Declaration:
71. Slave-holder nations, colonizers and occupying countries have unjustly enriched
themselves at the expense of those people that they enslaved and colonized and whose land they
have occupied. As these nations largely owe their political, economic and social domination to
the exploitation of Africa, Africans and Africans in the Diaspora they should recognize their
obligation to provide these victims just and equitable reparations.
72. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, slavery and colonialism is a crime against humanity
because of its abhorrent barbarism, its magnitude, long duration, numbers of people brutalized
and murdered and because of their negation of the very essence of humanity of their victims,
therefore, reparations programs must be comprehensive enough in addressing all areas of
concern including economic, educational, health, land ownership and possession as well as the
racially biased systems of administration of justice that brutalize Africans and people of African
Descent.
73. The Trans-Saharan and Trans-Indian Ocean Slave Trades and slavery must also be
acknowledged and recognised as crimes against humanity, which brutalised communities and
stripped people of their dignity, and for which those communities must receive justice and
redress.
74. There is an unbroken chain from the slave trade, slavery, colonialism, foreign
occupation, apartheid, racial discrimination and the contemporary forms of structural racism that
maintain barriers to the full and equal participation of the victims of racism and discrimination
in all spheres of public life;
75. The enslavement of Indigenous Peoples, the appropriation of their lands and exploitation
of their resources must be acknowledged and repaired and the historic precedents for reparations
to the victims of gross violations of human rights should be applied to them;
76. Victims of declared and undeclared wars throughout the world have had their human
rights violated because of their race, ethnicity and the intersection of race, ethnicity and gender
and disability and are in need of reparation;
Programme of Action
The United Nations and States shall:
237. Ensure that, in accordance with universally recognised human rights norms and
standards, all nations, groups and their members who are the victims of crimes against humanity
based on race, colour, caste, descent, ethnicity or indigenous or national origin are provided
reparations;
238. Ensure that the perpetrators and beneficiaries of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Slavery,
Colonialism, Foreign Occupation acknowledge that these polices and practices are crimes
against humanity;
239. Create programs of reparations for the victims of crimes against humanity and violations
of human rights reaching the masses of the victimized and not merely an elite few and designed
to address the specific character of the peoples injured that include:
240. Restitution encompassing the unconditional return of land, heritage icons and artifacts;
the provision of land to those forced to leave their homelands and forcibly resettled in foreign
lands; cancellation of debt of countries victimized by these crimes against humanity including
African countries and impoverished countries in the Americas;
241. Monetary compensation that will repair the victims, including Africa, Africans and
African descendants, by closing the economic gap created by these crimes and encompassing
debt cancellation, programs for creation and enhancement of participation in production
enterprises; full accessibility and affirmative inclusion in all levels of employment opportunity;
grants of cash payments based on assessment of losses resulting from the violations of human
rights and crimes against humanity;
242. Restoration including release of all political prisoners, providing for health care,
including mental health care, educational and social services that are specifically designed to
correct the injuries caused by the violations of human rights and crimes against humanity;
243. Satisfaction and guarantee of non-repetition includes the public acknowledgment of the
crimes against humanity; the correction of the history of Africa, African and African
descendants in educational materials and in the media; acknowledgment of the economic base of
exploitation of the victims of crimes against humanity and violations of human rights and the
unjust enrichment of the perpetrators;
244. Create an independent international and regional monitoring organization with the
responsibility to assure that programs of reparations are designed and implemented with
timetables and that satisfy the provisions of this programme of action are accomplished;
245. We call on all States to acknowledge the principle of reparations for the cultural,
demographic, economic, political, social and moral wrongs of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade,
Trans-Saharan slave trade, Trans-Indian Ocean slave trade, slavery and colonisation and that
African and African Descendant victims reserve the right to determine the form and manner of
reparations;
246. We call on all concerned African nations to take formal legal action to obtain the return
of stolen cultural artifacts, gold, money, mineral wealth and the return of occupied land on the
continent and call on the international community to support such actions.
