Daystar University,

Department of Peace and International Studies

School of Arts and Social Sciences

Course DIS 635: International Law

Instructor: Dr. Emmanuel Zwabin

By
Elizabeth Njeri Kihuithia. 21 – 0499.

ASSIGNMENT: Policy Paper

Africa’s Reparation for Racial Injustice in Transatlantic Slave Trade and

Colonialism.

Date Due: 12th August, 2022.

Executive Summary
The evidence of racial injustice meted on Africa and the Black race is undebatable and
undeniable, perplexing is the deliberate passive attitude in the international community regarding
worthwhile reparation for the injustices. It is further disheartening that international law
provisions and attempts by the continent’s leaders to cement policy that would create a credible
avenue for the reparations are lacking, overlooked and literally not addressed respectively. In my
years of elementary, secondary and tertiary study I haven’t come across significant persuasion
towards the need to consider the weight of racial injustice meted on African people and the need
repariate even at bare minimum level. Could this be the first missing link in the matter of
reparation policy in the continent and among people of black extraction? The lack of an
elementary and educational foundation in justifying the factual racial injustices against Africa
and on the black race encapsulated in our Eurocentric cum colonial educational systems. This
foundational gap may very well inform the lack of momentum in having international law policy
to address the reparations as we almost clock to a century of independence for most African
nations. In basic terms reparation is the act of compensation for violations committed to a
people, community, nation or individual. I will include in this paper the relevance to actualize
implementable policy before the end of 2023 due to the International Decade for People of
African Descent.

International law relates with reparation in the sense that a nation compensates victims and their
descendants’ international crimes committed (Gifford, 2000) such as invasion of a country and or
people genocide. It is notable that the movement for reparation has endured a long and
treacherous journey historically (Lyons, 2002) with past attempts failing even through common
law, international law, constitutional law and legislation. The World Conference against Racism
(WCAR) has organized five events from 1978 to 2021 through the United Nations Educational
and Scientific Organization (UNESCO). Originally holding the first event in Geneva, WCAR
held its third event in Durban and there were several themes addressed that would be relevant to
my discussion. The themes I will constantly refer to in this discussion include, sources, causes,
contemporary manifestations and forms racial discriminations and injustices, implementation of
measures of prevention and education aimed at eradicating racial injustices (Lyons, 2002) at
local and international levels. Lastly the conference focused on the theme to create room and
build strategy towards effective recourse and redress at local and international levels in
combating racial injustice.
This policy paper will give analysis of racial injustice reparation journey particularly with
regards to international law and the international system with an aim to propose
recommendations that will usher perhaps a window of actual and accelerated implementation
reparation justice for racial injustice against Africa and people of black extraction. The relevance
of WCAR to this discussion is informed by the constituent contribution of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 2022) ‘which informs that all human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights and that everyone has rights and freedoms outlined therein with
distinction of any kind, in particular as to race, color or origin’.

Transatlantic Slave Trade and Colonial Racial Injustices

In the words of Professor Ali Mazrui in his address at the British Broadcasting (BBC) recorded
in the book The African Condition, he spoke of six paradoxes in diagnosing Africa’s reality
(Barnes, 1981) and among the paradoxes, was the paradox of humiliation. The paradox of
humiliation denotes that African people and human beings of black extraction are the most
humiliated modern history of humanity. Slavery, colonial rule, imperialism, racial discrimination
and apartheid were and are some of the channels that racial injustices (Luke, 1986) have been
over time propagated on Africans and people of African descent. Among other reasons why there
is need to aggressively pursue viable policy in reparations for Africa and people of black
extraction is that we are approximately two years to the end of the International Decade for
people of African Descent. The decade was proclaimed by the United Nations (UN) General
Assembly on 23rd December 2013 (UN) with a central theme on recognition, justice and
development. Its further disturbing that with such a great platform, nothing much can be
presentenced in the form of international law gains for the reparation of African people.

The WCAR in Durban recorded relevant confirmations in international law violation through
colonialism and slavery. The Durban Declaration (United Nations, 2001) may very well be a
constituent roadmap in creating pathways to enforce international law for reparation. In the
declaration, general issue number 13, it acknowledges that slavery, slave trade and the
transatlantic salve trade as tragedies in human history. Further, the declaration on this issue
denotes it as a crime against humanity and the foundational source on which racism and racial
discrimination towards people of African descent is built. General issue number 14 in the
declaration (United Nations, 2001) denotes that colonialism is responsible for racism and racial
discrimination and its violations on human rights resulting in untold suffering. It also confirms
on contemporary and enduring practices and structures post-colonially that are responsible for
the development of Africa and enduring social and economic inequalities. A slight detour into
conscience, in my few decades here on earth, with all my deep interest in international affairs, I
have never come across an intention of remorse among former colonial and slave powers
towards Africa or people of black extraction. At the international table of governance its business
as usual in the most practical of senses, the powers that be daily formulating ways to enslave and
colonize Africa and the black people only in more ‘dignified’ ways. In my view every UN
General Assembly meeting should have a session for acknowledgment of violations done and
review of progress in compensation of victims and their descendants. Why the African block is
yet to push for this actualization is a question I will seek to answer in this paper and perhaps
build on this proposal in view of international law provisions.

The Durban declaration is a sea of implementable policies which needs strong will, resolve and
Godspeed, if we are to see reparations implemented on our watch. General issue 99
acknowledges the massive human suffering for men, women and children through slavery, slave
trade, the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism (United Nations, 2001) calling on responsible
states to take responsibility in acknowledgement and future recurrence prevention. Other
confirmations on the weight of human rights violations through slavery and the lethargy to
address the same confirm slavery in Americas (Gifford, 2000) as a great abominable
international crime in human history. At the 76th UN General Assembly in 2021, Phillip J. Pierre,
Prime Minister of Saint Lucia a nation in the Caribbean addressed (Ho, 2021) the passivity of the
reparation matter noting that, “There should be no double standards in the international system in
recognizing, acknowledging, and compensating victims of crimes against humanity.”
International Law Propositions for Reparations Claim Formulation
The movement to claim reparation according to the year 2000 Human Rights Spring Magazine as
recorded by Gifford (2000) is well founded in international law and he lays down a framework
on the vastness of the initiative with several questions; who should claim, against whom, for
what amount and in what court? He gives several propositions which can be used to formulate a
legal framework to raise reparation claims which also build the case on violations of stated
international crimes. Firstly, is the proposal that enslavement of Africans was and is a crime
against humanity and further confirms through the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal defines
enslavement as crime against humanity. African and black people sovereignty and freedoms
were violated through the mass captures of men, women and children, middle passage horrors
and forceful transportation in foreign territories. The second proposition confirms that reparation
is sine qua non and compulsory in international law (Gifford, 2000) by those responsible for
crimes against humanity as defined in 1928 by the Permanent Court of International Justice. The
third proposition indicates there isn’t legal barriers preventing reparation claims. Proposition four
is then need to have a representative body for all Africans both in Africa and without Africa. In
defining the plaintiffs there is need to have a reliable body in view of prevailing poor governance
in the continent which by now hasn’t propagated considerable effort in the matter.

The fifth proposition is in defining those to be charged thus defendants and he proposes claims to
be designed against the governments responsible for institutionalizing slavery and slave trade
(Gifford, 2000) and enriched by the practice. The sixth and seventh proposition are the thorough
research which is professional in helping package claim amounts and where settlement of claims
is not actualized through mutual agreements involvement of a special international tribunal
recognized by both parties should actualize the settlements respectively. I found this background
as holistic in informing my recommendations later in the paper. George Schwarzenberger in his
writings on reparations describes it as an evolving process saying that "International judicial
institutions have slowly groped their way towards the articulate formulation of the rule that the
commission of an international tort entails the duty to make reparations." It comes out as an
intentional slow since the accused sit at the ‘top’ of the international community presumably
untouchable and being the founders of the very international institutions, we intend them to use
to bring themselves to account.
Historical Timeline in Reparation Claims Internationally
This section of the paper will give a brief on findings of what has been done over time with
reference to the subject topic, gaps and prepare the way for proposed policy recommendations.
 1928 – Right to reparation defined by the Permanent Court of International Justice
 1952 – Jews who survived Nazi territories through the nation of Israel get into agreement
with the Federal Republic of Germany for $222 Million reparation payments with respect
to the Holocaust atrocities.
 1988 – Civil Liberties Act enabling the reparation of $1.2 Billion to Japanese Americans
for 2nd World War atrocities (Gifford, 2000) was passed in the United States of America.
 1991 – Austria pays Israel $25 Million to surviving Holocaust victims.
 1991 – United Nations Security Council passed a resolution creating the UN
Compensation Commission to oversee reparations by Iraq to Kuwait which was binding
in international law. This was after Iraq’s invasion into Kuwait.
 1992 – establishment of the group of eminent persons by the Organization of African
Unity (OAU) at an Abuja meeting meant to steer the reparation movement (Hassmann,
2004) the group was chaired by prominent Nigeria businessman Chief Bashorun M. K. O.
Abiola.
 1995 – Wakaito Raupatu Claims Settlement Bill is signed and reparation payments of
$40 Million paid and land given back with reference to British colonial land seizure
(Gifford, 2000) of Maori land.
 1995 – Japan government gives payments of $48,200 each to women who suffered sexual
abuse during its war (Yamaguchi, 2021), they also give apology letters.
 2005 – UN General Assembly resolution 60/147, Basic Principles and Guidelines on the
Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International
Human Rights Law (UN, 2005) and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian
Law.
 2018 – South Korea Supreme Court orders companies in Japan (Yamaguchi, 2021) to
give reparations to South Koreans forced to work during the war in their factories.
  2021 – Seoul Central District Court rules that $91,360 to 12 elderly women (Yamaguchi,
2021) for wartime atrocities. They suffered in being put at the war frontline by Japan.
Japan downplays the order on grounds of the courts lack of jurisdiction.
 2022 – over a time of 30 years $52.4 Billion has been to 1.5 Million Kuwaiti claimants
(Lederer, 2022) finalizing Kuwait reparation resolution. It been lauded as a ‘historic
achievement for the United Nations.’
 2022 – Ghana president, Nana Akuffo -Addo revives consolidated efforts to seek African
reparations for Trans-Atlantic slavery and colonial era atrocities (Kaledzi, 2022) with
open acknowledgement that reparations process has been indeed slow. He reiterated that
the continent needs a formal apology for the human rights violations in the continent.

Proposed Reparation Avenues for Transatlantic Slave Trade and

Colonialism Atrocities
In present day 21st century when the matters of jurisdiction are key to deciding feasible avenues
for Africa’s reparation, I will briefly focus on several frameworks that the continent can pursue
to help actualize this move before its too late and for such a time as this during African people
decade. The International Decade for People of African Descent which was declared by the UN
ends in December 2024 and the objectives indicate the need to implement the Durban declaration
including international legal frameworks. Firstly, the African Union is disturbingly slow in
pushing to harness the available opportunities both in the decade’s relevance and consolidating
its block at the UN to push of actual implementable objectives which will translate in reparation
for the continent. There are 54 African nations in the UN representing one the largest voting
block without even seeking support from the Caribbean block. Why has it taken the continent
this long to push during this decade of African people? The UN has provided avenues on which
concrete legal frameworks could have been pursed including a resolution for annual recognition
of slavery and colonialism atrocities, formal apologies and annual monetary reparation to
affected states. Germany which has given financial reparations for the Holocaust to Israel,
recently acknowledged human atrocities to Namibia and pledged to pay 1.3 Billion Euros
(Walfisz, 2022) for killing over 100,000 Namibians in anti-colonial uprising massacre. Germany
also returned stolen artifacts and jewelry stolen from Namibia during colonial times as part of the
reparations.

Secondly, education as mention earlier is our weakest link as a continent perhaps, the buck stops
with the African Union especially at a time when international systems are becoming globalized.
Our education system is wanting, so much so that as a continent we know about Europe and the
west and what we can do more to become like them. Generations after generations of eroding
critical history, this colonial strategy is yet to be undone, we need policy as a continent that will
quickly infuse the realities of atrocities committed in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and through
colonialism. The Durban Declaration issue number 92, 95 and 96 speaks on the need to use
education and more so harness new technology to promote principles of equality. In this day and
age when technology is the center of it all, governments in Africa should work hand in hand to
promote information dissemination points that will fuel the urgency for reparation of the
continent and provide a continual flow of factual information on the weight of the atrocities in
the Transatlantic Slave Trade and colonialism. The African Union needs to collectively develop
compulsory curriculum that will be taught across the continent regarding the true history of
colonialism and transatlantic slave trade and strengthen the need for legal enforcements
implementation.

The content in the UN General Assembly resolution 60/147 passed in 2005 shows the lack of
intention in addressing reparation especially by the nations responsible for colonial and slavery
atrocities, most of whom are UN founders and Veto privileged in the organization. Additionally,
the United States of America and the European Union did not attend the WCAR Durban
conference. These are states that are highly responsible for colonial and slavery human rights
violations and they are keener on keeping Africa entangled in aid for development and debt
rather than offer constructive reparations to help socially, economically and politically. If we say
that involving the International Criminal Court would bear concrete reparation fruit, what about
the fact that the United Stated of America not being party to the Rome statute? Lastly the
initiative by the group of eminent persons led by Nigeria businessman Chief Bashorun M. K. O.
Abiola is a great foundation that was laid by the OAU. It’s of big concern that the activities
initiated by this group like academic mobilizations for reparations and the great activations
initiated by the Abiola. Some of these initiatives did not receive united support from the
continent like the contentions from Senegalese former president Wade and perhaps another
reason why the reparation story for Africa may take a little longer to actualize.
References
Barnes, C. (1981). Ali A. Mazrui. The African Condition: A political diagnosis. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1980. African Studies Review, 24(4), 205-206.
doi:10.2307/524375

Gifford, A. (2000). The Legal Basis of the Claim for Slavery Reparations. Human Rights
Magazine, Spring 2000.
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/
human_rights_vol27_2000/spring2000/hr_spring00_gifford/

Howard-Hassmann, R. (2004). Reparations to Africa and the Group of Eminent

Persons. Cahiers d'études africaines, 173-174, 81-
97. https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesafricaines.4543

Ho, S. (2021). Calls growing in UN for international reparations. The Christian Science
Monitor. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2021/0928/Calls-growing-in-UN-for-
international-reparations

Kaledzi, I. (2022). Africa Revives Push for Colonial Era Reparations. Deutsche Welle.
https://www.dw.com/en/africa-revives-push-for-colonial-era-reparations/a-62710366

Lederer, E, M. (2022). UN ends Iraq’s requirement to pay victims of Kuwait invasion. AP

News. https://apnews.com/article/business-middle-east-geneva-united-nations-iraq-
e14cc6e9a5ae780ed67b30628607f2c3

Luke, D. F. (1986). Regionalism in Africa: A Short Study of the Record. International

Journal, 41(4), 853–868. https://doi.org/10.2307/40202412
Lyons, M, E. (2002). World Conference Against Racism: New Avenues for Slavery
Reparations? Vanderbilt Law Review 1235. 35 (4).
https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vjtl/vol35/iss4/4

United Nations. (2005). Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and
Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and
Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/basic-principles-and-
guidelines-right-remedy-and-reparation

United Nations. Conferences | Racism.

https://www.un.org/en/conferences/racism#:~:text=The%20first%20World
%20Conference%20to,Geneva%20in%20Geneva%20in%201983.

United Nations. (2021). Durban Declaration and Plan of Action, Adopted at the World
Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Violence.
https://www.un.org/WCAR/durban.pdf

Walfisz, J. (2022). Germany returns stolen colonial treasures to Namibia as reparations

continue. Euro News. https://www.euronews.com/culture/2022/05/25/germany-returns-
stolen-colonial-treasures-to-namibia-as-reparations-continue

Yamaguchi, M. (2021). Japan Urges South Korea to Drop Wartime Compensation

Demands. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2021/01/japan-urges-south-korea-to-
drop-wartime-compensation-demands/