UN declares slave trade ‘gravest crime against humanity’

The US opposed the resolution, saying it does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs

The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution led by Ghana declaring the transatlantic slave trade the “gravest crime against humanity,” despite opposition from several Western states, including the US.

The slave trade, which lasted from the 16th to the 19th century, uprooted an estimated 25-30 million Africans, who were “shackled” and “dragged off to the Americas and the Caribbean,” making it the largest long-distance forced movement in history, according to UNESCO. Some estimates place the global economic impact of the trade and its legacy as high as $100 trillion or more.

The resolution, introduced on Wednesday, passed with 123 votes in favor. The entire NATO bloc either opposed or abstained from supporting it.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the move, calling the transatlantic slave trade a “monstrous system” and urged action to confront its legacy.

Speaking ahead of the vote, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama said the resolution is in pursuance of truth, a route to healing and reparative justice, and urged UN member states to support it as a way of doing what is “right for the memory of the millions who suffered the indignity of slavery.” 

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The resolution, adopted on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery, strengthens a longstanding push by African and Caribbean states for justice and reparations.

Russia supported the measure, aligning with a coalition of Global South countries advocating stronger international recognition of historical injustices.

US representative to the UN Economic and Social Council Dan Negrea said Washington opposed the resolution because it “does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred.”

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Earlier on Tuesday, Mahama accused the US of “normalizing the erasure” of Black history through policies including banning books and restricting museum and cultural content.

Several European states, including Britain, have long rejected calls for payments, arguing that present-day governments should not be held liable for historic crimes.