Jamaica takes reparations petition to King Charles III
Jamaica is taking a new legal step in its campaign for reparations over the enslavement of Africans during the colonial era, with a petition to be submitted to King Charles III on September 7, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia Grange is leading a Jamaican delegation to the United Kingdom to file the petition, which asks the King, as Jamaica's head of state, to refer three legal questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the country's highest court.
The questions concern whether the seizure, transportation and enslavement of Africans were lawful under English and international law and whether the UK has a legal obligation to provide reparatory remedies to Jamaica.
"We do not come begging. We come, once more, as in the case of the Zong massacre, looking to the English court for a just decision," Grange said.
She stressed that the initiative represents a legal rather than political procedure.
"We go fearless into another chapter in our story when we petition His Majesty King Charles on the matter of reparations," the minister said.
Ahead of the filing, Grange attended a Service of Remembrance, Justice and Repair at New Park Road Baptist Church in London, commemorating the 245th anniversary of the Zong massacre. During the 1781 voyage to Jamaica, more than 130 enslaved Africans were thrown overboard.
"We are not begging or looking for handouts. We are seeking JUSTICE," Grange wrote on Instagram.
During her UK visit, Grange is also expected to continue discussions with the British Museum on returning Jamaican artifacts removed during the colonial era.
"They belong to the people of Jamaica and we are working to bring them home," she said.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the Bank of Canada had unveiled a new vertical $20 banknote featuring a portrait of King Charles III.