Ghana conference calls for formal apology for transatlantic slave trade

Global framework for reparatory justice adopted at event includes demand for compensation and debt relief More than money: the logic of slavery reparations A global framework for reparatory justice has been adopted at a conference in Ghana, as African and Caribbean leaders demanded formal apologies from countries that benefited from the transatlantic slave trade. Heads of state and government and other officials formally approved the strategy on Friday at a gathering in a hotel in the capital, Accra, which was the first major meeting since the adoption of the landmark United Nations (UN) resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. The document lays out a 19-point global framework for reparatory justice. They include a call for “all state and non-state institutions yet to do so” to “offer full, formal and unconditional apologies as a foundational step towards reconciliation, trust-building and reparatory justice”. It also includes resolving to ensure fair and adequate compensation for Africans and people of African descent affected by legacies of enslavement, colonialism, genocide and apartheid, and to expedite the return of cultu