Historic UN vote recognizes enslavement of Africans as gravest crime against humanity

The resolution, spearheaded by John Dramani Mahama on behalf of the 54 member African Group, was adopted on Wednesday with 123 votes in favor. Three countries, including the United States, Argentina and Israel, voted against the measure, while 52 abstained.

Applause broke out in the General Assembly hall as the result was announced.

Speaking ahead of the vote, Ghana’s president Mahama said the resolution was aimed at acknowledging historical truth and supporting justice for the descendants of those affected.

“Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice,” he said.

For more than 4 centuries, millions of Africans were captured, enslaved and transported across the Atlantic to work on plantations in the Americas. Many were forced to labor in cotton, sugar and coffee production under harsh conditions, while being stripped of their names, identities and basic rights.

The adopted text describes the trafficking and enslavement of Africans as a crime of exceptional gravity due to its scale, duration, systemic nature and lasting consequences. It also highlights the enduring impact of slavery, including persistent racial discrimination and inequality.

The resolution stresses the importance of addressing historical injustices affecting people of African descent and notes that calls for reparations represent a concrete step toward remedy and justice.

Not all countries supported the measure. Before the vote, U.S. representative to the UN Economic and Social Council Dan Negrea criticized the draft, calling it “highly problematic in countless respects.”

He said Washington does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred.

During the session marking the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery, Assembly President Annalena Baerbock described slavery and the slave trade as among the gravest violations of human rights in history.

She noted that African societies were deeply affected by the loss of generations of people who might otherwise have contributed to their countries’ development.

“It was, to put it in colder terms, mass resource extraction,” Baerbock said.

UN Secretary General António Guterres called on countries to confront the lasting legacy of slavery and remove barriers that continue to limit opportunities for people of African descent.

During the meeting, Barbados’ first poet laureate Esther Philips told delegates that the memory of slavery’s victims still demands justice.

“...there can be no peace without justice, reparatory justice,” she said, urging governments to translate words into concrete action.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan proposed creating a new international water organization under the United Nations.