April 5, 2026
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) expressed satisfaction following the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the historic resolution entitled “Declaration on the Traffic in Enslaved Africans and the Enslavement of Africans as Racial Property as the Most Serious Crime Against Humanity”. This resolution was adopted on March 25, 2026, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
All CARICOM member states voted in favor of this initiative led by Ghana, underscoring the region’s unity in recognizing the historical injustices linked to the African slave trade and slavery.
The resolution qualifies the transatlantic slave trade and chattel slavery as the most serious crime against humanity, due to their scale, duration, brutality, and the lasting consequences they generated. It also calls for the establishment of reparations frameworks, insists on the importance of remembrance, research, and education, and promotes reconciliation and justice.
CARICOM recalls that the region has always advocated for the international community to take concrete measures to repair the harms related to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. It reaffirms its commitment to working in a coordinated manner towards the effective implementation of this resolution.
This symbolic adoption, coinciding with the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, marks a turning point in the global recognition of the scale and gravity of these historical crimes.
