As the campaign for reparative justice intensifies, Caribbean countries are considering approaching the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a legal opinion on requesting reparations from ten European countries for slavery, according to the president of the region’s group of 33 states.
The current leader of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), Ralph Gonsalves, stated he was also looking for an apology from the British government and expressed dissatisfaction in Rishi Sunak’s lack of involvement in the situation.
“I’m disappointed to see Sunak, who, given his origins, ought to have a greater sensitivity to this question of the past,” Gonsalves, the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines for 22 years, remarked. Sunak’s parents were of Indian descent and were nurtured in East African British territories.
“I’d like an apology from the British government and the engagement for a mature conversation for a programme for reparatory justice,” Gonsalves said.
He explained that reparative justice was more than just calculating monetary recompense for descendants of enslaved people; it was a broader awareness of the long-term repercussions of slavery and colonialism on public health, economic development, and cultural legacy.
He was unable to persuade EU leaders during a summit with Celac leaders in Brussels to include a passage in an official communique acknowledging native genocide, or the eradication of Indigenous peoples via colonisation. He did, however, admit that not all European countries were complicit in colonization.
“This is not a case of looking for people with enslaved DNA.” No, we’re dealing with the historical legacies of [African] captivity, and there are modern manifestations of growth that are directly tied to slavery and, indeed, native genocide,” he remarked.
When asked if he thought European countries were taking slavery seriously enough, he stated “yes,” but that time would tell.
“Sometimes, a person may take something seriously with words, but it may take a while to determine whether it’s a noise in the blood and an echo in their bones.” “And we’ll see how that plays out,” he continued.
Gonsalves stated that a decision on a formal approach to the ICJ for a legal advisory would most likely be made in August at a meeting of the Caribbean countries’ prime ministerial subcommittee on reparations, convened by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
“This is a very serious matter,” Gonsalves remarked. “We have already had some legal work done,” he noted, adding that the issue was gathering “more and more traction” in Europe.
“We are at the stage where we will most likely seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice,” he told the Guardian in Brussels. “But there are other parallel activities that are taking place and this is gathering momentum.”
The ICJ’s legal advice is not legally enforceable, but it would put pressure on the ten European countries selected to engage in reparative justice.
