underlined the need to address the "scourge of modern slavery" and related forms of exploitation, including trafficking, forced labour, sexual exploitation and forced criminality. "While we cannot rewrite the past, we can choose how it guides us and strengthens our resolve to build a more just and inclusive future," he concluded.

In other business, the Assembly appointed, by secret ballot, Barbados, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, Mexico, Russian Federation and South Africa as members of the Board of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns for a term beginning on 25 March 2026 and ending on 24 March 2028.

Complete Live Blog coverage of today's meeting can be found here.