Ghana Minister Asks For ‘Apology’ As UN Declares African Slave Trade ‘Gravest Crime’

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a landmark resolution designating the transatlantic African slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity,” despite opposition from the United States and some European nations.

The resolution, which was greeted with applause at the UN headquarters in New York, was adopted with 123 votes in favour, three against, and 52 abstentions.

While the United States, Israel, and Argentina voted against the motion, the United Kingdom and member states of the European Union abstained.

Advocates have described the resolution as a significant step towards global recognition, healing, and the possibility of reparations for the historical injustice of slavery.

Ghana’s President, John Mahama, who is one of the African Union’s leading voices on reparations, was present at the UN 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,” Mahama said.

Although non-binding, the resolution goes beyond symbolic recognition by urging countries involved in the transatlantic slave trade to engage in restorative justice efforts.

It also underscores the enduring legacy of slavery, particularly the persistence of racial discrimination and neo-colonial structures in modern societies.

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, described slavery as a devastating crime against humanity.

“The transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity that struck at the core of personhood, broke up families, and devastated communities,” he said.

“To justify the unjustifiable, slavery’s proponents and beneficiaries constructed a racist ideology, turning prejudice into a pseudoscience,” he added.

Reacting to the development, US Ambassador Dan Negrea described the resolution as “highly problematic.”

“The United States also does not recognise a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred,” he said.

He further criticised the attempt to categorise crimes against humanity.

“The United States also strongly objects to the resolution’s attempt to rank crimes against humanity in any type of hierarchy,” Negrea added.

Similarly, European representatives acknowledged the atrocities of slavery but raised concerns about the framing of the resolution.

French envoy Sylvain Fournel warned that the move could create unnecessary comparisons among historical tragedies.

“The resolution risks pitting historical tragedies against each other that should not be compared, except at the expense of the memory of the victims,” he said.

We Expect Them All To Apologise – Says Ghana’s Ablakwa

Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, dismissed criticisms that the resolution sought to rank human suffering.

He instead accused some countries of failing to fully acknowledge their roles in the slave trade.

“The perpetrators of the transatlantic slave trade are known: the Europeans, the United States of America. We expect all of them to formally apologise to Africa and to all people of African descent,” he said.

Ablakwa also outlined possible pathways for restorative justice, including the return of looted artefacts and financial compensation.

“One pathway toward restorative justice is that all the looted artefacts are returned to the motherland,” he said, adding that institutions must continue to address structural racism.

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